Trump Is Promising To Fight For The Working Class ― While Telling CEOs The Opposite

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Donald Trump and his allies spent a lot of time at the Republican National Convention this week proclaiming that they are on the side of everyday Americans in an ongoing, existential struggle against a wealthy, corporate elite.

It’s the same basic pitch Trump has been making throughout this campaign, and since he first formally got into politics roughly a decade ago. And although it’s a sprawling appeal with a heavy dose of cultural affinity ― yes, that was pro wrestler Hulk Hogan ripping off his shirt on stage Thursday night ― a key component of the Trump campaign is economic. JD Vance, the Ohio senator Trump tapped to be his running mate, made this abundantly clear in a Wednesday acceptance speech that railed against “Wall Street barons” and “America’s ruling class in Washington,” in defense of “the working man.”

This is not the sort of rhetoric you would have heard at previous GOP conventions. And the change has certainly gotten the media’s attention , judging by all the discussion (including in my articles !) about how Trump has injected the Grand Old Party with some good, old-fashioned populism .

It could help him win the election, too, if it resonates with voters who are frustrated with higher prices at the grocery store and gas station ― and who have a sense, going back decades, that neither political party has had their best interests at heart.

One reason Trump can make this pitch so effectively is that he has broken with the GOP establishment on some substantive matters, most conspicuously trade and immigration.

Republican leaders have traditionally tried to keep the flow of both as free as possible, putting them in