The JDNews. In your book, you say that you are hostile to the American neoconservatives, these “hawks” in favor of external interventions to impose freedom and democracy abroad. What is your view on the operation in Venezuela and on Donald Trump’s ambitions in Greenland, Cuba, Colombia, even Mexico?
Nicolas Conquer. I would say that Donald Trump is above all pragmatic. At the time of his re-election, he inherits a very particular situation, with a world in flames: war in Ukraine, war in Gaza, war in Yemen, strong regional tensions with Iran. If he says he does not exclude it, Donald Trump’s objective is not to make nation building or regime changes. The American strikes on Iranian nuclear sites last June and the operation to capture Maduro on January 3 both reflect a form of geopolitical opportunism, breaking with the logic of the military-industrial complex. We also fail to specify that Trump took care to reach out to these two regimes before taking action. Finally, regarding Greenland, I think that the American administration’s thinking is part of a long-term strategy: faced with the return of Chinese and Russian imperialism, the United States considers itself the most legitimate to ensure the security of the maritime and commercial routes of this Danish territory.
You say that America “is not a model, but a mirror” for France. Do you perceive common expectations between the American people and the French people?
The emergence of Trumpism around ten years ago is the culmination of a process which began in the 1990s in the United States, with the reappropriation of the notion of “culture war” forgotten by the right. Trumpism responds to the question posed by the American political scientist Samuel Huntington: ” Who are we ? » It is the idea that the working classes, the first victims of “happy globalization”, need protection and sovereignty more than free trade. Donald Trump was elected on this promise. In France, and more broadly in Europe, the democratic malaise felt by a large part of the population also calls for a break vote. Personally, I am not campaigning for a copy and paste of the American situation, I am not trying to “Trumpize” France; I advocate a new way of doing politics, a different style. The French have had enough of soft consensus and technocratic dressing. They thirst for incarnation and verticality.
From this point of view, is Trumpism a conservative counter-revolution, as opposed to the excesses of Wokism across the Atlantic?
I think Donald Trump is actually less conservative than people think. He is the most effective anti-progressive activist of his time, but that does not make him a conservative in the strict sense. That being said, there is no doubt that his election constitutes a response to the societal excesses coming from the progressive and democratic camp. His fight against social engineering policy in the name of EDI (equity, diversity, inclusion, principles of combating discrimination against minorities) aims to cure America of its progressive ills.
“The Americans need a strong Europe and a strong France”
Furthermore, Donald Trump is making considerable progress in the fight against illegal immigration. We can consider that this crisis has now been resolved in the United States.
We sometimes hear that Donald Trump would be a “accident of history”. Do you share this intuition?
No one had imagined his return in 2024. However, his first term was not a sudden outbreak of fever or anger among the American people. In this way, the vote in favor is not a “disengagement” vote. Donald Trump emerged from the gaping wounds of an America in identity, economic and social crisis and achieved the perfect synthesis of different conservative currents that existed long before him. I am convinced that he embodies a line that will survive him, well beyond the iconic character and the image of a stage beast that he projects. “America First” is not just a slogan; it is a real political movement which finds its expression in the training of elected officials and activists.
Let’s not forget that Trump has already inspired many political figures abroad: Nayib Bukele in El Salvador, Javier Milei in Argentina, Viktor Orban in Hungary, Giorgia Meloni in Italy, to name a few. Sovereignism has a bright future ahead of it, and Donald Trump has largely contributed to it. The time of the globalists is behind us, the time of the patriots has now come.
As a dual national, don’t you sometimes have the feeling of being caught in a conflict of allegiance between your two countries of origin?
We must not confuse the civilizational dimension of transatlantic relations – which still exists – and the negotiation led by the United States with the bureaucratic power that the European Union has become, today totally disconnected from the peoples it is supposed to represent. The Americans need a strong Europe and a strong France. This is the reason why I do not perceive any conflict of allegiance in my commitment. I was born to a Franco-Canadian father and an American mother, these two identities enrich and complement each other. In parentheses, I note that certain politicians do not need to be binational to move between the private and public sectors or to slash the flagships of French industry… Personally, my role is to work towards a concrete rapprochement of Franco-American relations – this is the meaning of Western Arc, a transatlantic bridge think tank – because I think that there are common expectations and fears between our two peoples. The French, like the Americans, are worried about the loss of their roots and their identity.
