The new party of protectionism

The GOP has a tough-talking new boss. And he doesn't much care for the elite free-marketeers.

An elephant behind a fence.
(Image credit: Illustrated | Tom Grundy / Alamy Stock Photo, Gerry Pearce / Alamy Stock Photo)

Republican lawmakers are not happy with President Trump's decision to slap tariffs on imported steel and aluminum. Their public reactions as Trump begins to translate his protectionist campaign rhetoric into actual trade policy have ranged from the politely restrained ("I disagree with this action," said House Speaker Paul Ryan) to the scathing ("Nuts," lamented Sen. Ben Sasse).

But the problem is bigger than Trump taking positions on trade that most conservative elites find economically illiterate and a large portion of the Republican base siding, at least until they have to pay more for a six pack of beer, with the president. The dilemma for believers in free markets and limited government is that the only American political coalition that has ever proven capable of advancing these ideals is increasingly made up of people whose ideological commitments to things like free trade and Ryan-style entitlement reform are tenuous at best.

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W. James Antle III

W. James Antle III is the politics editor of the Washington Examiner, the former editor of The American Conservative, and author of Devouring Freedom: Can Big Government Ever Be Stopped?.