Conservative New York Times columnist David Brooks is in the unique position of declaring war against a Republican president.
“[His] is a multifront assault to make the earth a playground for ruthless men,” Brooks writes, “so of course any institutions that might restrain power must be weakened or destroyed. Trumpism is about ego, appetite and acquisitiveness and is driven by a primal aversion to the higher elements of the human spirit — learning, compassion, scientific wonder, the pursuit of justice.”
A “single effort to undo the parts of the civilizational order” requires a concerted response to beat it back, says Brooks, and one that is yet to be fully underway. So far, each sector Trump has assaulted, be it law firms, universities or whole groups of people, has responded independently, and therefore ineffectively.
READ MORE: 'Odd man out': Top Trump official 'planning to cut and run' as 'civil war' engulfs Cabinet
“Harvard eventually drew a line in the sand, but Columbia cut a deal. This is a disastrous strategy that ensures that Trump will trample on one victim after another. He divides and conquers,” Brooks said, pointing out that only a few law firms are fighting against his executive orders targeting them while many more have crawled to the president’s doorstep to work out a deal. Even the "Big Ten" colleges uniting to defend academic freedom from Trump’s attack amount to only a handful out of “roughly 4,000 degree-granting American colleges and universities.”
“It’s time for a comprehensive national civic uprising,” says Brooks “It’s time for Americans in universities, law, business, nonprofits and the scientific community, and civil servants and beyond to form one coordinated mass movement. Trump is about power. The only way he’s going to be stopped is if he’s confronted by some movement that possesses rival power.”
Brooks, who does not describe himself as “a movement guy,” says groups need a short-term vision of burying Trump in lawsuits and derailing him and a long-term vision of asking themselves what societal plagues turned voters to Trump, be it economic problems or perceived imbalances.
Brooks is not the sole traditional conservative turning on Trump within 100 days of his administration. Other conservatives are adopting similarly unfamiliar positions on things such as immigration and courts. Weekly Standard founder Bill Kristol went from raising money against Trump in 2023, but has since compared Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents to jackboots and recently asked: “where does the ‘Abolish ICE’ movement go to get its apology?”
READ MORE: 'Why is it OK?' Reporter confronts Trump over his hypocritical position on IRS targeting
Read Brooks' full op-ed in the Timeshere (subscription required).