tl;dr: It’s not populism but personalism/cult of personality (note that the article uses the term personalism in a manner that does not align with the normal definition). | Archive - Edit: fixed a mangled link

In the populist worldview, the people have a unified set of common-sense beliefs (“the general will”) that would fix politics if implemented. The only reason it is not happening, for the populist, is that malign elites are preventing the people and their champions from holding power.

In a populist movement like MAGA, the “people” are defined narrowly as only those “good” or “true” Americans — meaning typically, though not exclusively, white rural Christian Republicans. Trump presents himself as their champion…

Instead of telling a populist story about the people versus the elite, he’s now telling a story of conflict between two groups of elites: the evil liberals forced out of power and the good Trumpists who now control it. Now that his movement controls Washington, he wants his followers to abandon their skepticism of power and simply trust that the government has their best interests at heart.

“LET PAM BONDI DO HER JOB — SHE’S GREAT!” Trump wrote in characteristic all-caps.

This is not the logic of populism, but rather of personalism: a version of authoritarian politics that invests all power and authority in a single individual. This has always been central to Trump’s appeal but has reached new heights after the failed assassination attempt last year.