Over the last 37 years, I have had the good fortune of meeting many interesting writers and having short visits with authors, leaders, and thinkers such as Fred Barnes, Dan Quayle, Byron York, Stephen Moore, and Donald Trump.

Remember, President Trump had published several New York Times Bestsellers over the years and did various TV and radio shows. Most of the people I met were cordial and professional; however, some were not. Ironically, the less cordial individuals often came from the old Bush-Obama Era NeoCon crowd. People like Barnes, York, Moore, Trump, and Vice President Quayle were genuinely friendly and down-to-earth.

The contrast with the aloofness of some of the NeoCon figures spoke volumes.

As a CEO who has worked in over 40 nations and as an author of hundreds of books, articles, and publications, I consider myself an international lawyer, teacher and historian. After observing the populist movement in Louisiana and the evolving national conservative movement under Perot, Buchanan, and Trump over the last four decades, one truth is clear: there are always winners and losers.

Fortunately, many of us have been on the winning side of history over the past decade—witnessing new policies and innovative ideas that have captured the hearts of a nation in recent elections.

When conservative news outlets such as The Weekly Standard launched in 1995, it seemed a welcome addition to the thoughtful commentary of National Review and The McLaughlin Group

Founded by former Quayle staffer William “Bill” Kristol, and backed by Rupert Murdoch, the magazine became one of the flag bearers of neoconservative thought—with firm views on foreign policy, fiscal prudence, and the belief that conservatism was inseparable from character and democratic virtue. Yet, by the time it folded in 2018, The Weekly Standard and its writers had become a nucleus of a dissident faction of “Never Trump” elitists.

Their journey from Reaganite establishment to opposition to Donald Trump traces the unraveling of ideological coherence within the modern American right. While leaders such as Mr. Barnes, Mr. Moore,  or Dan Quayle remained grounded in traditional conservative values, others seemed to morph into “controlled opposition,” eager to lead the losing minority —or worse, to serve as useful idiots for the Democratic and socialist agenda.

The Rise of a Conservative Vanguard

In the 1990s and early 2000s, conservative columnists stood at the intellectual center of Washington’s policy world. Writers such as David Brooks, Stephen F. Hayes, Charles Krauthammer, Fred Barnes, Bill Kristol, and David Frum shaped the arguments that defined the Bush-era think tank consensus: the defense of Western civilization, free markets, and moral leadership abroad. Several claimed conservatism was not merely reactionary but a moral mission—asserting that America, through both military might and civic virtue, bore a special duty to lead the world.

However, despite their stated devotion to ideas like fiscal responsibility, their influence rarely resulted in meaningful reform. Many drifted toward a globalist worldview incompatible with an “America First” philosophy. Some, like Brooks, secretly dined with Obama which appeared to be a symbol of their drift toward the left. ^[i]

The conservative columnist class became proudly elitist in tone. While talk radio and Fox News spoke to the populist grassroots, several of these faux-conservative “anti-Trump” writers spoke only to the Beltway establishment: congressional aides, think-tank insiders, and foreign-policy bureaucrats. When George W. Bush entered the White House, many neoconservatives found themselves at the center of power.

The Iraq War—then viewed as a moral crusade to spread democracy—was their great cause. Yet its failure, followed by the 2008 financial crisis, exposed the chasm between neoconservative theory and common sense. A movement built on moral clarity now faced moral disillusionment. Even today, many marvel that President Trump, long portrayed as brash, has proven to be a man of peace—opposing senseless wars and corruption while  earnestly supporting the working class — tirelessly working to transform and innovate the Republican Party into a working family party of “Peace and Prosperity.”

The Trump Disruption

Donald Trump’s rise in 2015 detonated the fragile alliance between conservative intellectuals and populist voters. For writers such as: Goldberg, Kristol, Hayes, and their colleagues, Trump represented everything The Weekly Standard had long denounced: demagoguery, anti-intellectualism, and American populism.

What seemed to alarm them most was not merely Trump’s tone but his rejection of the moral pretense that had come to define their brand of conservatism. Trump’s America First nationalism, anti-war stance, union and working family sympathies, strong immigration stance, skepticism of NATO, and proactive diplomacy contradicted the neoconservative vision of perpetual global intervention.

Many of these “faux Republicans” became Trump’s fiercest critics. They wagered arrogantly that Trump could never defeat the Bushes, Rubio, Cruz, or the rest. When proven wrong and defunded, the NeoCons launched small news outlets, claiming to defend “democratic norms” from “authoritarian populism.”

Many of these former respected conservatives drifted away from the evolution of the conservative movement and completely misjudged Trump’s meteoric rise to power. Other writers retreated into mocking the new libertine populist movements, failing to grasp its intellectual depth, working family dynamic, or momentum.

