Trump has zero to do with previous level of US hegemony. He represents what large part of Americans are - for internal reasons that have nothing to do with geopolitics.
Americans might not know their number is up explicitly, but they can smell it. The days of US hegemony are numbered. In one way or another, people get it. Why else would they want to Make America Great Again? It is an inherent recognition of decline.
Yes and no. The MAGA revolution is internally carried by the lower class not associated with and uninterested in geopolitics. In fact they believe in exceptionalism and don't understand why they feel exploited and don't know who is doing it. However it would not be possible politically if not tolerated by the upper class who is smelling decline (of their wealth), because competition has moved into their part of the value chain, so they do two things. One, they now support protectionism to shield from competition. Two, they wish to exploit the lower class harder, so they point them outwards to avoid a physical revolution or an amicable redistribution.
If you want to explain MAGA you have to understand it's a convenient alignment of the upper class and the lower class for different reasons.
I am deeply curious to see how people on the left will digest Trump if he doesn't get reined in by congress/wealthy people. I think a lot of them are going to be caught flatfooted if he gets his way with taxes (no income tax under $150k, no tax on tips), and if he gets his way with global trade restructuring (on shoring of blue collar work).
Trump is currently causing an earthquake on behalf of the middle-lower class. Maybe blue tinted glasses prevent them from seeing it, but right now he is definitely doing the opposite of "entrenching the power of billionaires and the elite".
Unfortunately, I believe that this is a severe miscalculation on Trumps part, as the "kill the billionaires" class seems to be much more fueled by anger than by rational understanding.
So much of the US government has been focused on maintaining the global hegemony, US citizens wellbeing was sacrificed.
Trump was elected in reaction to rising global hegemony, or at least the effort put to maintain it, not the end of it.
To say US hegemony is numbered doesn’t make much sense. The US economy has only pulled headed further from any Western rival, and China’s economy is stumbling to the point it’s questionable if it can grow enough before it’s population starts shrinking. Russia has been stagnant since the 1990’s.
If anything, US ability to project power is greater now than any time in the past.
> If anything, US ability to project power is greater now than any time in the past.
Absolutely not. It caved to Russia in the first place, it is weak against Russia. It WANTS to project power, but while doing so, it is showing itself crumbling into itself.
The US unwillingness to project power is a direct result of its current leadership. The US capability to project military force is, for better or for worse, pretty extreme in the global context. The ability to support a protracted conflict would depend on the support of the population, but it’s unwise to think that the current administration is a reflection of potential. When the court jester carries the sword, it’s a blunt and careless rod, but that same sword in the hands of a master is an instrument of lethal precision.
> Trump has zero to do with previous level of US hegemony.
> He represents what large part of Americans are - for internal reasons that have nothing to do with geopolitics.
No, it's all about geopolitics. Perhaps the most thorough analysis of the 2024 election concluded that Trump won 18-25 year old men (white + non-white). Trump did better among younger men than men 75+. Trump also won young white women. (See: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/18/opinion/ezra-klein-podcas...)
Whatever preconception you have about what motivates Trump voters, you're incorrect. MAGA is about the impending loss of America's stature due to immigration and free trade. It's all about geopolitics.
So the knee-jerk reaction is to knock it all down and speed up things while making literally every human in the world hate you?
Thats dumb to be polite but not surprising when considering where it comes from. Republicans simply can't admit their candidate is incompetent pos, superior ego thing or something. The incompetent part is what matters in this specific discussion, way worse than first term which was tampered by more reasonable people delegating actual tasks.
It was about inflation, prices, hate toward trans and immigration. That is judging based on pre-election topics. They did not cared about geopolitics.
> Whatever preconception you have about what motivates Trump voters
By a large, based on what they themselves say and write, they wanted to cause harm to their perceived enemies and have fun watching it. That is primary reason for why conservative and republican voters vote.
