What is "Trumpism"?

            “Not that I condone fascism; or any –ism for that matter. –Isms, in my opinion, are not good. A person should not believe in an –ism, he should believe in himself.” This quotation, from Ferris Bueller, seems like the natural place to begin when trying to define “Trumpism.”
            It is very important that we have the term “Trumpism” to distinguish Donald Trump’s views from the coalition of views that make up the Republican Party. Though it certainly didn’t emerge in a vacuum, Trumpism is different from the more familiar –isms of the American right. That is to say, it's not the same as:

1. an Ayn-Rand-style "virtue of selfishness" ideology,
2. the evangelical “Culture War” mindset,
3. a Burkean “lessons of history” classical conservatism,
4. the "rising tide raises all ships" philosophy of free market economics,

though it's close enough to each of these that Republicans think they can work with it. Also, Trumpism cannot easily be reduced to some of the more nefarious –isms that critics accuse it of. While it may incorporate elements of racism, sexism, totalitarianism, and so on, it is not synonymous with any of these.
             ​So what is Trumpism? It is worth noting at the outset that Trumpism is not the product of only one mind, and that the Trump administration has a lot of different ideological voices setting the agenda. But arguably the best place to start is with the man himself, so I read Trump’s 2011 book Time to Get Tough. What follows is a summary of what I learned.

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