A Chris Caldwell article is always a stimulating read, and that includes the new one that MBD has already flagged declaring the Trump movement over.

It has already occasioned some comment, with the main critical themes being:

1) Caldwell is wrong to think there ever was a “Trumpism” consisting of anything beyond what the man himself supports at any given moment. Caldwell writes, “The attack on Iran is so wildly inconsistent with the wishes of his own base.” That’s not what the polls show. Nick Catoggio puts the point brutally:

Trump has disappointed his base on Iran only if you define his “base” as the postliberal intelligentsia. Caldwell’s claim reminds me of the old jab about how principled conservatism circa 2015 turned out to consist of little more than six guys debating each other in the Weekly Standard break room. In 2026, principled “America First-ism”........

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