User:Jasper Chu/sandbox

Donald Trump has been described as holding generally conservative, populist, and consistently nationalist, protectionist, and anti-immigrant views. He has cited clergyman and author Norman Vincent Peale and prosecutor Roy Cohn as mentors. He’s has also been influenced by Cohn’s protege and political lobbyist Roger Stone, and televangelist Paula White.

Biographer Micheal D’Antonio has written that Donald Trump and his father have privately held views aligned with the Republican Party’s wing of the Conservative coalition in Congress. In particular, he wrote that Trump’s instincts were “populist and generally conservative” and “almost always favored a stubbornly anti-intellectual type of common sense that played to the grievances of the kind of white men represented by the TV character Archie Bunker…” Outside of the conservative political views reputed to be held by himself and his father, his mentor Roy Cohn was also politically aligned with the Republican Party’s wing of the Conservative coalition in Congress, primarily with the aims of Wisconsin senator Joseph McCarthy through his work as chief counsel on the House Un-American Activities Committee during the Red Scare. McCarthy himself is considered a member of the Conservative coalition in the Republican Party alongside allies like John Marshall Butler, Bourke Hickenlooper, William E. Jenner, Noah Mason, Kit Clardy, Styles Bridges, and Herman Welker. Figures in the of the Republican Party’s wing of the Conservative coalition after World War II, opposed the domestic and foreign policy changes made by Democratic Presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt and Lyndon Johnson. Domestically, Republicans in the Conservative coalition espoused cutting taxes, reducing government spending, deregulation, anti-communism, and states rights, while opposing internationalism and pursing unilateralism in foreign and defence policy. However, Republicans in the Conservative coalition who supported Joseph McCarthy’s involvement in the Second Red Scare became part of what were referred to as McCarthyites. McCarthyites supported and called for the political repression of alleged communists infiltrating and operating within American institutions. Individuals who were targeted included government employees, prominent figures in the entertainment industry, academics, left-wing politicians, and labor union activists.

Cohn would later go on to serve as a New York-based attorney for three decades, with Donald J. Trump as one of his clients. Cohn would develop a long-time friendship with Trump in his early business career, representing him in numerous court cases and business dealings. While Donald Trump and his father lost the case, Trump was impressed by Cohn’s performance. Trump would go on to employ many of the legal and business tactics practiced by Cohn throughout the latter’s career.

Cohn’s protege Roger Stone would also be a longtime confidant and lobbyist for Trump throughout his career, providing advice on business and political tactics. Stone has long been reputed for his aggressive and confrontational tactics as a political operative. Both men have a close relationship going back several decades, with Stone serving as a casino lobbyist for Donald Trump, as well as the director of his 2000 presidential exploratory committee, an advisor for his 2016 presidential campaign, and later a media surrogate.

Religiously, Donald Trump and his family have maintained longstanding and decades-long friendships with Marble Collegiate Church pastor Norman Vincent Peale, and later Independent Charismatic televangelist Paula White.