‘I’m a nationalist. Nationalist. Use that word!’

WASHINGTON— As a general rule, presidents do not refer to themselves as a “nationalist” given the freighted history of the word. But as U.S. President Donald Trump tries to galvanize his conservative base to turn out in the midterm elections, he has adopted the label as a badge of honour.

At a rally in Houston on Monday, he embraced the term as unabashedly as he ever has. “Really, we’re not supposed to use that word,” he told supporters in a nod to the usual political sensibilities that he relishes dis- rupting. “You know what I am? I’m a nationalist, OK? I’m a nationalist. Nationalist! Use that word! Use that word!”

There is a reason other presidents generally do not use that word about themselves. Typically, the term “nationalist” is employed by the U.S. government to describe political figures and forces in other countries that sometimes represent a threat.

When used domestically, it is a word often tainted with the whiff of extremism, not least because a variant of it, white nationalist, describes racist leaders and groups. U.S. politicians traditionally stick with the safer term “patriot.”

In Trump’s view, the history does not matter because terms like nationalist and America First aptly sum up his priority of looking out for the United States first, a message that resonates with crowds like the one gathered in Houston’s Toyota Center.

“Radical Democrats want to turn back the clock” to restore the “rule of corrupt, powerhungry globalists,” he said in Houston, where he was campaigning for Sen. Ted Cruz.

“You know what a globalist is? A globalist is a person that wants the globe to do well, frankly, not caring about our country so much. And you know what? We can’t have that.”

This is not the first time Trump has adopted the nationalist label, but rarely has he been as full throated.

In Houston, the crowd booed at Trump’s mention of the word “globalist” and cheered the word “nationalist,” erupting in a boisterous chant of “USA! USA! USA!”