Over the course of U.S. history, American Exceptionalism had incorporated two themes. According to the first, America was to serve as an exemplar. According to the second, America was to liberate. Whether consciously or intuitively, Trump was now proposing to substitute a third theme: American Exceptionalism as a grant of privilege, providing that in any “deal” Americans should get more than their fair share. No more having their pockets picked. No more indulging free riders. No more getting played for suckers by conniving foreigners. This was American Exceptionalism stripped of any moral
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