Trump as a constitutional originalist

OPINION:

President Trump is often portrayed as a disruption of the American political tradition — an outsider who shattered long-standing norms. Yet that interpretation may miss the larger historical context.

In important ways, Mr. Trump represents not a break from America’s founding principles but rather a return to them.

His political instincts, sometimes blunt, sometimes controversial, echo ideas that have shaped the United States since its birth: common sense over technocratic abstraction, national sovereignty over global management, and economic independence, patriotic confidence and a preference for conflict settlements or peacemaking to counter China’s systematic promotion and bankrolling of global conflicts.

At the center of Mr. Trump’s political appeal is something deceptively simple: common sense. Common sense has deep roots in American political culture.

The American Revolution was launched under that banner. Thomas Paine’s famous pamphlet urging independence from Britain was titled “Common Sense” for a reason. Paine’s argument was not built on complicated theory or elite philosophy. Written in plain language for ordinary people, it made the straightforward case that a distant monarchy ruling a continent-sized society made little sense.

Thomas Jefferson used a similar concept in the Declaration of Independence while describing America’s founding principles as “self-evident truths.”

That phrase is essentially the philosophical equivalent of common sense: ideas that do not require elaborate justification because ordinary people recognize them immediately.

Mr. Trump’s supporters often frame many of his policy positions in precisely those terms as modern “self-evident truths.” Among them: no biological men in women’s sports, requiring proof of citizenship to vote, imposing tougher penalties for violent crime, hiring based on merit in federal agencies, limiting gender transition procedures for minors, pursuing energy independence, insisting on reciprocal tariffs in trade and demanding fairer pricing for prescription drugs.

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Critics may disagree with these policies, but the rhetorical strategy is clear. Mr. Trump presents his agenda not as ideological experimentation but as practical, intuitive solutions to problems many voters believe elites have unnecessarily complicated.

Mr. Trump’s worldview also reflects another core principle of the American founding: the primacy of national sovereignty.

The Founding Fathers were deeply wary of allowing the young republic to become entangled in global power struggles. Jefferson argued that the United States should remain independent from Europe’s rivalries and act as a sovereign nation free from external domination. This did not mean isolation from the world. The Founders believed strongly in trade and diplomacy, but on terms that preserved American independence.

George Washington warned against permanent political alliances with foreign powers. Jefferson summarized the preferred approach with his famous line: “Peace, commerce, and honest friendship with all nations — entangling alliances with none.”

Washington’s Neutrality Proclamation of 1793 reflected this philosophy. The United States, he argued, should avoid involvement in foreign wars unless its own security was directly threatened.

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Economic independence was another priority. Alexander Hamilton’s “Report on Manufactures” in 1791 argued that the United States needed to develop its own industrial capacity rather than rely too heavily on foreign producers. Hamilton understood that political sovereignty ultimately depends on economic strength.

Mr. Trump’s emphasis on domestic manufacturing, supply chain security and reciprocal trade reflects a modern version of that same concern.

The Founders also deeply worried about foreign influence within the United States. Washington and James Madison warned that outside powers might attempt to manipulate American politics. More than two centuries later, those concerns remain relevant in an era of geopolitical rivalry and global information warfare.

Beyond policy details, Mr. Trump taps into something deeper in the American tradition: a strong belief in the uniqueness of the American experiment.

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The Founders believed they were attempting something unprecedented: a political system based not on hereditary privilege but rather on popular sovereignty and individual liberty.

The Constitution’s architecture, including separation of powers, checks and balances, and federalism, was designed to protect freedom by limiting the concentration of power. They also believed that the American example might inspire others around the world. The United States was not merely another country; it was a democratic experiment with universal significance.

Mr. Trump’s rhetoric frequently reflects this sense of national pride. In tone, it echoes earlier moments of American political leadership. President Reagan captured the same sentiment when he warned, “If we lose freedom here, there is no place to escape to. This is the last stand on earth.” Mr. Trump expressed a similar idea in his 2017 inaugural address: “We do not seek to impose our way of life on anyone, but rather to let it shine as an example for everyone to follow.”

In foreign policy, Mr. Trump has emphasized a principle long embedded in American diplomacy: fairness and reciprocity. Trade, in this view, should not be one-sided. If other countries impose tariffs on American goods, then the United States has every right to respond in kind.

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Mr. Trump has framed strategic competition with China as a defense of international fairness and freedom of navigation, particularly in critical waterways such as the South China Sea and the Taiwan Strait. From this perspective, the goal is not global domination but the preservation of open commerce and sovereign equality among nations.

Finally, Mr. Trump frequently describes himself as someone who prefers negotiation to endless conflict. He has said he would like his legacy to be that of a peacemaker.

That aspiration also fits within a long American tradition. Many U.S. military interventions, from World War I and World War II to the Cold War, were justified not only as acts of national defense but also as efforts to preserve global stability and prevent future wars.

Seen through this historical lens, Mr. Trump begins to look less like a political anomaly and more like a modern expression of an older American tradition rooted in common sense, national sovereignty, economic independence, patriotic confidence and the pursuit of global peace for equal opportunity in commerce.

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Whether one agrees with his policies or not, the deeper argument is difficult to dismiss: Trumpism, in this interpretation, is not an accident of history. It is part of a long American story.

• Miles Yu is the director of the China Center at the Hudson Institute. His “Red Horizon” column appears every other Tuesday in The Washington Times. He can be reached at mmilesyu@gmail.com.