The only thing less surprising than Trump’s triumph is the media’s surprise at the latter. With rare exceptions, our self-appointed national elites still do not understand the nature of the nation they claim to lead.
They think Americans are happy to see an economy that devalues manual labor and over-rewards intellectual labor.
They believe that Americans are increasingly demanding the dissolution of traditional norms, and that the sooner they are destroyed, the better.
They think Americans want to care more about people suffering abroad than about those struggling at home.
They believe that Americans are as obsessed with race and gender as they are, and that America is a country that oppresses diversity instead of celebrating and nurturing it.
They are wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong.
A promise still real
Americans who voted for Trump do not see his victory as the end of democracy; it is the perpetuation of the domination of elites over the economic and cultural life of the country which they consider to be the negation of democracy.
What do elites not understand in the phrase “All men are created equal”?
The American people know that this promise is both “obvious” and the beating heart of America.
The American people know today that this promise is real, even if its application remains imperfect (we are fallible human beings, after all).
Freedom and responsibility
The American people want what Americans have always wanted: a state strong enough to relieve them of the burdens they cannot rid themselves of, and then extricate them from there.
The American people see no contradiction between traditional norms and human freedom and diversity.
He wants freedom and responsibility.
The American people want a state that respects the livelihood of all Americans, not a state that showers the privileged classes with tax breaks and subsidies and crushes with taxes, regulations and contempt those who do not have no college degree.
He shares their values
Above all, the American people are tired of being told by those with high incomes and quiet lives that they lead an inferior life.
“All men are born equal”, that means equality of opportunity, equal treatment before the law, and the same respect for all.
Americans know that Trump, for all his faults, shares their values.
And they know that despite all their knowledge and all their power, this is essentially not the case for the media, elected officials in Washington and the intellectual classes.
Trump must unite
Trump would be wise to govern toughly, but not obtusely.
Let him keep his promises and confront his enemies, but also understand that many of those who oppose him today could be his allies tomorrow.
The greatest American presidents – Jefferson, Lincoln, Franklin Roosevelt, Reagan – were aware of this.
They all transformed a minority party into a force that dominated American politics for decades after their departure.
Trump and his future vice president, JD Vance, have the opportunity to pave the way for a fifth major realignment, which will build on the new Republican ascendancy at the polls to make a new American majority.
The revival of the American dream.
The Restoration of American Power.
Repairing our national divide.
Faith in America
All of this is now possible because the American people have kept their faith in America and rejected the siren song of the pedigreed aristocracy of Wall Street, the ivory towers, Hollywood and the mainstream media.
Freedom.
Responsibility.
Equality.
Possibility.
How wonderful it is to live right now in the most wonderful country in the world.
