Why Trump's brand of nationalism works

Donald Trump strutted on the European stage last week and, it seems to me, put in a boffo performance. He wore white tie and tails. He charmed Queen Elizabeth. He gave the heroes of Normandy what may be, sadly, their final curtain call.

Beyond the theatrics, he signified something. His speech commemorating the 75th anniversary of the D-Day invasion at Normandy included a robust defense of nationalism — the kind of nationalism, he explicitly argued, that won World War II; the kind of nationalism, he implicitly argued, that will be necessary to defeat those waging a war against the West today.

Let me back up for a moment to make sure you’re seeing the big picture. On the left, nationalism has become a dirty word, implying nothing less than proto-fascism.

In Paris last November, at ceremonies commemorating the World War I Armistice, French President Emmanuel Macron called nationalism “a betrayal of patriotism,” and “the opposite of patriotism.”

He went on to explain (more or less) that, “By pursuing our own interests first, with no regard to others, we erase the very thing that a nation holds most precious, that which gives it life and makes it great: its moral values.” President Trump, sitting a few feet away, stared, stony-faced, into the middle distance.
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