The election of Donald Trump as President of the United States in November 2016 was a political earthquake, one supporters and detractors alike agree has changed the course of history. The policy implications have been stark and will continue well beyond his presidency. The political implications have been perhaps even more drastic—for both political parties. Trump has shaken the 40-year-old coalition of traditional conservatives, orthodox religious voters, and free-market libertarians that has long-composed the Republican Party. The Republican Resistance: #NeverTrump Conservatives and the Future of the GOP explores the members of that coalition, especially traditional, establishment-oriented Republicans and conservative intellectuals who opposed his candidacy, who generally still oppose his presidency, and who represent the elite-in-waiting that believes it will have to rebuild the GOP when the Trump coalition implodes. In the end, The Republican Resistance argues that the Trump presidency and the #NeverTrump countermovement reflect key features of modern American politics which both major political parties must contend: the rise of a populist insurgency intent on overtaking the parties from within and challenges of embracing demographic and structural realities on the one hand while catering to a political base often built to oppose those trends on the other.

Donald Trump has faced unprecedented opposition from members of his own party to his candidacy, election, and presidency. This opposition, known collectively as #NeverTrump Republicans, opposes Trump for a variety of reasons, but is united in its assessment that he is temperamentally unfit to be president. The contributors in The Republican Resistance: #NeverTrump Conservatives and the Future of the GOP detail the origins of this movement, with particular focus on the 2016 election cycle, and explore how #NeverTrump opponents have continued their resistance through the Trump presidency. The contributors argue that the Trump presidency and the #NeverTrump opposition represent a key feature of modern American politics in which both major American political parties must contend: the rise of a populist insurgency intent on overtaking the party from within. The Republican Resistance examines the implications of this populist revolt on the GOP and the challenges of embracing demographic and structural realities on the one hand while catering to a political base built to oppose those trends on the other.