The Reagan Foundation Rejects Donald Trump

The Reagan Foundation and Institute that manages the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library has declined to invite the non-conservative Donald Trump to speak at the presidential center for the conservative President. A member of the Board of Trustees said that many things Trump did and said were “not consistent with the Reagan philosophy.” President Ronald Reagan’s cheerful optimism and willingness to work with the opposition party congenially, versus the extreme stridency of Trump were cited as a difference. The Reagan Foundation earlier this month joined the statement lead by the Presidential Foundation of another conservative Republican President, George W. Bush, that I posted about against threats to civility, liberty and representative government, which was a thinly veiled response to Trumpism. Trumpism is a populist mix of ideas, including acceptance of authoritarianism, as opposed to the independence of the judiciary, the rule of law, and constitutional principles such as the separation of powers and States’ rights. President Reagan, whose opponents Donald Trump had donated to, was in favor of such principles and freedom, and opposed to dictatorship. Three other main Trumpist ideas are the direct opposite of Reagan-Thatcher conservatism: 1) protectionism, which is a tax increase on imports to protect domestic production and is thus against free market competition; 2) isolationism, which opposes the defense of American principles, interests and security abroad as part of the defense of the independence and sovereignty of the United States; and 3) nativism, which is based on hatred or exaggerated fears of migrants, including refugees seeking asylum from persecution, instead of proudly recognizing the attraction of universal ideas like equality, liberty and representative government in America and the contributions of those who come here who appreciate freedom and pursue the American Dream.