Where do we go after Donald Trump?

The question has divided the right. When it comes to charting the correct course, a book published during the president’s first administration is timelier than ever: R.R. Reno’s “The Return of the Strong Gods.”

‘The perverse gods of blood, soil, and identity cannot be overcome with the open-society therapies of weakening,’ writes Reno.

MAGA 2.0?

One faction of the right appears keen to continue delivering on the promise of Trump’s “Golden Age” by leaning further into a muscular and nationalistic conservatism.

Liberal interlopers and other ideological refugees with forward operating bases situated right-of-center have been working ardently to politically neutralize this camp ahead of the 2028 election, smearing, for instance, some of those in Vice President JD Vance’s orbit as “woke right.”

Such liberal saboteurs are right to be fearful of this camp, as its dominance — affirmed by a Vance win — would signal the MAGA movement wasn’t a sprint but a marathon.

Libertarian libs

The second camp, whose potential champion in the 2028 primary field appears to be Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), is keen both to act as though the populist upheaval of the 2010s hadn’t irreversibly changed the game and to slink back onto the rhetorically conservative, libertarian-minded side of the liberal coin.

This is the politics that has purchased cultural and economic deregulation, a ruinous series of foreign entanglements, a demographic crisis, and a low-trust society marked by an anemic sense of “we.”

The old guard in both parties — those who’ve long railed against and/or sought to undermine the MAGA agenda — would doubtless regard the success and empowerment of this camp as a godsend.

Early polling data provide strong indications, however, that there is little appetite among likely Republican primary voters for a return to a George W. Bush-era style of Republican leadership. The reason is perhaps best explained in a book first published six years ago.

Weak loves vs. strong gods

In “Return of the Strong Gods: Nationalism, Populism, and the Future of the West,” R.R. Reno, a political philosopher and editor of First Things magazine, discusses both what was behind and what is ahead of the recent nationalist and populist uprisings in the West.

The book, which Reno has touted as an “essay in the politics of imagination,” is an engrossing elaboration on an article he penned years earlier detailing the full-spectrum campaign spearheaded by classical and progressive liberals after the Second World War to “disenchant and desacralize public life” and to produce an “open society” wherein the “strong gods” — the “objects of men’s love and devotion, the sources of the passions and loyalties that unite societies” — could inevitably be neutralized and/or replaced by “weak loves” such as relativism, diversity, and tolerance.

Reno suggests that the reasoning behind this project of societal opening and weakening was that earlier in the 20th century, strong gods had supposedly rendered the masses easily manipulable by demagogues and set the stage for those totalitarian regimes that warred against humanity.

The general theory of society underpinning the postwar consensus became, according to Reno, “characterized by a fundamental judgment: whatever is strong — strong loves and strong truths — leads to oppression, while liberty and prosperity require the reign of weak loves and weak truths.”

RELATED: Conservatives face a choice in ’26: realignment or extinction

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Making monsters

This, Reno insists, was a catastrophic overreaction.

In their campaign to water down dark loves, the war-traumatized liberal elites of yesteryear also watered down the powerful loves and intense loyalties that hold Western civilization together and supply a sense of belonging, purpose, and solidarity — such as family, nation, religion, and transcendent truth.

Reno notes that this campaign not only produced a dysfunctional society but incubated some of the very dark loves it was meant to destroy.

“The perverse gods of blood, soil, and identity cannot be overcome with the open-society therapies of weakening,” writes Reno. “On the contrary, they are encouraged by multiculturalism and the reductive techniques of critique. In its present decadent form, the postwar consensus makes white nationalism an entirely cogent position.”

“We cannot forestall the return of the debasing gods by reapplying the open-society imperatives. False loves can be remedied only be true ones,” adds Reno.

‘A language of love’

While the postwar liberal regime enjoyed great success in producing monsters and in disenchanting, disorienting, deracinating, and rendering homeless those guns-or-religion deplorables for whom America’s detached elites still brazenly express contempt, its success karmically set the stage for a popular yearning for anchorage, belonging, and a sense of “we,” which in turn prompted a rejection of the postwar consensus.

