Trump and the Death of Shared Morality in America

David Brooks, ending a 22-year run as a New York Times columnist, joined Robert Siegel and E.J. Dionne Jr. for a final conversation about President Trump’s recent disruptions and Brooks’s own parting reflections. Dionne warned that Trump is attempting to reshape fundamental American institutions, pointing to actions he says include ICE operating outside the law, a string of pardons, the Justice Department’s use against political opponents, and the use of tariffs and other unilateral moves that strain alliances.

He argued these moves, supported by strains of radical constitutionalism, signal a systematic effort to alter the regime. Brooks described four “unravelings”: the weakening of the post‑Cold War alliance, the fraying of democratic order, a loss of domestic security, and what he called the deterioration of Trump’s mind.

Drawing on historical perspectives, he said such lusts for power tend to erode civic habits like persuasion, compromise and interpersonal trust, producing broad social decay.

United States

trump, david brooks, e.j. dionne, robert siegel, ice, pardons, justice department, tariffs, alliances, radical constitutionalism