Trump and the new age of populism

So, here we are: it’s 2025, and Donald Trump has just entered the White House for a second term. People everywhere are trying to understand just how this happened again, with some pointing fingers at factors like economic frustration, media polarisation or identity politics.  

But in reality, all of these factors fall under a bigger umbrella that’s worth unpacking: populism.  

If you’re thinking, ‘what’s populism?’ – you’ve come to the right place.  

Populism is essentially a political stance marked by pitting ‘the people’ against ‘the elites’. The term has been around for more than a century, but with Trump’s rise to power, we might be entering a whole new age of populism.  

In the latest episode of Presidency Pending, hosted by Dr Clare Corbould and Dr Zim Nwokora from Deakin’s School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Professor Simon Tormey breaks down what populism is and how movements like Trump’s are potentially shaking things up all over the world.  

What’s populism? 

So, first things first: what’s populism? According to Tormey, it’s when ‘political figures, movements or parties take issue with the system, or with elites, or with the operation of a country.’  

It’s often fuelled by a crisis, and while the crises may vary, the cause tends to be the same, according to Tormey: ‘a general disaffection with how a political system or establishment is operating.’  

This situation creates the perfect pressure cooker for an outsider (like Trump!) to come in and position themselves as the defender of the people.  

The origins of populism 

According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, the age of populism’s roots can be traced back to the late 1890s, when groups of farmers started to form political action groups called Farmers’ Alliances. These groups advocated for policies such as a graduated income tax, government ownership of railroads and a higher amount of circulating currency.  

A few years later, these groups helped form the Populist party, which ran a candidate for president in 1892 who netted more than a million votes. The Populist party was soon absorbed into the Democratic party, but the issues they championed have remained a persistent thread in American politics.  

‘Populism comes out of this anti-Washington, anti-statism, anti-collectivism, in defense of the common man, against taxation, standing up for your rights – which are all enshrined in the US Constitution,’ says Tormey. ‘We’ve seen variants of this basically play out since the 1880s and 1890s. There’s been that inflection all the way through.’  

So, we’ve unpacked the origins of populism and how the late 19th century and early 20th century were the start of the age of populism, but the question remains: what is this new age of populism that political figures like Trump seem to be ushering in?  

Why is populism on the rise?  

Populism isn’t a passing trend, but more a reaction to societal frustrations.  

When there’s growth in economic inequality and the gap between politicians and everyday people, populist rhetoric becomes an effective tool for mobilising voters – especially in this new age of populism, where populist sentiments are easily amplified through social media.  

Looking at the state of global politics today, we can see that both of these boxes have been ticked. In a 2024 survey of 36 nations, the Pew Research Centre found widespread concern about economic inequality. Of the nations surveyed, a majority of participants indicated that they felt children would be worse off financially than their parents and that the economic systems of their country required major changes or complete reform.  

According to the Brookings Institute, contemporary global inequalities are close to the peak levels of the early 20th century, and inequality has risen in most advanced and major emerging economies.  

So, the answer to ‘why is populism on the rise’ is that our current economic and social conditions are ripe for disaffection. But you might now be wondering, if populism is about the common man versus the elites, how can a political figure like Trump be considered a populist? 

‘There is debate about Trump and the degree to which he’s a populist,’ says Tormey. ‘The debate tends to be that he’s actually from the elite, therefore, how can you be stridently rallying against the elites when you’re an elite figure?’  

It’s contradictory, but Trump’s not the only political figure who’s made that contradiction work for him. Several contemporary populists are part of the elite class – think Boris Johnson, for example.  

This also begs the question of whether this new age of populism is less focused on ‘the people’ versus ‘elites’, and more on ‘the people’ versus ‘those culturally different from them’ and indicates an intersection between populism and nationalism.  

Nationalism vs populism: what’s the difference?  

If you followed Trump’s campaign, you might have noticed that this new age of populism seems to be tangled up in nationalism, leaning on rhetoric that stokes racial and cultural division.  

But, is populism inherently exclusionary?  

‘The short answer is, I don’t think you need to be a racist to be a populist,’ says Tormey. ‘Within populist studies, there is a view that populism can act as a proxy for the far-right, providing a veneer of respectability for racism. But unless someone’s going to say that left populism isn’t populism, then we’ve got a problem with that kind of automatic assumption that a populist has to be a racist.’   

Is populism left or right? 

Firstly, it’s important to note that, at some level, all successful politicians have to be populist.  

‘In order to win elections, you have to build a coalition and a constituency, and the easiest way to do that is to say, “I represent the people,”’ says Tormey. ‘You’ve got to build the broadest coalition church that you can, and the broadest of them all in a democracy is that of the demos itself, the people. So, if you can stand up and sound plausible and credible to the people, you’re going to win elections, right? There’s a populist core to democratic discourse.’ 

This means populism isn’t just for the right-leaning or left-leaning crowd. While we’re currently associating the new age of populism to a right-wing figure like Donald Trump, populist rhetoric has been used by left-wing leaders as well.  

Think Bernie Sanders, who has built his brand around fighting for those left behind by the system. Barack Obama’s campaign also used populist language to connect with everyday Americans, with messaging around hope and change.  

We can also consider Kamala Harris, and how she didn’t use populism to her advantage.  

‘[Harris] basically aligned herself with a particular set of sectional interests – women’s rights, people of colour, young people and so on,’ says Tormey. ‘The coalition that she was trying to build simply wasn’t expansive enough to withstand the more populist rhetoric of Trump. I think strategically, she went too narrow, and she needed to expand.’ 

Examples of populism in Australia 

While Trump’s impact might be felt most in America, his influence extends far beyond America’s borders, potentially ushering in a new age of populism here in Australia as well. 

More Australians than ever before are in support of Trump, with polling showing that around one-third of polled Australians would vote for Trump if they could.  

Australia isn’t new to populist rhetoric, though. Figures like Pauline Hanson and Clive Palmer have long tapped into populist sentiments, often focusing on distrust of the political establishment.  

‘I think we’ve had that libertarian right populism, but I don’t think we’ve had very effective left populism,’ says Tormey. ‘I think we can see in Dutton’s recent moves that there is a kind of Trump playbook playing out here. Dutton is quite clever in terms of his rhetoric, and he’s got an absolute ton of media on his side. I think this is going to be a pretty populist election.’  

However, Australia does have two key political variables that may slow the potential sway of this new age of populism.  

‘I think compulsory voting does change the tenor of an electoral campaign,’ says Tormey. ‘Australia’s also got a complex governance system that doesn’t lend itself to one person being able to have such an influence, in terms of what actually plays out. We don’t have a president, and we also have powerful states and powerful cities that are able to mitigate and offset the kinds of things that we might associate with a Dutton or a Trump presidency.’  

The age of populism: what’s next?  

Populism, in one form or another, has been around for over a century. And while the new age of populism shares many of the same elements, it also comes with some key differences that make it a different beast. With Trump leading the charge, populism today is marked by divisive and combative rhetoric, and it’s also more reliant on social media.  

So, what’s next? Well, populism isn’t going anywhere – but the real question is, how might this new brand of populism shake up the future of democracy?  

To hear the full conversation between Professor Simon Tormey, Dr Clare Corbould and Dr Zim Nwokora, head to Spotify or Apple Podcasts.