A petty-bourgeois movement serving the imperialist bourgeoisie, Trump has betrayed his base: $40 trillion debt, spiraling energy prices, and a self-inflicted Iran quagmire.
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The disastrous policies of Donald Trump’s current term are accelerating the crisis at the heart of the world capitalist system. The magnate has always been characterized by his criticism of the American political regime, his defense of “America First,” and, therefore, by his declared opposition to the principal interests of imperialism. These positions earned him broad popular support, not only from the small bourgeoisie with conservative ideas, but also from wide sectors of the proletariat – including some who had traditionally identified with the left.
Trump, however, has never managed to put his ideas into practice. Concrete reality is an overwhelming force against which the intentions of individuals can do little or nothing.
As president, he oscillates between making decisions based on his own political outlook and adopting measures that contradict everything he once advocated. Trump cannot free himself from the tutelage of those who control the American regime.
The essence of these contradictions lies precisely in the class character of Trumpism. It is a typically petty-bourgeois movement. In the case of the United States, sectors of the bourgeoisie that have been heavily harmed by neoliberal policies – and therefore by the unfair competition of the world’s largest corporations – must also be considered part of this petty-bourgeois phenomenon. The petty bourgeoisie is a class that floats amid the irreconcilable opposition between workers and the great imperialist bourgeoisie. It has no real independence and follows whichever class appears stronger in defeating its antagonist.
The Trump administration must be analyzed through the lens of these class contradictions. Since Trumpism is not an independent movement, it yields to pressures from both sides. When these pressures become sufficiently acute, it will disintegrate.
We are already witnessing the beginning of this disintegration. Trump’s base is becoming increasingly divided. By increasingly serving the interests of imperialism, Trump pleases one segment of those who supported him – the wealthier and more dominant sector. However, numerically speaking, this group is a minority compared to the mass of Trump supporters composed of small business owners, self-employed professionals, farmers, urban workers, and the unemployed. By attempting to preserve the profits of the imperialist bourgeoisie, Trump inevitably attacks the other pole of Trumpism.
Instead of achieving an economic recovery that would reduce unemployment, reindustrialize the country, and raise wages, Trump’s subservience to the dictates of the big bourgeoisie is deepening the economic crisis in the United States. The national debt has reached an unprecedented $40 trillion for the first time in history. The energy crisis continues to worsen, with gasoline prices rising exponentially while diesel prices approach a historic record.
To some extent, this is a consequence of the war launched by the United States against Iran, which was seen as a betrayal by Trump voters who had believed his anti-interventionist rhetoric. Not even the seizure of Venezuelan oil – through bombings and the kidnapping of a president – which further reinforced the sense of frustration among part of the MAGA movement, is likely to save the American oil market.
The aggression against Iran was a self-inflicted wound. Trump believed he could settle accounts with the Iranians quickly, but instead became trapped in a quagmire from which he has yet to escape. Beyond the immediate economic consequences, there has been clear damage to the imperialist war machine and to its domination of the Middle East. By yielding to the pressures of Israel – which are, in reality, the pressures of imperialism seeking to protect its most important proxy in the world, a strategic outpost controlling international trade and the natural wealth of the region – Trump also destroyed what remained of his reputation as a “nationalist.”
Politicians and influencers who had already opposed the ambiguous stance of his administration regarding the war in Ukraine realized that the attack on Iran to protect Israel was the last straw. Tucker Carlson, Marjorie Taylor Greene, and even Charlie Kirk should be viewed not merely as the extremes of this phenomenon of discontent, but as representatives of a latent revolt of considerable proportions against the direction taken by Trumpist politics. They are merely the visible face of a movement with millions of followers. Their positions reflect the sentiments of millions of Americans disillusioned with Trump. Thomas Massie and Rand Paul, although they have not gone as far as Marjorie Taylor Greene, also express the magnitude of grassroots pressure on the leadership of Trumpism.
American public opinion regarding Israel since the beginning of the genocide in Gaza is revealing. Never before has the American people been so opposed to Zionism and so sympathetic to Palestine. The Biden administration’s sponsorship of and complicity in the genocide was an important factor in Kamala Harris’s defeat, as she was viewed as the continuation of Biden’s policies, having served as his vice president. A January 2025 poll showed that nearly one in three voters who supported Biden in 2020 refused to vote for Harris in 2024 because of support for Israel. The poll did not measure it, but it is certain that a number of Democratic voters cast their ballots for Trump as a form of protest, believing that under him things would be different. This becomes apparent when one considers that popular Democratic politicians critical of the Deep State and imperialist policy, such as Robert Kennedy Jr. and Tulsi Gabbard, joined the Trump administration. Gabbard herself is also among those dissatisfied with Trump’s foreign policy and was consequently marginalized within the administration. Kennedy has not yet experienced major public clashes because his focus lies on issues largely unrelated to foreign policy.
Even among traditional Trump supporters, antagonism toward Israel and support for Palestine have been growing. Because the war in Gaza – of which the war against Iran is an extension – is one of the most important geopolitical phenomena of recent decades, a watershed in international politics and even in the domestic politics of individual countries, it is symptomatic of the transformations occurring within the domination of the capitalist regime. The crisis at the top is beginning to generate movement at the bottom.
To be clear: a significant portion of the American people is moving to the left, toward positions of direct confrontation with the bourgeoisie and toward an independent political orientation centered on the historic demands of workers. This phenomenon encompasses both Democrats and Republicans – and it finds its strongest resonance among Trump supporters, who, despite other prejudices, more readily overcome identity politics and the quasi-religious belief in imperial democracy and the decaying institutions of the political regime.
