In foreign policy, Reagan believed in the importance of a strong, American-led West and recognized the value of our NATO allies. He was resolutely anti-communist, determined to do everything he reasonably could, not only to win the war of ideas with collectivism, but also to roll back communist rule.

No moment crystallized this better than Reagan’s June 1987 speech at the Brandenburg Gate, where he inspired freedom-loving people around the world by singing, “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!” Similarly, when Poland declared martial law in December 1981, Reagan imposed economic sanctions.

Although Reagan domestically urged Japanese automakers to agree to voluntary restrictions on their auto exports to this country, he was generally a strong supporter of a free market economy and of free trade.

“Our trade policy rests firmly on the foundation of free and open markets,” he noted in 1985, adding that history had shown that “the freer the flow of world trade, the stronger the tides of human progress and peace between the nations.”

Under Reagan and for decades afterward, the Republican Party professed a deep belief in the importance of presidential character and the essence of the rule of law.

And while Reagan largely honored the party’s supposed commitment to fiscal discipline, he worked with Democratic Chairman Tip O’Neill on a deal that secured Social Security for decades.

That ethic of compromise across the aisle speaks to a larger truth about our 40th president: He was able to disagree sharply without demonizing or even hating his opponents. They fought each other over public issues, but Reagan was on friendly terms with O’Neill. And while Reagan resorted to big speeches to make Congress feel the heat when they didn’t want to see the light, he didn’t mean to divide the nation in a deep and lasting way. Instead, he hoped to unite the country around his ideas and ideals.

Now think about Donald Trump and his Republican Party. Trump openly admires and praises autocrats such as North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un, Chinese martinet Xi Jinping and Russian czar Vladimir Putin. Last week he praised Xi as “a brilliant guy” and noted admiringly that “he controls 1.4 billion people with an iron fist.” He has praised Putin’s military and propaganda maneuvers to invade and dismember Ukraine as “genius” and “clever.”

Trump has made it clear that he sees little or no intrinsic value in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. He has even said that Putin and Russia “can do whatever they want” to members who fail to meet their NATO spending commitments.

On trade, Trump has become an enthusiastic protectionist, a staunch supporter of tariffs. In this campaign, he has pledged to impose a 60 percent tariff on Chinese goods, plus base tariffs of up to 20 percent on all other imports, trade duties that the Tax Policy Center estimates would cost American households an average of $3,000 annually. Moreover, with his repeated threats to punish American companies that move production out of this country, one cannot say that he respects free markets. Instead, he imagines himself controlling the levers of a system of politically coerced crony capitalism.

After his previous attempts to get government agencies to go after his political rivals and critics and his repeated suggestions that he might do so again, Trump clearly has little regard for the rule of law. His recent labeling of political opponents as “the enemy from within” adds an exclamation point to that reality.

Unlike Reagan, Trump makes little pretense of being a unifying figure. A demagogic conservative populist, he uses resentment and division as his favorite political tools.

Where Trump can claim to be like Reagan is on abortion. However, although Reagan opposed abortion rights, he did not make it a litmus test for his Supreme Court nominees. Trump did so – making good on his promise to overturn Roe v. Wade.

Trump’s political movement is therefore radically different from Reagan’s. The name on the rust-soaked hull may be the USS Republican Party, but this is a ghost ship operating under a flag of convenience. The destination is not the shining “City on a Hill” that Reagan loved to celebrate, but the dark, grudge-ridden dystopia of MAGA land.

Getting there would be tragic for America.

Scot Lehigh is a Globe columnist. He can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him @GlobeScotLehigh.