In June 2018, Jeffrey Goldberg described an exchange (which he relayed again in the Atlantic this month) with a senior White House official regarding Trump’s approach to world affairs. Goldberg suggested that it might be too soon to identify a Trump Doctrine; the official disagreed and offered the words in the headline above:
“The Trump Doctrine is ‘We’re America, bitch.’ That’s the Trump Doctrine.”
Goldberg suggested:
“We’re America, Bitch” is not only a characterologically accurate collective self-appraisal—the gangster fronting, the casual misogyny, the insupportable confidence—but it is also perfectly Rorschachian. To Trump’s followers, “We’re America, Bitch” could be understood as a middle finger directed at a cold and unfair world, one that no longer respects American power and privilege. To much of the world, however, and certainly to most practitioners of foreign and national-security policy, “We’re America, Bitch” would be understood as self-isolating, and self-sabotaging.
I agree with Goldberg’s assessment that
what is mainly interesting about “We’re America, Bitch” is its delusional quality. Donald Trump is pursuing policies that undermine the Western alliance, empower Russia and China, and demoralize freedom-seeking people around the world. The United States could be made weaker—perhaps permanently—by the implementation of the Trump Doctrine.
As abroad, so too in America
But, when I recently read Goldberg’s June 2025 piece, what struck me about the Trump Doctrine is that it captures Trump’s approach to domestic politics as well as foreign policy.
At the center of Trump’s approach to American politics is denigration of his political opponents. Dividing the country into us (his MAGA allies, Trump loyalists) and them (folks who oppose Trump and the MAGA agenda), the president regards only the former as genuine Americans, worthy of respect and deserving a voice in political affairs.
His venom is mostly (though not exclusively) aimed at Democrats, since Democrats comprise the opposition party. “They’re Marxists and communists and fascists, and they’re sick,” as well as ‘radical left lunatics,’ ‘evil,’ and ‘dangerous.’ Not to mention, ‘scum,’ ‘animals,’ ‘evil,’ and ‘enemies of the people.’ It doesn’t matter which demeaning insult you choose: it is no wonder that anyone so characterized would be regarded as unworthy of legitimate political standing in the country.
We hear these insults daily. On Fox News Channel, from Trump and Republicans, posted on Truth Social and Twitter. This is hardly news. But make no mistake, Trump is the only president (perhaps ever, but certainly) in our lifetimes who has never sought to represent America in full. He has consistently catered only to (one faction or another of) his base — the real Americans. Not the blue city or blue state Americans.
Trump makes us weaker as a nation when he writes off half the country. His demolition of the capacity of the federal government, his attacks on civil society (media, law firms, higher education, science), his anti-immigrant crusade — all of this strips away what makes America great. To achieve his ends, Trump has waged war on the liberty the Constitution grants us and on the rule of law itself. The Republican Party, remade in his image, and the folks inside the tent are on board with what they regard as a winning project.
Hence, it was hardly surprising when his Vice President visited Los Angeles and displayed open, gleeful contempt of the Democratic officials elected by Californians. A week after Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem trolled of liberating the city and state (seconds before a man who represents California in the United States Senate was pushed to the floor and handcuffed), JD Vance insulted Alex Padilla by misnaming him.
“I was hoping Jose Padilla would be here to ask a question, but unfortunately I guess he decided not to show up because there wasn’t a theater, and that’s all it is,” Vance said.
Vance served in the Senate with Padilla; he presides over the Senate now. He knows his name. He knows he is Latino. Why the juvenile putdown invoking a popular Mexican name? Just a joke? Gustavo Arellano, who offers a lesson in the historical use of ‘José’ as racist ridicule in today’s Los Angeles Times, remarks:
That Vance reduced Padilla’s attempted questioning of Noem to a charade shows what a clown he is. Spitting out “José” like a villain in a low-budget western reveals his rank racism. And if you think I’m exaggerating, consider how Vance’s press secretary, Taylor Van Kirk, responded when Politico asked her to elaborate on his José insult: She said her boss “must have mixed up two people who have broken the law.”
Humor? Trolling? Or more purposefully an authoritarian move to denigrate the senator’s views as illegitimate? He doesn’t count. Nor do his constituents. We’re standing up for real Americans. That’s why the National Guard and the Marines are in the streets of L.A.
“We’re America, bitch” in contemporary American politics is the brush off for folks outside the MAGA tent. It’s (in Goldberg’s words) “the middle finger directed” at everyone of us who opposes Trump politically.
In the Trump era, MAGA dominates all three branches of government. Trump dictates. Congress defers. And the Supreme Court paves the way.
Welcome to today’s America.