<em>The Atlantic</em> Politics Daily: Trumpism After Trump

2. First Things has its sights set on remaking the religious right.

The tiny magazine has fashioned itself as an intellectual haven for bookish religious conservatives. That may seem like the antithesis of a bombastic president who isn’t exactly known to have a literary bent.

What’s the magazine’s vision? Pushing a type of nationalistic religious conservatism that can replace today’s progressive, globalized world order.

Here’s what the Little Things editor told Emma when she asked about his views on immigration:

“There are ‘sociological limits’ to how many immigrants can be assimilated into the United States, he said.

When I asked him whether he would be as concerned if there were a surge of migrants at America’s northern border, he admitted that this would be less worrying: ‘Canadians are so similar,’ he said. ‘Part of it has to do with the cultural fit.’”

Read the rest of their conversation.

3. Nationalism gets the intellectual treatment.

At a conference over the summer at a Washington Ritz Carlton, a band of prominent conservatives—including Tucker Carlson and John Bolton—tried to graft an intellectual framework onto Trumpism, declaring war on the libertarian economic views of the GOP establishment.

The word “nationalism” holds troubling connotations these days, but the conference-goers were on a mission to show that the term isn’t synonymous with racism and xenophobia.

Yet it is unclear how seriously they take America’s conflicts over race, or whether they’ve grappled with the conservative policies that have reinforced racial disparities,” Emma writes.

Read her full dispatch from this year’s conference.

—Saahil Desai

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« CATCH UP / HEADS UP »

(Leah Millis / Reuters)

The week ahead is shaping up to be a quieter one than last week. Lawmakers head home for the Thanksgiving holiday. A turkey will be formally pardoned.

And the House Intelligence Committee is preparing a report of its findings for the House Judiciary Committee, which will then debate actual articles of impeachment.

Here’s how are writers are making sense of this weekend’s flurry of political news:

‣ The showdown over a Navy SEAL’s war-crimes case came to a head after Defense Secretary Mark Esper fired Navy Secretary Richard Spencer for subverting the military chain of command. The firing is another example that Trump’s only military priority seems to be loyalty to Trump, Kathy Gilsinan writes.

‣ Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg formally announced his campaign for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination with a video and television advertisement buys. He has a long history of almost-running for president—this time he’s made it official.

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« ARGUMENT OF THE DAY »

(Jonathan Ernst / Reuters)

The pay-to-play diplomatic corps

An oft-cited fact about Gordon Sondland is his $1 million donation to the Trump inaugural committee, and his subsequent appointment to an ambassadorship.