The New Havens for the Exiles

The closure of The Weekly Standard in 2018 symbolized an ideological death. Its owners or investors must have grown frustrated with its direction. Many of us had greatly respected the writers for the Standard, Review, and related outlets. The demise of this group represented the end of a small but noisy NeoCon enclave within the right.

Their tone grew increasingly moralistic and bitter, sustained by bizarre praise of liberal elites. They postured as heirs to Bush-era conservatism while echoing Obama-era political correctness. Yet, it appears for every Bush-Obama era NeoCon who fled the new conservative-populist movement, three new moderates, union members, libertarians, and disenchanted Democrats joined Trump’s “America First” coalition.

These media elites overlooked the populist and libertine spirit that had animated leaders like Andrew Jackson, Huey Long, Perot, and Patrick Buchannan —of whom Trump intuitively understood. While Ross Perot and Pat Buchanan laid early groundwork, Trump built a broad coalition of voters across race, region, and class. The NeoCon defection was less a principled stand than a desperate bid for relevance. Ironically, their exodus energized Trump’s base.

The elitist globalist NeoCons—once gatekeepers of “respectable conservatism”—became symbols of the establishment Trump had overthrown while the NeoCons that evolved learned to understand the importance of family, fair immigration, business friendly rules, and mutually respectful tariffs.

The result: Trump emerged as the “Compassionate Populist,” winning historic support across diverse demographics— winning the vote of the majority of: union households, Hispanic Men, Asian Americans, Arab Americans, and even winning 65% of Native American voters. ^[ii]

The Broader Exodus of Conservative Thinkers

Beyond the old conservative orbit, many formerly respected scholars rejected Trump’s “America First” policies, immigration reform, and skepticism toward NATO, fearing a retreat from “global leadership.”

Yet Trump proved them wrong by brokering a dozen peace and trade deals worldwide and basically ending illegal immigration overnight with the stroke of a pen turning immigration into a for-profit enterprise that can help feed the poor in the USA.

Meanwhile, as many legacy conservative outlets collapsed, new conservative, libertarian and populist media outlets rose rapidly. Independent radio and podcast speakers such as Bongino, Alex Jones, Rob Carson, and Tucker Carlson can probably get more viewers giving a live cast from their car than MSNBC or CNN gets in prime time. ^[iii]

These older writers did not necessarily embrace left-wing ideology; rather, their opposition to Trump stemmed from confusion and self-preservation. They mistook populism for moral decay and totally underestimated the hunger for independent new media. But time has proven otherwise. Trump’s victories over Clinton, Biden, and Harris vindicated his movement.

News outlets that embraced Trump’s rise to power and policies—such as Newsmax—flourished, defying critics who once predicted their failure. Today, Newsmax stands as a multi billion-dollar global media empire.

For the NeoCons, rather than pandering to the old media for money, they probably could have founded great online news services, but  it seems that the NeoCons simply did not have the entrepreneurial spirit that others had like: Bongino, Beck, Walsh, Kirk, Carlson, Megyn Kelly, Shapiro and others who are dominating media now. ^[iv]

The Loyalists and the New Populists

A smaller band of veterans took a different path. Tucker Carlson, once a traditional magazine writer, became the leading populist voice on television. His wildly popular programs—and now his independent network—champion the anti-war, anti-globalist, pro-worker ethos of the new conservative movement.

Fred Barnes, Byron York, and Brit Hume remained open-minded toward Trump’s global policies and rebuilding the conservative party, recognizing pragmatic successes without indulging in Beltway snobbery. For them, Trump was not an aberration but a corrective—a populist reaction to elite corruption and leftist extremism. This divide—between old republican elitism and modern conservative-populism—now defines American politics far more than the traditional left-right spectrum.

How Trump Policies Won Over America

The policies that have propelled Trump’s ideas to win over the majority of Americans are the following. The movement has focused on standing up and marching for working families by prioritizing jobs, safe and quality schools, safe streets, secure workplaces, and fair trade. It emphasizes fair immigration reform, rebuilding America first, financial sustainability, and fair taxation and working conditions.

The agenda promotes business-friendly U.S. laws to attract global investment and economic development, fair treatment for veterans, affordable health care for women and families, in-state tuition for citizens, stopping the drug genocide that began during Obama, and full tax reform for child care and education to enhance productivity.

It also advocates fair corporate tax rates so employee wages can rise, civil rights and victims’ rights, elder-care protections, social justice for all citizens, protecting women in sports, and protecting children from genital mutilation.

The vision includes sustainable government, support for farmers, environmental sustainability, and peace in the Middle East and Ukrain. Internationally, it calls for innovating government, NATO, reforming NAFTA and the TPP, and establishing a commission to modernize immigration policies with the other 54 nations and territories in the Western Hemisphere, while fixing the broken asylum and refugee systems. At its core, the platform seeks energy independence as the foundation for “peace through strength.”

