If Trump is Reagan's heir, US conservatism is dead

As thin-skinned as ever, Donald Trump has taken umbrage at Canada's province of Ontario, for faithfully quoting his Republican predecessor Ronald Reagan, an icon of US conservatism, as saying tariffs “hurt every American”.

- MICHAEL DAY

Trump will never pass up the chance to beat his chest and throw shade on anyone who dares to cross him. In response, he thundered that the quotation was “FAKE” and “egregious”. He added that trade talks with Canada were “HEREBY TERMINATED”. Trump had already slapped a 35 per cent tariff on many Canadian imports.

Whatever Trump says, in his 1987 speech, Reagan noted “the way to prosperity for all nations is rejecting protectionist legislation and promoting free and fair competition”. He would be aghast at Trump’s crude protectionism. Indeed, Reagan would be spinning in his grave because Trump trashes much of what conservatives have held dear.

All American conservatives should be horrified. But where are they? How can a country that rose to global dominance on its commitment to free markets and the rule of law have so few real conservatives ready to speak out in its hour of need?

American primacy was built on the very things Trump is dismantling, first among them, the rule of law. Respect for the rules has, historically, encouraged foreign companies to invest in the US with confidence: business contracts and property rights will be honoured, and enforced by an impartial judiciary.

But Trump and his team are acting like the worst leftist regimes. Masked government agents are wrongly abducting South Korean workers and inhumanely jailing them, before releasing and deporting them. Its highest tribunal, an absurdly politicised Supreme Court, appears ready to rubber stamp nearly any appeal Trump puts before it.