What if I were to tell you that not long ago — maybe 30 or 40 years in the past — there was a political party in America ideologically devoted to protecting the rule of law, restricting the power of the executive branch and limiting the intrusion of the federal government into the free market. This same party was supportive of free trade, immigration, a strong national defense and muscular internationalism.
Could you figure out which party I was describing?
Those too young to have come of age in the era of Ronald Reagan will likely be surprised to discover that I’m talking about the Republican Party.
Two generations ago, the Republican Party was the party of free trade.
The makeover — of the modern Republican Party into the “cult devoted To Donald Trump” is not a new story. But, in the context of the president’s current trade war, the evolution of the Republican Party (some might say devolution) from an ideologically conservative party to one defined, from a policy perspective, largely by economic and social populism is one of the most extraordinary party transformations in modern political history.
True story: Two generations ago, the Republican Party was the party of free trade, and the Democrats were the party of protectionism. The latter is still evident in the reluctance of some Democratic politicians to criticize Trump’s imposition of tariffs. Republicans voiced a clear preference for stability, predictability, and tradition, along with an aversion to radicalism. The DOGE philosophy of “move fast and break things” might have caused William F. Buckley to roll over in his grave.
The GOP’s actual practice of conservatism has always been, to put it mildly, inconsistent. Self-described conservative Republican presidents never actually shrank the size of government, often intervened in the economy, generally expanded the powers of the president, and frequently infringed on political and personal freedom. But the gap between conservative rhetoric and the reality of Trump’s second term has reached Grand Canyon-like proportions.
Over the past month, Trump, the GOP standard bearer for three straight elections, has arguably meddled more aggressively in the U.S. economy than any president of any party in American history. In the process, he’s fostered the kind of economic and political uncertainty that Republicans used to rail against.
This week, when asked by Time Magazine about the status of trade talks with China, Trump said, “I am this giant store. It’s a giant, beautiful store, and everybody wants to go shopping there. And on behalf of the American people, I own the store, and I set prices, and I’ll say, if you want to shop here, this is what you have to pay.”
It’s hard to imagine a statement more anathema to Republicans’ oft-stated belief in the efficacy of the free market. A party that long railed against the government picking economic winners and losers is supporting a president who is doing precisely that.
Trump has arguably meddled more aggressively in the U.S. economy than any president of any party in American history.
Indeed, the haphazard nature of Trump’s trade war is allowing well-connected companies to successfully lobby the government to ensure their products are exempted from tariffs. First, it was Apple and semiconductor companies who coaxed an exemption for their goods out of Trump. Next, after companies like Walmart and Target warned of empty shelves at their stores, Trump said the current 145% tariffs on Chinese goods will soon “come down substantially.”
Then there are the less well-known companies, such as manufacturers of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) resin, which is used to make plastic bottles. They received a tariff exemption for reasons that are unclear. However, ProPublica reports that the exemption “is a win for Reyes Holdings, a Coca-Cola bottler that ranks among the largest privately held companies in the U.S. and is owned by a pair of brothers who have donated millions of dollars to Republican causes. Records show the company recently hired a lobbying firm with close ties to the Trump White House to make its case on tariffs” (Neither Reyes Holdings, its lobbyists nor the White House responded to ProPublica’s questions). The seeking of exemptions is so ripe for corruption that even the conservative Wall Street Journal editorial page called the process “the Beltway Swamp’s dream.” “Welcome to the new tariff economy,” says the paper’s editorial board, “where you still pay onerous taxes, endure punishing regulation, and now must also navigate the political minefield of arbitrary tariffs.” It’s no surprise that the Journal’s editorial writers would advocate for free-market economic policies. They’ve been doing that for years. What’s different now is that the rhetorical fealty to conservative ideology that once defined the Republican Party no longer exists. The Journal once stood at the forefront of the GOP’s governing philosophy — in 2025, it’s been left in the dust. Dictating to private universities what they can teach, denying due process, thumbing its nose at court orders, and the rule of law — all of these Trump “policies” should be anathema to conservatives. The party that once described America as a “shining city on a hill” and trumpeted America’s global leadership role has now become a virtual handmaiden of Vladimir Putin and a party of belligerent isolationists. Trump’s GOP bears more similarities to the Republican Party of the 1920s and 30s, rather than the Republican Party of the past 70 years. The irony of all this is that much of what Trump is doing in office is what Republicans said would result from overbearing, big government and an executive branch unchecked by norms and laws — or, in simpler terms, from electing Democrats. In its fealty to Trump — the Republican Party has become the governing monster that it once warned Americans about. Republicans still define themselves as conservatives, but they have discarded any notion of actual conservatism. The GOP is the party of Trump — and defined not by ideology, but rather clownish cultism.
Michael A. Cohen is a political writer and a fellow with the Eurasia Group Foundation. 
