Rebellion Donald Trump and the Antiliberal Tradition in America

By: Robert Kagan

Published by Random House, 2025-11-11

Could the 2024 election have been the last free election held in a unified America?

"A dire warning of the right’s drift towards authoritarianism.” —Financial Times

Published in the run-up to Donald Trump’s victory, Rebellion sounded a chilling and clear-eyed warning about the threats posed to American democracy by the increasingly radicalized Republican Party. With the Trump administration in place, and attempting a systematic dismantling of the traditionally liberal principles on which America was founded, Robert Kagan’s lessons and insights have become only more urgent.

Kagan dives deeper than the op-eds and think pieces to explore the historical forces that brought us to a second Trump term—in particular the long history of opposition to liberalism, and to government, that has shaped America’s character from the time of the Revolution to today. Trump’s unique capacity to tap into that tradition of dissent and circumvent the American system has brought us to the edge of dissolution—not for the first time in our history but possibly the last.

Rebellion is an elegant and deeply informed synthesis of history, contemporary politics, and ideas that sheds light on this crucial moment.