10.3b1 Reactionary Movement

A reactionary movement resists social change, tries to bring back (real or imagined) social norms or laws from the past, or both. Donald Trump’s “Make America Great Again” presidential campaigns exemplify a reactionary movement, with Trump as the movement’s leader. Trump gained supporters by promising them a return to a time in which they believed they were better off—economically, socially, or both. For example, Trump emphasized protecting jobs that are declining or at risk of decline due to the move toward renewable energy, such as coal mining jobs (see Photo 10.8).

Photo 10.8

Trump Campaigned on Protecting Coal Mining Jobs Over Renewable Energy

To keep his promises, Trump rolled back more than 100 environmental protection rules and regulations during his first term (2017-2021) (Popovich et al., 2021). Trump withdrew the United States from the Paris Climate Agreement in 2019 (Pompeo, 2019), an international treaty aimed at preventing catastrophic climate change, adopted by 196 countries (United Nations, 2025b). Joe Biden rejoined it when he replaced Trump as president in 2021 (Blinken, 2021), and Trump signed an executive order on the first day of his second term to withdraw the United States again (Daly & Borenstein, 2025).