U.S. President Donald Trump in Clive, Iowa, U.S., January 27, 2026. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque
When President Donald Trump was voted out of office in 2020, many Never Trump conservatives hoped that his influence on the Republican Party would end. But Trump was voted back into office four years later, narrowly winning the popular vote for the first time.
Never Trump conservative Bill Kristol looks back on the last ten years of U.S. politics in a Tuesday column published by The Bulwark on February 3, stressing that Trump has had way too much influence on the GOP to be dismissed as an "aberration." But he argues that the "Era of Trump" can be brought to an end if his opponents have sufficient resolve in the months and years ahead.
"I know that we've referred to the 'Trump era' many times," Kristol explains. "But for some reason, it struck me anew how long and how historically important this era is. It's not a blip, a fever that breaks, or a temporary aberration. It's part of American history —a sizable part…. It's sad but true: Trump has been the dominant figure in American political life for a decade. The only presidents of comparable historical heft in the past century have been Franklin D. Roosevelt, elected four times to the presidency and then succeeded by his vice president, Harry Truman, and Ronald Reagan, elected twice and then succeeded by his vice president, George H.W. Bush."
The conservative journalist laments that Trump "is by far the most consequential figure of American politics in the 21st Century so far." But a post-Trump era, Kristol argues, could move the U.S. in a more positive direction.
"Our era — Trump's era — is an unfortunate one in the history of the American republic," Kristol warns. "It's a dangerous one. And let's be honest, it's a disgraceful one…. It would be a dreadful thing to be the generation that failed in this task. To this terrible failure would be added the humiliation of defeat by such unworthy and unimpressive opponents."
The Never Trump conservative continues, "So, if fighting the good fight for this republic means having to spend another three years — or more — feeling like we're enduring one Groundhog Day after another, so be it.… But fighting such a fight is a small price to pay for what's at stake. And one day, we hope and trust, we will prevail, and the Era of Trump will be no more."
