Trump’s Jacksonian First Term. And his novel second.

A recent Axios article confirms what most people already knew. Not only is Trump (or more accurately Trump’s team — because he, after all is still obsessed with “with contesting the 2020 election results”) planning his 2024 run, but they are also plotting a detailed agenda going “well beyond typical conservative targets” of policy change in government.

The article mentions proposed plans to take down the so-called “deep state” through executive orders, including building extensive databases of people vetted as being committed to Trump and his agenda”. Total transformation of government across four areas:

• Shaping policies
• Identifying top lieutenants
• Curating an alternative labour force
• Preparing legal challenges

I implied at the top of this piece that most people probably won’t be shocked by this; as early as 2016, Trump was explicitly threatening to put his rival, Hilary Clinton, in jail. Throughout the campaign, it was said Trump showed an almost gleeful willingness to part ways with orthodoxy. For some, this made sense. The argument goes: Trump inherited policy — especially foreign policy — after policy marred by disaster and marked with the DC seal of convention.