62Received 11.04.2025. Revised 05.06.2025. Accepted 01.07.2025.
Abstract. The article examines transformation of ideological and political landscape in the modern United States, the impact of “shifting” electorate on the policies of the Republican and Democratic parties. The author draws parallels between financial and political ambitions of the Trump’s largest donors, on the one hand, and the first steps of his administration in domestic and foreign policy, on the other. Eligibility of “Trumpism” as a concept is also discussed in the article. Yet populist, nationalist way of solving political, economic and social problems of the modern United States can hardly be considered an ideological platform, in a sense that, for example, neoconservatism was 30 years ago. Still, the far-right ideas of certain techno-optimists who have infiltrated the 47th Presidential administration, started to carefully migrate from marginal discourse to political one. It changes basic pillars of American culture code, such as: American dream, social equality, and the role of state in the lives of ordinary people. Moreover, these ideas include foreign strategy of the USA. Techno-optimists believe that the future of American leadership in the world will depend on whether a culture of innovation can support state goals. If the United States do not use the latest AI technologies, these will be used by U.S. geopolitical rivals – countries with lower moral and ethical standards, with no concerns of sensitive technologies falling into the “wrong hands”. If Democrats do not overcome the stage of their defeat acceptance and do not reshape themselves before 2026 elections, the window of opportunity to stop Trump may be lost for a long time – longer than one electoral cycle, concludes the author.
Keywords: Trumpism, techno-republicans, effective acceleration, Project 2025, far-right, ultra-liberal, Democratic Party, Republican Party, sponsors, U.S. domestic policy
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