That rejection has manifested in various ways but most clearly in the rejection of the open society and its possessing forces of weakening that occurred on Nov. 8, 2016.

During his first term and again over the past several months, Trump has pursued reconsolidation and protection as opposed to deregulation and openness and delivered significant results along the way.

Those who’d seek to steer the right back toward the open society and sell voters on a rebrand of the postwar consensus stand a better chance of sweeping waves back into the sea.

While well-positioned to lead, those in the first camp may nevertheless want to heed Reno’s caution about the open society: “This project cannot be opposed solely on political grounds, as if nationalism alone can overcome the ‘destiny of weakening.’ We need strengthening motifs across the board.”

“Our task, therefore, is to restore public life in the West by developing a language of love and a vision of the ‘we’ that befits our dignity and appeals to our reason as well as our hearts,” wrote Reno.

“We must attend to the strong gods who come from above and animate the best of our traditions. Only that kind of leadership will forestall the return of the dark gods who rise up from below.”

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Former President Barack Obama may have deported more immigrants than President Trump, but that isn’t stopping the left from accusing supporters of Trump’s immigration policy of being heartless and cruel.

“Biden also deported over a million people,” BlazeTV host Allie Beth Stuckey says on “Relatable.” “Did you hear about ICE raids under Biden? Did you hear about ICE raids under Obama? Did you hear about kids in cages under any of these administrations, even though that was happening, if you want to call these detention centers cages?”

“Did you hear about all of the lost children who were abandoned and not accounted for under these administrations? Did you hear about the sex trafficking, the human trafficking, the drug and weaponry trafficking that was happening under these administrations?” she asks.

“No, it’s not because it wasn’t happening. It’s because the media is in bed with the Democrats, and they don’t want you to see the Democrats doing things that they are criticizing Donald Trump for,” she adds.

Stuckey calls this a “weaponization of empathy.”

And Democrats weaponize your empathy to make you feel like the well-being of a stranger who lives a world away should be a priority in your own life — but Stuckey couldn’t disagree more.

“Countries are like families, just on a bigger scale. You put the safety and security of your people first. Not because you hate people from other countries, but because you love people in your country. It is not possible for us to equally prioritize all of the interests of everyone in the world and all of their safety and security,” she says.

“I believe we see that principle in Romans 13, that governments were instituted by God to punish the wrongdoer and reward the good,” she continues, adding, “You take care of your people. Nations were God’s idea. Borders were God’s idea. Government, laws, all God’s idea, and they are good.”

Want more from Allie Beth Stuckey?

To enjoy more of Allie’s upbeat and in-depth coverage of culture, news, and theology from a Christian, conservative perspective, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

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Throughout scripture, God, who calls Himself a “father to the fatherless,” pulls no punches about His heart toward orphans: They are to be cared for.

Many faithful believers choose to live out this holy commandment through the adoption of a child. But while the redemption of a broken situation is a beautiful and joyful thing to behold, few talk about the pain that often accompanies adoption.

On this episode of “Unashamed,” the Robertsons speak with bestselling author and podcaster Lisa Harper about her adoption story.

After hearing a sermon on the passage in James about the importance of widow and orphan care, Lisa, a single woman in her 40s at the time, felt convicted to act.

After several years of wrestling, Lisa found herself prepared to adopt a baby from Haiti. “I got written into a story of a precious little girl who was a crack addict and had gotten pregnant,” says Lisa, noting that she “spent Christmas that year in a crack house.”

Right before she was set to bring her baby home, however, the adoption “fell apart at the 11th hour.”

Lisa returned home utterly crushed.

But two weeks later, something miraculous happened. Lisa received a phone call from a friend who was in Haiti working on building a communal kitchen to help feed children in a particular village. While she was there, a young mother in the village died of AIDS, leaving behind a sickly daughter with no one to care for her.

