From Conservative Nationalists to Tech-Libertarians: Far-Right Ideologies in the Trump 2 Administration
The officials and advisers of the Trump 2 administration represent diverse ideological currents, some of which are relatively new to Washington.
During his first election in November 2016, Donald Trump was surrounded by conservatives concerned with abortion issues and a populist, anti-establishment, anti-immigration voter base. At the time, the most prominent intellectual figure was Steve Bannon, founder and leading voice of the alt-right media outlet Breitbart News.
The 2016 victory drew into the president’s orbit a number of far-right theorists and bloggers who had been exchanging ideas informally since the 2000s. Described both as a tech genius and a “neo-monarchist” Curtis Yarvin popularized the concept of the “red pill” from the film The Matrix (1999) as early as 2007, using it to explain how he had awakened from the “progressive illusion”. Alongside him, Nick Land coined the term “Dark Enlightenment” to describe their neo-reactionary school of thought.
Today, the far-right ideas circulating around the president form a nebulous ecosystem, within which three or four clearly distinct ideological trends coexist—though it remains uncertain whether they will eventually converge or remain in tension.
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Laurence NARDON
Research Fellow, Head of the Americas Program, Ifri
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Ifri's work on the Americas region focuses mainly on the United States. Indeed, for more than 20 years, Ifri's Americas Program has provided keys to understanding American society and domestic policy while shedding light on developments in the country's foreign policy, including transatlantic relations and trade issues.
Since 2023, a specific axis on Latin America structures more actively Ifri's research on this region.
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