D
onald Trump's enduring popularity has allowed him to unite support from traditional Republicans, evangelical conservatives, and working-class Americans under his "Make America Great Again" banner. Despite personal controversies and a criminal conviction, he has stamped his populist brand on the Republican Party.

    Trump's staying power lies in his ability to energize a dormant authoritarian base within the party, says Matthew MacWilliams, a political scientist at the pro-democracy Foundation International Communications Hub. This base has executed a "hostile takeover" by purging dissenters and making the party more Trump-centric than traditional Republican.

    "If you oppose him, he takes you out," MacWilliams warns of Trump's internal opponents. "You start to learn that opposing him means losing in primaries." Trump's authoritarian approach has allowed him to control the party machinery and silence opposition.

    From real estate mogul to president, Trump's persona has been anti-establishment with a brazen, combative approach. He won the presidency in 2016 by convincing swing state voters, despite losing the popular vote. As president, he fulfilled conservative goals such as enacting corporate tax breaks and ending US involvement in international agreements.

    However, his presidency was marred by controversies, including allegations of election interference and a violent storming of the Capitol building on January 6, 2021. Trump became the first criminally convicted US president after being found guilty of falsifying business records in the Stormy Daniels case.

    Despite multiple charges and convictions, Trump has brushed aside his opponents and was resoundingly nominated as the Republicans' candidate for president in 2024. His campaign has been marked by nationalist positions and rhetoric on migration, including descriptions of immigrants with "bad genes" and promises of mass deportations.

    Trump's polarizing rhetoric has challenged other Republicans, says Robert Rowland, a specialist in political communication at the University of Kansas. "He magnifies their sense of grievance and fear, and then resolves that." On November 5, voters will determine whether Trump or Democratic nominee Kamala Harris will lead the country for the next four years.