As Donald Trump descends on Davos, it is easy to see him as the bull in the very expensive china shop. He is the Coke-guzzling, cheeseburger-chomping populist, an isolationist and protectionist in a sea of folk who view globalization as an unalloyed good.

These sort of one percenters are supposed to revile Trump. His anti-immigrant rhetoric is at odds with the borderless world they pine for. His hatred of free-trade deals is well known.

In mannerisms and bearing, he does have a genuine connection with the white working class – he tweets whatever is on his mind, revels in conflict, and is never politically correct. He gleefully race-baits. He acts far more like “new money” than old.

Davos – in avalanche country – conceals an overriding fragility | Larry Elliott Read more

It is easy to see Trump as a simple chaos president. He is a small-minded tyrant, a TV-addicted bigot. Yet Trump is also at home at Davos because he’s a 1% president fighting for that same crowd. He believe in tax cuts for the rich, repealing as many consumer-friendly and environmental regulations as possible, and deregulating the economy.

He carries the water of a conservative movement that has never been so emboldened, so liberated. We are in a new heyday for the most predatory corporations and banks.

Amid the usual insanity, it was easy to miss a recent report from the Heritage Foundation, the premier right-wing think tank in America. A champion of shrinking government at all costs and shredding the social safety net, the Heritage Foundation proudly announced that nearly two-thirds of its ideas had been carried out or embraced by the White House over the past year. In comparison, Ronald Reagan complied with only 49% of items on Heritage’s wish list in his first year.



Among the items on Heritage’s sinister agenda: ending the Dreamer program for undocumented child migrants, withdrawing from the Paris climate accord, eliminating gender identity protections and reimposing work requirements for welfare recipients.



While the socially conservative and anti-immigrant initiatives would not be welcomed at a corporate economic summit, the attacks on the so-called welfare state would. Globalism – the 1990s version celebrated by the likes of Bill Clinton, Tony Blair and other neoliberals – derided governmental regulations as an impediment to economic growth.



Trump to attend Davos despite criticizing forum during his campaign Read more

Their myopia fostered the conditions that would make the rise of Trump possible. They also created a monster all but guaranteed to exacerbate those same conditions. Trump manages to be both the gasoline and the fire; he emboldens the very corporate hegemons who are committed to destroying the few protections remaining for the working class and poor.



This will only alienate them further.



Anti-union giants like Amazon and Apple, who effectively control a frightening percentage of the American economy, have much to admire in Trump, when you strip away the presentation. His is a presidency that in substance would not have differed much from what we would’ve reckoned with had Ted Cruz or Marco Rubio survived the primary and defeated Hillary Clinton.



All they would have brought is more competence. Cruz could’ve broken 70% on Heritage’s scorecard.



Sure, there are the Democratic norms Trump imperils. These will send a shiver through the Davos crowd. He doesn’t look or act like a president should. He says deeply unsetting things. His instability may land us in a war – Cruz and Rubio would have at least been more considerate warmongers.



The rebellion in the Republican party remains muted. Politicians and their donors know where their bread is buttered. They can keep their money while everyone else suffers.

