Most of the people who use the phrase “America First” do so emotively, as a way to indicate that they like or dislike something. They will use this phrase, for example, when dismissing something or someone from the left. Alternatively, they will use it as a way to restate allegiance to their cause. “I’m America First” reduces to “I’m on the side of the good guys and those people are the bad guys.” Beyond this basic political signaling the phrase has little meaning for the users.

This is not true of everyone. Trump and his more reliable supporters use the phrase to mean a radical reorientation of the political class. What Trump means when he says he wants an “American First” foreign policy, for example, is that he looks at foreign policy in service to his domestic policy. The same is true with trade. He promotes the use of tariffs, for example, because he thinks about trade as a means to an end and that end is the promotion of the American domestic economy.

The radicalism of this gets lost because both sides of the political class have mischaracterized these positions for half a century. So-called conservatives talk about “free trade”, a thing that does not exist, as enlightened policy, while tariffs are slandered as isolationism and central planning. The left now promotes endless wars around the globe as a necessary duty of the American government, even if it comes with a heavy cost to the American people.

One reason that government policy now feels anti-white is because it generally feels anti-American, but in reality, it is simply indifferent to white Americans. The thing that has consumed the Biden presidency has been Ukraine, followed by the endless wars in the Levant, and then their escalations with China. Whenever the concerns of white people come up, they are blasted with the tired old slogans that are simply meant to dismiss the concerns of the majority population.

Immigration is another example. The logic behind open borders is not that it is good for the native population, but that the people enabling it are doing a good deed for these foreigners and humanity in general. While much of it is driven by spite and ingratitude, the underlying cause is indifference to domestic concerns. For the typical person in the political system, the concerns of average Americans matter only in so far that they have an impact on these cosmopolitan projects.

This is why the usual suspects screech in horror at Trump. He is a threat not just to their specific schemes but to the framework in which they operate. For example, he looks at Ukraine and asks why Americans are paying for it. If the Europeans want to make war with each other, according to Trump, they should pay for it. In other words, he looks at the Ukraine situation purely in terms of domestic economics. The starting question for Trump is “how is this good for Americans?”

This is most obvious in his statements regarding Taiwan. In a recent interview Trump pointed out that Taiwan is rich mostly because of America, so they should pay for their own defense against China. He also criticized prior administrations for allowing Taiwan to corner the market on high end computer chips. Trump feels no moral or emotional commitment to Taiwan. For him, it is just another transactional relationship that is either good or bad for Americans.

Even with regards to Israel, the area where Trump gets most criticized by dissidents, his view is purely transactional. He looks at Israel as part of the greater Jewish lobby in America, so he treats it as such. The Jews have a lot of money and power, so Trump caters to them in the same way he caters to other powerful interests. If Evangelicals stop worshipping Jewish people, Trump will be less enthusiastic for Israel, because Israel stops being important domestically.

J.D. Vance also takes this transactional view of trade and foreign policy, which is why the usual suspects detest him. When asked about Ukraine during his senate run, he shrugged and asked why anyone cares about Ukraine. Vance has also talked about using tariffs as a way to bring manufacturing back, as well as a way to boost the American economy in general. This kind of talk around the usual suspects is like wearing garlic around a vampire.

The reason this terrifies official Washington is that all of their projects and therebefore their reason to exist rest on the assertion that overseas concerns are paramount because they serve the interest of the empire. If politics moves to a debate about what is and what is not good for the American people, suddenly these schemes not only stop making sense, but they also sound un-American. Project Ukraine, for example, is exactly what Washington warned about in his farewell address.

That is the root of the rage we see in the political class. Trump and now Vance signal a shift back to an older form of politics where candidates promised a chicken in every pot and two cars in every garage. This is antithetical to the cosmopolitical politics that have dominated for at least the last thirty years. A successful politician of old actually had to know something about chickens, pots and cars. Contrast that to now when politicians take pride in having no practical knowledge.

None of this should lead to a celebration. The odds of Trump winning are not good, despite all of the good things breaking his way. The mere fact that he is in a close race with a nursing home patient shows how much damage has been done to the self-respect and intelligence of the voting public. Even if Trump wins, the political machine will simply work harder to undermine his efforts. The usual suspects are terribly smart but hey never take no for an answer.

Even so, this all points to the problem with empire. All empires are eventually controlled by an alien elite that parasites off the people who made the empire. As the cost of empire exceeds the benefit of the empire, the people at the top begin to hollow out that which makes them possible. In this regard, the Trump – Vance ticket is a symptom and a warning of what lies ahead. Either the reformist elements of the oligarchy embrace America First, or something much worse than Trump comes next.

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