As Donald Trump prepares for his hard-won second term in office, we may ask whether the ideological terms in which his victory has been framed are justified. Will he govern as a conservative, and if so, to what extent? To answer this, it is worth looking back at his record, together with that of Vice-President J.D. Vance, and so get a sense of what the next four years have in store.
Perhaps the major flagship conservative causes to which Trump contributed during his first term concern education and abortion.
Regarding education, Trump has championed policies that broaden options for parents seeking options beyond geographically-designated public schools, for example by expanding voucher programs and increasing federal funding for Education Savings Accounts (ESAs). This meant redirecting public funds to families wanting to enrol their children in private or religious institutions. Trump also showed willingness to endorse so-called “school choice” proposals at the federal level. In particular, and given the progressive flavour of much of the public educational system, this provides a way for conservative and religious families to access curricula that align with their morals.
Turning to abortion, Trump facilitated the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade, which was widely viewed as a historic move, and has chosen a running mate this time around known for holding to a hard-line on the issue. Indeed, in 2022, Vance expressed support for a nationwide abortion ban. Later, he and other lawmakers pushed for the Attorney General to enforce an old piece of legislation called the Comstock Act, which would de facto limit access to abortion in various ways. Vance stated his opinion explicitly in a November 2023 post on X, to the effect that idea that abortion is “liberating,” per much of the mainstream leftist discourse on the subject, is “sociopathic.”
Another basic plank of conservative policy concerns family formation and attempts to increasing the purchasing power of average workers, a prerequisite to raising a family. For his part, Vance co-sponsored a 2023 Act that would have raised the minimum wage, and we are currently seeing signs of alignment between the Trump Whitehouse and the Longshoremen Union leader Harold Daggett. While running for the Senate, Vance also expressed support for policies of the sort Viktor Orban has adopted in Hungary, which include forgiveness of loans to parents who have a certain number of children.
In summary, Trump’s track record and the influence of Vance within the administration make it likely that certain core conservative principles will indeed be integrated into policy-making over the next four years. This should not be overstated, as there are structural limits (as well as ideological misalignments between Trump and even his V.P.) at play, but we may suggest that some progress will be made in the above areas, from a conservative perspective.
