Is President Trump really a conservative or a liberal protectionist in favor of big government

Is President Trump really a conservative or a liberal protectionist in favor of government subsidies and tariffs? His actions against free trade have made many ponder this question. He has launched a tremendous campaign against trade deals such as the North American Trade Agreement (or NAFTA), the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), and the Korean Free Trade Agreement (KORUS). This protectionist rant is not new. In fact, sometimes independent, sometimes democrat, Senator Bernie Sanders has been standing against free trade since the 90s.

While not new to the self-proclaimed democratic socialist Sanders, this protectionist viewpoint is new to the Republican party. NAFTA is afterall tied to the party’s revered icon, President Ronald Reagan, and the 1989 US-Canada Free Trade. Ironically, Reagan spoke out against protectionism in a radio address as he promoted free trade between the US and Canada.

Trump’s trade policy is in direct contradiction to longtime Republican mega-donor Charles Koch. In a recent meeting of his conservative group, he stated, ““The urge to protect ourselves from change has doomed many countries throughout history. This protectionist mindset has destroyed countless businesses.”

“We’re seeing a rise in protectionism, where countries, organizations and individuals are trying to protect themselves from these changes. They’re doing whatever they can to close themselves off from the new, to hold onto the past and to prevent change. This is a natural tendency, but it’s a destructive one because when people act in protectionist ways, they erect barriers, which makes everyone worse off.”

In the past Sanders has claimed that wealthy entrepreneurs like Koch and other corporations are the only Americans who benefit from free trade.

Trump pretty much admitted in his 2016 campaign that he was singing the same protectionist song as Sanders.

The Koch organization did not get behind Trump during his campaign, perhaps due to his protectionists viewpoints.

But as of now Trump is sticking to his promise to stand independently and be his own man. And it appears that currently the majority of the Republican party is standing behind him, while party decent is arising regarding these trade behaviors. But what will this strong Republican donation force, led by the Koch brothers, do to these presidential actions on trade in the future? Trump has claimed paradoxically that he is engaging in higher tariffs with our neighbors in an effort to eventually reduce them…or eliminate them all together….some form of bargaining that will end with a better form of these trade deals in the future.

Negotiating better trade deals is an argument that can be supported within the Republican ideology. The question remains, is Trump a Sanders-like protectionist or a Republican? Time will tell. Hopefully he is a great negotiator and deal maker, and can some how broker a trade deal with our trading partners that is better than the current deals in place. If he can do this he will prove that he is truly a Republican. But if he continues to protect industry through tariffs and bailouts, he will embrace protectionist ideals that the greatest of Republicans, Ronald Reagan, would no doubt object to.