Under the “Make America Great Again” banner, Trump has tried to make patriotism cool again. As he extends his showdown with Beijing, he's targeting the message to the farmers who bear much of the burden of Chinese tariffs.
President Donald Trump and his allies are appealing to nationalism in the trade war with China, calling on Americans to make “patriotic” sacrifices in language reminiscent of national crises and even wars.
Trump has often made political appeals to patriotism, as when he urged NFL executives to ban player protests during the national anthem. But the China trade is the first case where he has called for Americans — in this case farmers and other workers,“ranchers and industrial workers” hit by tariffs — to sacrifice in the name of a long-term greater national good.
The appeal to patriotism underscores the degree to which Trump is casting his showdown with China in terms that go beyond free markets and trade deficits. The president and his advisers speak of China as a threat to American interests and values in a global competition to define the 21st century, claiming that a little sacrifice from everyone will help extinguish the threat.
“Obviously this was one of the central themes of Franklin Roosevelt during World War II — that we are all in this together. That the war is not only being fought by soldiers abroad, but by patriotic Americans at home who are paying the price through price controls and rationing to make the war effort successful,” said Allan Lichtman, a distinguished professor of history at American University.
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