Robert Merry, historian: ‘Trump doesn’t recognize McKinley’s remarkable turnaround with regard to his views on tariffs’
The longtime Washington journalist turned author of several books on US history, including one about the man who seems to be the Republican’s new role model, believes that, his account of the 25th president is incomplete
The king of tariffs, “the Napoleon of protection,” the pioneer of a truly global United States. As Donald Trump threatens to impose tariffs, attempts to broker peace in Ukraine and Gaza, and floats the idea of 21st century U.S. expansionism, these are the kinds of labels he might like to hear about himself. But they aren’t about Trump. They actually refer to another U.S. president who governed over a century ago and seems to serve as a model for Trump: William McKinley.
