Contributors have included William F. Buckley Jr., Harry V. Jaffa, Mark Helprin (a columnist for the magazine), Victor Davis Hanson, Michael Anton, Diana Schaub, Gerard Alexander, David P. Goldman,[5] Allen C. Guelzo, Joseph Epstein, Hadley P. Arkes, and John Marini.

[4][citation needed] According to historian George H. Nash, the editors and writers at Claremont are Straussian intellectually, heavily influenced by the ideas of Leo Strauss and his student Harry V. Jaffa.

"[4][1] Jon Baskin understood the Review's pro-Trump stance as "an expression of the belief that conservative intellectuals can cut a path between the East Coast Straussians' political reticence and the ineffectual tinkering of the think tankers," but was at a loss to explain "how a group so attached to the principles of the Constitution could place its faith in the author of The Art of the Deal.

In Baskin's phrasing, "one of the things that is most disturbing about Trump for liberal and conservative elites (including some East Coast Straussians)—his utter disdain for expertise and convention—is what is most promising about him from the point of view of the Claremonsters.

"[4] Kesler's "Democracy and the Bush Doctrine"[8] was reprinted in an anthology of conservative writings on the Iraq War, edited by Commentary Managing Editor Gary Rosen.

[10] Addressing an audience of Republicans and Never-Trump conservatives, Anton argued that allowing the Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton to become president by abstaining from voting was the equivalent of not charging the cockpit.