One line of criticism of Trump from the right is that he’s just doing what any other Republican president would do (with lots of uniquely Trumpian baggage). But it’s not at all clear that another GOP president, even if he was on record favoring these moves, would have pulled out of the Paris climate accord and withstood the howls about imperiling the planet; or ended DACA despite all the media pressure to keep it; or exited the Iran deal with the Europeans waging an intense lobbying campaign in its favor.

It wasn’t simply that these decisions had opponents. Their opponents were overrepresented in (allegedly) sophisticated circles with disproportionate cultural clout. Even conservatives who disdain the elite feel this cultural pull. Whereas Trump, who has never been house-trained as a politician, is more immune to it. He might crave the approval of respectable opinion, but he’s also perfectly content to outrage it.

So, he’s following through where others might equivocate or back off.