Donald Trump’s rise to power has been marked by both malice and hope.

He disliked his enemies, yet he seemed able to craft policies that sounded designed to reverse what he saw as an inevitable decline. His approach to foreign policy appeared to be oriented toward avoiding the George W. Bush style of diplomacy.

But lately, the approach has been marked not so much by a positive approach as by a desire for retribution. This pivot is a disturbing departure from his first term, when Trump seemed steadier. Perhaps understanding the essence of Trumpism is to reexamine the twists and turns of his political career.

Instead of advocating a different approach, Trump, in 2024, played to every possible resentment.

It was a scattershot approach, hitting every sore point with the American voters.

For hard-core MAGA supporters, it was “stop the steal”; for those not enchanted with American foreign policy, he ripped into “forever wars.”

Everything would be a snap; he would stop the Ukraine-Russia war on the first day and halt inflation.

If that was not enough, he engaged in an endless Festivus celebration, where every day was a recitation of grievances. But unlike his campaign appearances, he did not soften the line with humor.

This time, Trump has treated Americans to a new routine, one that has him acting as a very salty, rich man with no particular love for his fellow man.

In short, the MAGA revolution has not been quietly put to bed.

Trump sounds like a denizen of the John Birch Society, mixing conspiracy theories with a desire to return American Society to where it was before Franklin Roosevelt’s victory in 1932. It is to be William McKinley’s America, where capitalists ruled without restraint. As the great Cornelius Vanderbilt put it, “Law hain’t I got the power.”

The reaction of this second version of MAGA wipes away all populist pretense. The only thing it shares with that group is Trump’s fondness for gimmicks, mainly the Tariff. He hints that it will replace income tax as a source of revenue.

Trump flirts with cryptocurrency and endorses medicine show remedies. Eccentricity, evident in the People’s Party, also blurred the distinction between showmanship and statesmanship. “Sockless” Jerry Simpson, who refused to wear socks in Congress; Ignatius Donnelly, who denounced railroads as he took money from them; and Mary Elizabeth Lease, who shamelessly took profits by heralding the Populist cause.

There are problems that require sensible solutions, and Trump avoids them all. Bluster, brag, and pontifications do not end wars, lessen inflation, or anticipate events.

It is hoped that he does not place America into “a freeze” while he pursues a fanciful “golden age.”