One of the most unique and likely lasting effects President Donald Trump has had on the political landscape is the emergence of what we all know as Trump Derangement Syndrome (TDS) on the left. It’s his political superpower. Thanks to TDS, whenever Trump takes the decidedly common-sense and popular position on every issue, the left compulsively takes the opposite position. This has put them in bed with the cartels, murderers, and the mentally ill, from tree-huggers to men who think they’re women.
In the process, today’s leftist is so far to the left beyond classic liberalism that Trump has not only taken ownership of all of the tried-and-true staple issues of conservatism, but he’s also taken ownership of issues that were long the domain of liberals.
It’s worth noting just how well Trump has fared, even if you consider yourself a traditional liberal. A word of caution if you count yourself in this group: By the end of this piece, you’re going to realize you’re a Trumpist.
Trump is a peacenik
Known as a master negotiator who uses leverage rather than groveling to get what he wants, one of Trump's signature accomplishments during his second administration was to negotiate the Gaza ceasefire and peace declaration between Israel and Hamas, which was announced in October. Trump is credited with brokering a halt to the gruesome and devastating war between the two sides.
Two months earlier, he helped establish a peace framework between Armenia and Azerbaijan, ending decades of hostilities in Nagorno-Karabakh.
During this same time period, the Trump administration showed it can do more than one big thing at a time by fostering a peace agreement between Thailand and Cambodia, leading to a ceasefire agreement.
In December, the Trump administration mediated a peace agreement between the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda.
Throughout his second administration, the president and his administration have made significant efforts to bring peace to Ukraine, seeking an end to the war between it and Russia. This is in contrast to the Biden administration, which not only fanned the flames and openly encouraged hostilities, but Biden’s own weakness in foreign policy served as an invitation for Russia to invade Ukraine in the first place.
There is no way of knowing how many wars the Trump administration has prevented, since inaction is not a data point, but it’s safe to say Trump’s willingness to use the military also serves as a deterrent.
Case in point is June’s joint efforts with Israel to destroy Iran's Fordow fuel enrichment plant by dropping "massive ordnance penetrator" bombs on the facility, devastating that country’s nuclear military capabilities. This decision sent a message around the world.
Trump is an Environmentalist
The left takes credit for creating modern environmentalism. For decades, “Earth Day” has been one of its high holy days on the calendar. But over the years, the left has abandoned true environmentalism in favor of the “climate change” narrative that is a blatant and raw power grab in the name of environmentalism.
Climate change has little to do with conserving and protecting the environment. It’s almost completely about increasing restrictions on Western countries and their economies, and exacting money from their taxpayers to fund leftist centers of power in government, politics, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) controlled by leftists.
The left in recent years has devoted an almost singular focus on increasing government regulation to achieve arbitrary reduction targets in CO2 emissions that, even by the left’s own baseless estimates, wouldn’t lead to any noticeable change for decades. Meanwhile, it has vacated true environmentalism in the form of working to ensure clean air, clean water, and a cleaner overall environment.
Enter President Trump. He signed the Save Our Seas 2.0 Act to reduce marine plastic pollution, create a Marine Debris Foundation, and incentivized innovation to curb marine waste.
The Trump administration has published regular lists of accomplishments through its Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which include new forest management policies to mitigate wildfires in high-risk areas. This is part of a more comprehensive approach to proactive forest management and sustainable logging policies to help protect forests.
During Trump’s first term, he announced U.S. participation in the One Trillion Trees global initiative to plant and restore trees, supporting a major nature-based climate solution.
Trump has also worked vigorously to make America more energy independent by tapping the rich natural resources found within our borders and producing affordable, reliable energy for Americans while still reducing U.S. carbon emissions.
The left likes to ignore the president's actual accomplishments and instead focus on the fact that he’s twice withdrawn the United States from the Paris Climate Accords, which are mostly a vehicle for globalists to regulate countries rather than improve the environment.
Trump is anti-censorship and pro-free speech
It’s getting a little old to hear the left complain nonstop about what a “fascist” Trump is when, if he actually were, he would prohibit them from speaking out. Instead, he has fostered an environment of free speech for everyone, including the “fake news” media. As much as Trump despises them, he routinely grants them impromptu interviews, and he takes all questions.
On Jan. 20, 2025, right after his inauguration, Trump signed an executive order titled “Restoring Freedom of Speech and Ending Federal Censorship.” The order explicitly condemned government involvement in suppressing lawful speech and directed federal agencies to cease practices that could pressure private platforms to censor Americans. The language of the order framed censorship as fundamentally incompatible with a free society, signaling that the administration viewed the issue not merely as a policy disagreement but as a constitutional concern.
In Trump’s first term, in 2020, he issued an executive order on preventing online censorship, arguing that large social media platforms exercised disproportionate power over political discourse and that viewpoint-based moderation threatened democratic debate. While the order itself faced legal and practical limits, it marked one of the first major efforts by a U.S. president to challenge the growing influence of technology companies over public speech.
On top of that, Trump has consistently argued that government coordination with private platforms constitutes indirect censorship. His administration has asserted that when federal officials encourage, pressure, or “flag” content for removal, they cross a constitutional line—even if the final act of censorship is carried out by a private company. This framing has reshaped the national debate by shifting attention away from private moderation alone and toward the role of government influence behind the scenes.
And Trump’s focus has not been limited to the U.S. His administration, notably including Vice President JD Vance, has called out European approaches to censorship and online speech regulation, warning that expansive hate-speech and misinformation laws risk normalizing censorship.
Major issues aside, liberals have long characterized themselves as advocating on behalf of the working class, but when you look at who propelled Trump back into the White House in 2024, it was the working class, who abandoned the divisive elitists who run the Democrat party.
Related: Is the Deep State Trying to Frame Trump as a 'Malignant Narcissist'?
Trump is a populist, not a liberal
If you’re a globalist, Trump is the worst kind of foe. He’s a populist more than he is a conservative or a liberal. He knows what the people want because that’s what he wants. He knows that in order for America to live up to its promise, it needs a government that will protect the people’s human and constitutional rights, their safety, and their borders, and fight crime and enemies from within and overseas.
None of these issues is strictly conservative or strictly liberal. But as the left has only become more extreme, it now finds itself trying to defend open borders, criminals and high crime rates, and an American anarchy where our enemies are not only allowed to live and operate within our country, but some who don't want what's best for America are now taking positions of power.
Today’s liberals embrace this. Classic liberals — those who still adhere to an American identity — on the other hand now have to wake up to the fact that they really have only one leader who fits the bill: Donald J. Trump.
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