Donald Trump and his peculiar kind of national populism did not emerge as a deus ex machina, but has reasons, roots and realities that explain it, however insane and “un- American” it might look to many observers. Some of these are historical, some rooted in the political philosophy of the American nationstate, some are related to the domestic “glue” and cohesiveness of US society and others have more to do with the reaction of the (former?) global superpower to changing conditions of existence in a world where its preeminence is threatened by, especially, China and other “eastern” powers as well (India, Vietnam, Thailand, S. Korea, etc.).

Populism, if only just by name, is by no means foreign to the United States, its history and politics. But it has now transmuted into a serious and menacing challenge to the traditional liberal establishment in the United States (political and economic), and— on the analysis of countless scholars— to American democracy, institutions and “checks and balances” between the executive, judiciary and legislative branches (see, e.g., Levitsky and Ziblatt 2018; Luce 2018; Mounk 2018; Runciman 2018; Norris and Inglehart 2019). It claims itself, on the other hand, to be on a mission of rescuing the United States from the dangers of the global elites and the liberal media, from globalization, from immigrant invasions and from external threats emanating from Iran, North Korea, China, Russia, even the EU— with the purpose of restoring “greatness” to the United States. “America First” is the slogan of the populists, in the name of “the People,” which means about 50 percent of the population. The rest are not worth taking seriously and are therefore ridiculed, vilified and branded as defectors from and traitors to the national cause or, at best, manipulated by the “fake news” of the dominant media (NYT, CNN, Washington Post, NBC and so forth).