Tucker Carlson speaking at the 2023 AmericaFest in Phoenix, Arizona. Photo by Gage Skidmore/Flickr.

Donald Trump and his key supporters have long promoted an “anti-globalist” perspective wrapped in a racist and narrowly nationalistic message aimed at the MAGA base. The refrain is that the US has shouldered the burden of international responsibilities for far too long, including costly involvement in globalist wars. Thus, the faithful are told that it is time to seal the borders, carry out mass deportations, restore the industrial base and make America great (read proudly white) again.

It has become very clear that a substantial gulf exists between these notions of reactionary isolationism and the brand of America First gangster imperialism that the second Trump administration actually embodies. Yet, this isolationist backlash, which is hailed by some prominent figures and has even gone over to criticism of slavish support for Israel, remains an ugly and dangerous right-wing current that no self-respecting leftist should welcome much less ally themselves with.

Refocused imperialism

Writing in the Guardian, Mohamad Bazzi has rightly pointed out that “Donald Trump, the self-proclaimed ‘candidate of peace,’ is just as eager to start new wars.” This despite Trump’s pronouncement, upon winning his second term in office, that “We will measure our success not only by the battles we win but also by the wars that we end—and perhaps most importantly, the wars we never get into.”

During his first year in office Trump bombed seven countries, and the present moment is dominated by the regional and global ramifications of the so-called war of choice that he launched against Iran. This failed venture involved the largest deployment of US military power in the Middle East since the war of aggression against Iraq in 2003.

Trump and his inner circle are actually serious about a break with globalism in that they wish to abandon the decades-long US role as the cornerstone of the ‘rules-based’ world order and pursue their objectives with little concern for consequences or global stability. This, however, does not mean a curtailment of the predatory role of the US in the world or a reduced readiness to back this up with military force.

As last November’s US National Security Strategy, compiled by the Trump administration, maintains, “The days of the United States propping up the entire world order like Atlas are over.” In this regard, the document sets out a plan for a refocused agenda of domination that........

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