It will be hard for Democrats to reverse Trump’s trade policy if they want to appeal to voters in the nation’s heartland, and among working-class voters. They are aware that “free trade,” as currently practiced, works well for the well-placed established establishment duopoly but not for millions of others. Progressive Democrats, if worthy of the name, could up the ante even further.

Trump’s nationalism will remain an important factor, at least until the Baby Boomers finally kick off. Whatever we might think of American “greatness,” the current relative rise of the U.S. — to the utter bafflement of almost the entire U.S. media — suggests our resource and talent-rich country remains in a fundamentally better situation than largely stagnant Europe, debt-ridden, corrupt China and an increasingly pathetic Russia, so broke that is allegedly considering giving of millions of acres of farmland to keep the Middle Kingdom fed.

Then there’s always Paris, where the accords are the holy writ of green propaganda but in reality are not even being remotely followed by such scolds as in Europe while China continues to boost greenhouse gases. The U.S. meanwhile seems the one big emitter actually cutting emissions.