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7 - President Trump: the end of neoliberalism?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 December 2025

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Summary

The election of Donald Trump to the US presidency was heralded in some circles as a working-class rejection of neoliberalism, in favour of a more authoritarian populism. This chapter evaluates the Trump presidency in the comparative light of what came before him, looking at the extent to which it continues, accentuates, or challenges neoliberal orthodoxy and the political-economic power of the business class. The chapter looks at President Trump’s cabinet appointments, to evaluate the extent to which his Executive branch represents a new political bloc, and at the effects of the administration’s tax, trade, environmental, natural resource, health, education, and electoral policies. The chapter argues that, with the exception of trade policy, Trump, whatever his motivations and despite elites’ condemnation of his vulgarity, is a product and continuation of the politics that precede him.

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