Trump is abandoning Ronald Reagan's legacy

In foreign policy, Reagan believed in the importance of a strong, U.S.-led West and recognized the value of our NATO allies. He was a staunch anti-communist and determined to do everything he reasonably could, not only to win the war of ideas with collectivism, but also to roll back communist rule.

No moment expressed this better than Reagan's speech at the Brandenburg Gate in June 1987, in which he inspired freedom-loving people around the world by saying, “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!” Similarly, when Poland declared martial law in December 1981, Reagan imposed economic sanctions in response.

Domestically, while Reagan pressured Japanese automakers to agree to voluntary restrictions on their auto exports to that country, he was largely a staunch supporter of free market economics and free trade.

“Our trade policy rests firmly on the foundation of free and open markets,” he remarked in 1985, adding that history has taught that “the freer the flow of world trade, the stronger the tides of human progress and peace among nations.”

Under Reagan and for decades, the Republican Party expressed its deep belief in the importance of presidential character and the essentiality of the rule of law.

And while Reagan largely respected the party's supposed commitment to fiscal discipline in fractions, he worked with Democratic Speaker Tip O'Neill on an agreement that put Social Security on a secure footing for decades.

This across-the-aisle compromise ethic speaks to a larger truth about our 40th president: He was able to strongly disagree without demonizing or even rejecting his opponents. They quarreled over public matters, but Reagan maintained a friendly relationship with O'Neill. And while Reagan resorted to big speeches to feel the heat in Congress when he wasn't seeing the light, he didn't aim to deeply and permanently divide the nation. Rather, he hoped to unite the country around his ideas and ideals.

Now let’s look at Donald Trump and his GOP. Trump openly admires and praises autocrats such as North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un, Chinese martinet Xi Jinping and Russian Tsar Vladimir Putin. Last week he praised Xi as “a brilliant guy” and noted admiringly that “he controls 1.4 billion people with an iron fist.” He has praised Putin's military and propaganda maneuvers to invade and dismember Ukraine as “brilliant” and “smart.”

Trump has made it clear that he sees little or no intrinsic value for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. In fact, he said Putin and Russia “can do whatever they want” with members that fail to meet their NATO spending commitments.

On trade, Trump has become an avid protectionist and ardent supporter of tariffs. In this campaign, he has vowed to impose a 60 percent tariff on Chinese goods as well as base tariffs of up to 20 percent on all other imports, trade tariffs that the Tax Policy Center estimates would cost American households an average of $3,000 annually. Given his repeated threats to punish American companies that move production out of this country, he cannot be said to respect free markets. Rather, he imagines himself controlling the levers of a system of politically enforced crony capitalism.

After his previous attempts to pressure government agencies to take action against his political rivals and critics, and his repeated suggestions that he might do so again, Trump appears to have little regard for the rule of law. His recent labeling of political opponents as “enemies from within” adds an exclamation point to this reality.

Unlike Reagan, Trump hardly claims to be a unifying figure. A demagogic conservative populist, he uses resentment and division as his preferred political tools.

Where Trump can claim to resemble Reagan is on the issue of abortion. However, although Reagan opposed abortion rights, he did not make this a litmus test for his Supreme Court nominees. Trump did – fulfilling his promise to overrule Roe v. to overthrow Wade.

So Trump's political movement is radically different from Reagan's GOP. The name on the rusty hull may read “USS Republican Party,” but this is a ghost ship sailing under a flag of convenience. His goal is not the shining “city on a hill” that Reagan loved to celebrate, but the dark, resentful dystopia of MAGA country.

Arriving there would be tragic for America.

Scot Lehigh is a Globe columnist. He can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him @GlobeScotLehigh.