Trump must restore smart populism and rescue his presidency

Tuesday’s election wasn’t a blue wave or even a blue tsunami: It was a blue apocalypse.Florida Gov.Ron DeSantis, who leads the one notable Republican bright spot on the map, referred to the wipeout as “close to an extinction-level event” for the GOP.It was the worst midterm defeat for one party in over a half-century.Much of the postmortem conversation has focused on why this massacre happened.Was it the Iran war?Was it the tariffs?Corruption? The “Epstein files” mess?The answer is both simpler and more sweeping: The MAGA movement, which has defined the GOP during the Trump era, forgot what populism means in practice — and requires in governance.When Donald Trump rode down the Trump Tower escalator in 2015, he launched a populist revolution.His message was simple: An elite ruling class has sold out the country, and the MAGA movement is here to finally listen to the people.Trump largely delivered during his first term.He cut taxes, tamed inflation and oversaw a booming job market and a surging stock market.He became the first president since Richard Nixon to begin to reset our relationship with Communist China.In exile during the Joe Biden interregnum, Trump promised to close the border, get inflation under control and bring back general sanity and stability if he returned to the White House.To be sure, Trump’s second term has had its successes.The southern border is airtight.Violent crime has fallen to the lowest rate in 125 years.Prescription drug prices are the lowest since the 1960s.The Justice Department’s fights with the Ivy League yielded real concessions.The raid to extract Nicolás Maduro from Caracas was bold and masterful.But somewhere along the way, the MAGA movement forgot what it was.Some in and around the administration have engaged in the most brazen corruption — pardons, access, illicit cryptocurrency enrichment, real-estate side deals — Washington has seen in a century or more.When Americans see “special envoys” Steve Witk...