Trump’s Promises Are Worthless

Jonathan Chait: “Other than admiring dictators in general and Russian dictators in particular, Trump has almost no consistent policy principles. He’s repeatedly reversed his positions even after using them to great political effect. In 2016, he promised to raise taxes on the rich and expand health-care coverage to everybody, and then in office he pursued the opposite of both goals.”

“More recently, Trump supported a boycott of Bud Light and tried to force China to sell TikTok, and then he reversed both positions when vested financial interests made it lucrative for him to change his mind. What’s more, the pseudo-populist wing of the Republican party has currently stood behind maintaining retirement spending, but this is obviously them backfilling justifications for supporting Trump. The party’s self-styled populism is actually a Trump personality cult that will reliably follow any position he takes, and therefore not an impediment if he decides to attack the position they’ve been defending.”

“Trump will advance any position that seems it would help him politically or financially.”