Trump's Nationalist Appeal Fades When He Starts Winking at Putin

The word of the year 2016 has to be “nationalism.” All over the developed world, electorates seem discontented with elites who were too quick to embrace immigration and trade, too unwilling to value native culture, native workers, native interests over those of foreign lands. Donald Trump’s campaign has some unique American twists, but when you pull back the camera, he looks like part of a pattern of resurgent nationalism, nativism, a desire to hear a politician stand foursquare for “Us” against “Them.”

Trump has played on that desire very well, of course. At least, until now. Then today he gave a press conference where, among other things, he invited Russia to find and release missing e-mails from Hillary Clinton’s private server.