I marvel at the determination of MAGA-leaning intellectuals and apologists to define Trumpism as some sort of philosophy. Trumpism is whatever happens to suit President Donald Trump. When he turns 180 degrees, he expects his followers to — well, to follow. Those who insist on trying to find consistency in his ideas, or who claim that his Weltanschauung happens to align with their own, invariably get their fingers burnt.

Consider the 33-page national security strategy that is causing European leaders to swoon like so many Victorian ladies. It is harsh to see the brutal contradictions of Trumpism set out in a White House publication. But there is nothing new in those contradictions. Trumpian foreign policy is, depending on the context, isolationist and interventionist, solicitous of sovereignty and interested only in hard power.