When Donald Trump became president, he was a mystery man. His political beliefs were suspect. He had run as a Republican and often sounded like a conservative. But there were gaps. He opposed free trade, and if he wasn’t an isolationist, he was close. His eagerness to wage a counterattack on illegal immigration, and even on some that’s legal, was extreme.

For Trump, doubts about his conservatism were a serious problem. That he recognized this helps explain why he has spent the past four years moving sharply to the right. Being seen as a conservative was necessary for Trump. Calling himself a “populist” wouldn’t do. Neither would being identified as a “center-right” Republican.

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