Former President Donald Trump has made a play to court Libertarians to help get him over the finish line in the 2024 election. He has made the promise to commute the prison sentence of Ross Ulbricht, which would be a huge win for Libertarians. He has also promised to include Libertarians in his cabinet and amongst his advisors, which would give Libertarians direct influence for the first time ever.
While Donald Trump was met with mixed reactions at the Libertarian National Convention, a number of Libertarians have started to give this offer another look. Following the Libertarian Party selecting Chase Oliver as their Presidential Nominee, a number of Libertarians are declining to back a candidate who supports children using puberty blockers and hormones. Many also believe that the 34 felony count conviction of Donald Trump was indeed politically motivated to specifically railroad the leading candidate in the race.
Some Libertarians however are still skeptical of Donald Trump’s olive branch to the Libertarian Party members. I have seen this question posed many times:
“If Donald Trump said he would drain the swamp but didn’t do it in his first term, why should I believe he would do it in his second term?”
This is absolutely a fair question, and it is based on a correct premise. Donald Trump clearly did not drain the swamp in his first term, and quite the opposite included swamp creatures like Michael Bolton in his administration. History can certainly be a predictor of future behavior, but one can also learn from their mistakes. History is also not the only predictor of behavior. Libertarians also understand that incentives guide behavior, and the incentives are much different this time. There is one consistent factor that was a liability to Trump in his first term, but will be an asset to him in a second term. That factor being, Donald Trump loves Donald Trump.
He really loves Donald Trump.
This was clearly a liability in Trump’s first term, as he was susceptible to flattery. He let the wrong people around him and gave them access to levers of power. The deep state was amongst his cabinet, undermining him at every turn while keeping him in the dark the best they could. They gained this access simply by buttering Trump up and flattering him.
Donald Trump’s love of Donald Trump will be an asset in a second term because self preservation is on the line. Donald Trump wants to save Donald Trump. This will absolutely require drastic actions that Libertarians would call a good time.
Trump has already surrounded himself with better people who are committed to draining the swamp. Close by his side is Vivek Ramaswamy who has written plans for mass layoffs in Federal alphabet agencies, stating we need to do to the Federal Government what Elon Musk did to Twitter. Ramaswamy has proposed staffing cuts initially as high as 75% to get the party started.
Almost every action imaginable that Trump would need to take to save his own ass aligns with Libertarian goals and large reductions in government.
And Trump really wants to save his own ass, because Donald Trump really loves Donald Trump.
