Gov. Phil Murphy built his progressive brand by tilting almost daily at Donald Trump.

But as Murphy continues his metamorphosis from amiable liberal to bring-down-the-establishment firebrand, the governor is proving himself to be a shrewd disciple of Trump's tactics.

No doubt, Trump has been a useful foil for Murphy. Trump is widely disliked in blue New Jersey, and he's done little since taking office to improve his relations with Garden State voters. It's hard to build bridges when his administration finds excuses not to build a vital rail tunnel.

And the stalled Gateway project is only one of many Trumpian outrages.

His immigration raids, his race-baiting rhetoric, his threat to drill for oil off the Jersey Shore, his misogynistic history with women — the list goes on — keeps New Jersey far out of Trump's reach for 2020. Murphy has milked the anti-Trump fever for all its worth: The Attorney General's Office devotes much of its daily agenda to tangling with Trump's administration in court.

But it's also clear the frenzied Trump skills are being embraced by Murphy. As Murphy wades deeper into the quicksand of a Democratic Party civil war, he is waging the fight like a skilled Trumpian.

It's as if he got his training at Trump Tower rather than at Goldman Sachs on Wall Street, where he worked for 23 years. Some of Murphy's sharpest foes are quick to taunt him as a Trumpian in progressive clothing.

Senate President Stephen Sweeney, D-Gloucester, for example, mocked Murphy for having Trump-like tantrums during last month's budget squabble -- an attacked laced with not a small irony given his political benefactor and insurance executive George Norcross III is a member of Mar-a-lago.

Yet, Murphy's use of some of Trump's tactics shows a progressive infused with a more aggressive, do-whatever-it-takes determination for the long fight ahead. While bashing Trump, Murphy is also learning from him.

Here are a few examples of how Murphy has embraced Trump's playbook:

1. Playing to the base

Trump routinely panders to his conservative loyalists, the voting bloc that propelled him to victory in 2016. Trump's hard-line attempts to curtail immigration are widely popular among his devoted base but are widely opposed by the broader public and have no chance of getting approved by a divided Congress. Yet "Build the wall" remains the Holy Grail chant at his rallies.

Murphy pushed ahead with his millionaires tax even when it was clear early on that it had no chance of winning approval, despite a Legislature dominated by his own party. As expected, it went down in defeat last week for the second year in a row, when onetime tax hike stalwarts Sweeney and Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin, D-Middlesex, passed a $38.7 billion budget without raising the rates on millionaires.

But as with Trump and his wall, Murphy is undaunted, vowing to launch a "crusade" for the tax hike and making it clear that he'll shame those who opposed the tax, including fellow Democrats.

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“I’ve kind of had it with folks who can’t answer that very clear question: Whose side are you on?" Murphy said in late June, testing out a sharp-edged, populist refrain.

Murphy's new crusade was given a boost by an unexpected figure last week: Trump himself.

Murphy aides were almost giddy when the president tweeted praise for the Legislature for blocking the millionaires tax.

It was clear to see why. The tweet proved their point: that the south Jersey Democrats who snubbed Murphy's millionaires tax are more in league with the master of Mar-a-Lago.

"We all know @realDonaldTrump is fighting for millionaires like himself,'' Murphy tweeted in a reply that was a less-than-veiled dig at Sweeney and Coughlin. "I'm fighting for New Jersey's middle class and all those working to get there."

2. Use of populist rhetoric

That "whose side are you on" line is likely to be a Murphy mantra in the coming months, if not years. Murphy often answers that rhetorical question with, "I'm on the side of 9 million New Jerseyans who elected me."

That's an echo of Trump's populist rhetoric. "I'm with you, the American people,'' Trump said in his nomination acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention in 2016.

3. Campaign-style rallies

Trump often finds solace and support from large, campaign-style rallies. They offer an echo chamber of validation and a stream of ready-for-cable-television visuals — the backdrop of adoring supporters in red "Make America Great Again" hats has become a staple.

Murphy hasn't gone to the arena-size show, but his Trenton news conferences are small-scale rallies, packed with enthusiastic supporters who sometimes flank him or sit in reserved rows of seats while reporters are pushed to the back.

On June 30, in a "budget announcement" in Trenton, Murphy launched into a 20-minute, populist speech, praising supporters for giving "voice to the needs of the people ahead of the greed" of the wealthy and vowing a "bottom up" surge for change. The mini-rally ended with a standing ovation. And then Murphy took questions from the back.

It's questionable whether the rally-press conference filtered to the general public on a summer Sunday before the July 4 holiday, but it served the Trumpian-goal of boosting the image of the man behind the teleprompter.

4. Provoking his foes

When Murphy first took office, he often found himself on his heels, lacking a message and finding legislative leaders of his own party less than helpful.

Now he's employing the Trumpian tactic of riling up his critics and enemies with his actions and rhetoric — a move that, in turn, serves to fire up his supporters. Trump routinely infuriates his establishment critics with his outlandish tweets or play-to-the-base policies.

Murphy took the offensive this year, targeting potential abuse of tax incentives used to retain and attract corporations to New Jersey.

He made it the focus of his State of the State address and formed a special investigative panel that has, so far, turned its attention on Camden-based companies and entities allied with Norcross, the south Jersey king maker.

The entire enterprise has prompted the normally behind-the-scenes power broker to publicly lash out at Murphy (and his wife, Tammy) in public and file a lawsuit seeking to stop the investigation in its tracks.

Norcross has attacked the process as a political hit job and a smear on his family name, but Murphy's attack has also inspired a small, restive grassroots army to rally behind the once-beleaguered governor. Sweeney and south Jersey Democrats have their dug-in forces in the legislature, Murphy troops readying themselves for the long crusade.