President Donald J. Trump is unique in American history. Never has a candidate or president suffered so many attacks — legally, politically and physically — yet still kept rising and carrying on his fight.
Book Overview
Victor Davis Hanson, a classics professor and Hoover Institution senior fellow, writes The Counterrevolution: The Fall and Rise of Donald Trump and the MAGA Movement, due September 8.
The book tracks MAGA’s decline after the 2020 election, the Biden years, and the 2024 resurgence, ending with an afterword covering events through April 2026.
Key Themes
Hanson labels today’s Democrats “the New Jacobin Democrats,” likening their excesses to 18th‑century French radicals.
He argues Trump’s combative style mirrors Aristophanic satire, positioning him as a populist outsider.
Legal and Political Assaults
Trump faced five criminal and civil suits, a high‑profile FBI raid on Mar‑a‑Lago, multiple state efforts to bar him from the ballot, and two assassination attempts that killed one and injured others.
Part One: The Fall
Part One details Trump’s post‑2020 decline, covering Jan. 6, the Pelosi commission and a barrage of lawsuits.
Hanson identifies seven anti‑Trump forces: the media, the administrative state, Washington elites, Never‑Trump Republicans, popular culture, academia and foreign actors, which he calls the “Armies of Anti‑Trumpers.”
Part Two: The Rise
Part Two opens with Nietzsche’s “What does not kill me makes me stronger,” portraying Trump as a survivor.
The 2022 Mar‑a‑Lago raid failed to derail him; polls rose immediately after the event.
Hanson notes the 2024 primary timeline, including the resignation of Matthew Colangelo, the appointment of Jack Smith and meetings involving Nathan Wade, suggesting coordinated legal pressure.
Policy Agenda
Hanson says the second Trump term will pursue reciprocal trade, closed borders, legal‑only immigration, deficit reduction and an end to DEI mandates and Green New Deal spending.
Future of MAGA
Hanson argues the MAGA movement can endure beyond Trump, citing the base he built, Democratic fatigue and the adoption of once‑Democratic policies such as tariffs and middle‑class tax cuts.
He warns Democrats that without a centrist, charismatic leader like Clinton or Obama they will likely lose to a workman‑like MAGA Republican.
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