Conclusion: The Legacy of a Broken NeoCon Media

The NeoCon collapse was more than the death of a few magazines—it marked the end of a worldview. The intellectual conservatism that once united moralists, neoconservatives, and classical liberals decayed into a controlled opposition content to remain a minority voice.  Meanwhile, the populist-nationalist, family-oriented, “America First” movement propelled Trump and his Congress to heights unimaginable to the “think-tank” elite.

For the opinion-writers of the last 25-30 years who are NeoCon anti-Trump globalists, their opposition to President Trump and innovative conservative ideas led to their irrelevance and defeat. The NeoCons are now perceived as detached figures with confused loyalties who are seen as anti-peace, war mongers. To millions of voters, Trump embodied a revolt against the arrogant globalist establishment. In a series of monumental victories in courts and the election booth, Trump defeated the cabal determined to overthrow his government and candidacy. As a result, Trump’s persistent victories made his team the true heirs to Reagan’s coalition—uniting conservatives, libertarians, populists, union workers, ethnic voters, women, and sensible Democrats. ^[v]

Ultimately, the tragedy is intellectual: the former conservative columnist class, once standard-bearers of principle, now drifts in a diaspora of self-doubt. With the October 2025 indictment of Bush-era NeoCon John Bolton—on charges of mishandling classified national defense information—the collapse of the old conservative order became more than symbolic.

Bolton, once an authentic conservative but now a vocal critic of President Trump, now faces serious legal scrutiny. While he has pleaded not guilty, the case has intensified public debate about the conduct of senior officials during the Bush-Obama era. Some speculate that further investigations could reveal broader networks of misconduct, potentially implicating other figures from the NeoCons, Democrats, and establishment ranks. Whether Bolton cooperates with prosecutors or contests the charges, the indictment marks a turning point in the ideological battle between populist reformers and the legacy elite. ^[vi]

The charges against John Bolton are vast and the examination of materials from his home office may reveal others involved, and to avoid jail for himself or family members, he could potentially take a deal to testify against various offenders who may have exploited him over the years. Further, the Sept. 25th criminal indictment of James Comey also puts the entire “anti-Trump” movement under scrutiny for trying to use the fake evidence and dossier to overthrow Trump’s government and wiretap countless people. Remember, 40 got felony convictions for one attempted wire tap under Nixon, and the public is tired of the KGB tactics used by leftist extremists. ^[vii]

It has taken decades for many within the Bush and Obama collective to recognize the failures of war, bad trade deals, globalism, poor policies toward workers, poor health insurance, unhinged immigration, poor education, and inflation. Now, as the middle class demands relief, it is time for a new chapter—one of success, peace, and prosperity. The lesson is clear: America must always come first.

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Commissioner George Mentz JD MBA CILS CWM® holds a Doctor of Jurisprudence (JD), and an MBA from ABA and AACSB Accredited programs. Mentz is the first in the USA to rank as a Top 50 Influencer & Thought Leader in: Management, PM, HR, FinTech, EdTech, Wealth Management, and B2B according to Onalytica.com and Thinkers360.com. George Mentz JD MBA CILS is a CWM Chartered Wealth Manager ®, global speaker - educator, tax-economist, international lawyer and CEO of the GAFM Global Academy of Finance & Management ®. The GAFM is a EU accredited graduate body that trains and certifies professionals in 150+ nations under standards of the: US Dept of Education, ACBSP, ISO 21001, ISO 991, ISO 29993, QAHE, ECLBS, and ISO 29990 standards. Mentz is also an award-winning author and award winning graduate law professor of wealth management of one of the top 25 ranked law schools in the USA and is founder of the ChE Chartered Economist ® certification & education programs. George Mentz has served as a White House Commissioner, and has served the Civil Service Commission for Police and Fire and the Airport Commission (Home of Space Force). Comm'r Mentz is one of the few lawyers who has ever earned Wall Street Firm licenses of Series 7,63, and 65 , served as a Judge for the ABA, has led civil litigation cases in fraud and defamation, as well as testified as an expert in FINRA/NASD financial arbitration.

^[i] Obama Dines With Conservative Columnists - The New York Times

^[ii] How Trump Overwhelmingly Won the Ethnic Vote | Newsmax.com

^[iii] Top Podcast Charts - Apple Podcasts

^[iv] 100 Best Conservative Podcasts You Must Follow in 2025

^[v] How Trump Overwhelmingly Won the Ethnic Vote | Newsmax.com

^[vi] John Bolton indicted by grand jury, latest Trump foe to face charges

^[vii] Watergate Casualties and Convictions – Watergate.info