Opinion

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Trump rejects traditional conservatism, embraces a Republican version of socialism

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by A. Scott Bolden, opinion contributor - 05/10/26 12:00 PM ET

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by A. Scott Bolden, opinion contributor - 05/10/26 12:00 PM ET

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President Donald Trump speaks to reporters as he walks to board Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House, Friday, May 8, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

Republicans have denounced Democrats as socialists and communists since the 1930s. President Trump has frequently joined the chorus, such as when he said in 2019: “A vote for any Democrat in 2020 is a vote for the rise of radical socialism and the destruction of the American Dream.”

Yet despite his hyperbolic rhetoric, Trump has abandoned key conservative principles that Republicans have long espoused and instead adopted some socialist positions.

Today’s Republican Party has been hijacked and transformed by Trump.

For generations, Republicans have advocated for small government, free market capitalism with minimal government interference, free trade and low taxes. Republican President Ronald Reagan summarized this philosophy when he said in his 1981 Inaugural Address that “government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem.”

But Trump has expanded presidential powers in ways that would appall Reagan, threatening our freedoms, interfering in businesses and the free market in an unprecedented manner, and imposing tariffs that are the antithesis of free trade and function as a regressive national sales tax on Americans.

Trump has used his position as president to supersize government to satisfy his thirst for power, fame and greater wealth. He has weaponized government to harm individuals, groups and nations he opposes; dominate the news to satisfy his gigantic ego; and monetize the presidency.

America’s founders feared a leader like Trump becoming a king, and so approved a Constitution that divided power between three co-equal branches of government: the presidency, Congress and the courts.

Unfortunately, the checks and balances limiting presidential power have broken down under Trump, because Republican congressional majorities — along with the Republican appointees who dominate the Supreme Court — have usually allowed Trump to do whatever he wants.

There are too many examples of Trump’s brand of socialism to list, but here are a few, compiled by the libertarian Cato Institute, which labels them “a hybrid between socialism and capitalism.”

- Trump required tech giant Intel to give the government 10 percent of its stock to receive $9 billion in federal grants approved by Congress during the administration of President Joe Biden. Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) objected, warning: “If conservatives endorse this now, they hand Democrats a blueprint to expand government ownership over the private sector later. Socialism is literally government control of the means of production,”

- Trump approved Nippon Steel’s $14.9 billion purchase of US Steel only after the Japanese company agreed to give him the power to veto major actions by US Steel.

- The president required AI chip manufacturers Nvidia and AMD to give the U.S. government 15 percent of the revenue they generate from the sale of chips to China, in return for his approval of licenses to export the chips.

Trump has also used the presidency to collect money and interfere in the operations of media companies, ignoring the freedom of the press guaranteed by the Constitution’s First Amendment. You expect such actions in a socialist or communist dictatorship — not in America.

Trump filed frivolous defamation lawsuits against ABC and CBS that would likely have failed if they had come to trial. But ABC agreed in 2024 to settle with Trump for $16 million and CBS agreed in 2025 to settle for the same amount, with the payments going to help create a Trump presidential library and pay Trump’s legal fees.

Trump is continuing to pursue weak lawsuits seeking tens of billions of dollars from The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The Des Moines Register, CNN and the BBC. While he is unlikely to win the lawsuits, they harass and intimidate news organizations, saddling them with big legal defense bills.

In addition, Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr has been applauded by Trump for threatening the broadcast licenses of TV stations that carry reports Trump dislikes about the war against Iran, along with talk shows the president dislikes.

While democratic socialists — most notably New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani — have won elections in some progressive enclaves, a Gallup poll published last September found that 57 percent of Americans hold a negative view of socialism.

Democrats s