Reading Donald Trump from the American Studies' point of view

When was the last time we beat China? When was the last time we beat Japan? We don't win anymore. We lose to China. We lose to Russia. We lose to Mexico. We lose to everybody, Donald Trump repeated, again and again throughout his U.S. presidential campaign speeches. What seemed like a joke a year ago, today has become a serious matter: the real estate magnate finally got the chance to access the White House. It was an unusual campaign where two visions faced each other antagonistically. Donald Trump showed a country in a state of economic emergency due to the ineffectiveness of the political elite and stood as the leader capable of embodying the American Dream once again. Meanwhile, Hillary Clinton, as well as a great part of the political establishment, presented Trump as a danger to democracy for his xenophobia, misogyny and political inexperience. Based on the central concepts of the American Creed, a system of cultural values and ideals rooted in the American society, this article proposes an approach to Donald Trump with the aim of understanding the surprisingly high popularity the Republican candidate gained during 2016's presidential campaign.