She told Lisa that the Lord spoke to her “clear as a bell in that ER room … ’Lisa Harper’s supposed to be that little girl’s mama.’”

Lisa, still mourning the loss of the first child, boldly and faithfully said, “Sign me up.”

“Missy’s 16 now, healthy as a horse,” Lisa says through tears. “She’s not my hope. Jesus is my hope, but she is tangible grace.”

“Missy does not have an orphan spirit. I had an orphan’s spirit,” she says, recalling her years of wrestling with feeling undeserving of God’s invitation to be part of his eternal family.

By the end of Lisa’s story, Jase, Al, and Zach Dasher are all wiping tears from their eyes. To hear it in full, watch the episode above.

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President Donald Trump has secured a spot as one of the most iconic figures in American history. While many of his significant political actions are certain to be remembered, so will the countless clips and memes throughout his time in office.

Here are the five funniest Trump moments of his second presidency so far.

5. Making plastic straws great again

In the early weeks of his second term, Trump signed the “number one trending” executive order ending the “forced use” of paper straws across the country.

During the signing, Trump quipped about the ineffectiveness of paper straws, noting they “explode” in drinks, rendering them useless and often frustrating to drink from.

“We’re going back to plastic straws,” Trump said. “These things don’t work. … On occasion they break, they explode. If something’s hot, they don’t last very long. Like, a matter of minutes, sometimes a matter of seconds. It’s a ridiculous situation. So, we’re going back to plastic straws. I think it’s OK.”

“I don’t think that plastic is going to affect a shark very much as they’re munching their way through the ocean,” Trump added.

4. “Everything’s computer!”

Trump shared a unique friendship with serial entrepreneur Elon Musk, whose many business ventures include Tesla. These electric cars that were once one of the most iconic and prevalent vehicles in Silicon Valley quickly became associated with Musk and Trump’s political alliance.

In support of Musk, Trump had several Tesla models shown at the White House, where he candidly reviewed a Tesla vehicle himself.

“Oh wow, it’s beautiful!” Trump said as he stepped into the Tesla. “Wow. That’s beautiful. This is a different panel than I’ve — everything’s computer!”

3. Trick-or-treat

Trump recreated one of his most iconic moments during Halloween, when the White House hosts an annual trick-or-treat on the South Lawn, where the president and the first lady hand out candy to children.

In 2019, one of Trump’s funniest unscripted moments was when a child in an inflatable Minion costume came to the White House for candy. Trump, unsure of where to hand off the candy bar, made the executive decision to place it on the Minion’s head, producing one of the most meme-able moments of his first term.

Trump re-created this interaction in 2025 when a child dressed as Marshmello, a DJ who wears a marshmallow-shaped mask, came through the line. Just as he did in 2019, Trump opted to set the candy bar on the flat top of the marshmallow, sending the trick-or-treater on his way.

2. Autopen presidency

As Trump works to solidify his legacy after his second term, he has taken it upon himself to spruce up the White House grounds with a new ballroom, a paved patio in the Rose Garden, and touches of gold pretty much every place he can.

He has also made sure to commemorate those presidents who came before him.

One new feature at the White House is Trump’s hall of presidents, featuring an array of gold-framed presidential portraits alongside a walkway overlooking the Rose Garden. Trump cleverly added his own flair to the commemorative walkway, featuring a framed photo of the autopen between his 45th and 47th presidential portrait, memorializing former President Joe Biden’s autopen scandal.

1. The N-word

Trump has always had a flair for the dramatic, often echoing the showmanship of his reality TV days. Love him or hate him, he knows how to capture a crowd’s attention.

In one of his funniest and most underrated political speeches of 2025, Trump delivered an edgy punchline in an address to military brass in Quantico.

“It was really a stupid person that … mentioned the word ‘nuclear,'” Trump said during the address.

“I moved a submarine or two … over to the coast of Russia, just to be careful, because we can’t let people throw around that word,” he continued.

“I call it the N-word,” Trump added. “There are two N-words, and you can’t use either of them.”

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