The founding fathers baked reason, truth and free speech into the US. That's all gone now

The president’s actions go against the Enlightenment values that gave rise to the constitution. His might-is-right politics have nothing to offer Britain

- Will Hutton

The founding fathers of the USA - James Madison, Thomas Jefferson, Alexander Hamilton, Benjamin Franklin and more - were quintessential disciples of the European Enlightenment. Their intent was to embed Enlightenment values into the government and culture of the New World. America would be a republic of laws. Its constitution would ensure governance of the people, by the people, for the people. Through checked and balanced branches of government, it would expunge the possibility of monarchical discretionary power and inaugurate proper democracy.

It would celebrate all liberties, from freedom of speech to freedom of worship. Their belief in science “for the benefit of mankind in general”, in Franklin's words, would imbue the republic’s commitment to reason, the scientific method and the pursuit of truth. The dynamic economy and society that emerged, however imperfect, reflected those values. It has inspired billions and, for all its falls from grace, has been a force for good.

Donald Trump's presidency is deplored for everything from his unilateral imposition of swingeing tariffs to his public humiliation of Ukraine's president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and siding with Russia over the war. He is guilty of all those things, and of an impulsiveness and unpredictability as he seeks retribution, respect and, as he would put it, reciprocity. But this misses the larger point: he draws not only on a constituency that shares his views but also on a well-developed body of thought that wants a decisive rupture with those Enlightenment values and all that spring from them.