Given the turmoil of Donald Trump’s second term, it might be useful to inquire about MAGA’s “populism”. The actions of the administration reflect no populist concerns; indeed, the opposite is true. If Richard Hofstadter once called John C. Calhoun the “Marx of the Master Class” it would seem that Trump is a populist of the same stripe.

As in the first administration, Trump has given billions in tax cuts to his beloved Mar-a-Lago set. Moreover, his disastrous tariffs have only further burdened the middle and lower classes with yet another regressive tax. The only thing that seems vaguely populist is Trump’s cruel and crude vaudeville act. He appeals to conservative voters, but I doubt even they are comfortable with his explorations of the limits of bad taste.

But one of the more unpleasant sides of the populist persuasion is its dependence on strong personalities. Trump filled the bill with more savvy than he currently displays. No longer does he denounce “forever wars” or defend the social safety net. If he is a populist, it is closer to Robert Welch’s old John Birch Society than it was in 2017. Project 2025 proposes dissolving the only protections the vulnerable have, and Trump is fine with these proposals. For him, vulgar comments represent the remnants of Trump in the 2024 campaign.

Despite the populist Steve Bannon, MAGA is vague about the people. If vulgarity characterizes the Trumpian version of people power, Bannon’s hawking of Birch Gold and other schemes is his idea of populism. Certainly, William Jennings Bryan, who thought that the United States and the world would be “crucified on a cross of gold,” would not have approved of Trump or Bannon’s version of populism. If nothing else, MAGA is nativist with a smidgen of populism added for voter appeal.

Certainly, so-called “common man” presidents such as Andrew Jackson, Woodrow Wilson, and Franklin Roosevelt gave rhetorical comfort but fewer results; corporate America was the real winner in each case. Jackson, who Trump most resembles, gave every indication that he was a soft-money man before he issued the Specie Circular, which favored hard money, i.e., gold and silver for payment for public land purchases. But Jackson was not vindictive; despite his dislike of John Marshall’s judicial decision, he remained cordial with the Chief Justice. Wilson’s contribution was to throw Socialist leader Eugene Debs in jail for opposing America’s entry into WW I.

Huey Long and George Wallace are where comparisons with Trump get sharper. Long shared with the President a love for deriding his opponents in a savage fashion. The difference is that Long delivered on his populist promises, and Trump fell short. However, they both changed the executive mansions. Long destroyed the old Louisiana mansion; Trump simply disfigured the White House. George Wallace compares with Trump in that he used race in the same way the president exploits immigration. Like Trump, Wallace did not deliver on his populism. MAGA seems to be heading the same direction where it loves populist ideas only when they serve cynical designs.