Good morning. We’re covering foreign policy in a second Trump term — as well as Israeli strikes, Aleksei Navalny’s prison diary and the New York Liberty’s championship win.
The Trump doctrinesDonald Trump is often described as an isolationist, and there is a lot of truth in that label. Trump embraces the slogan “America First.” He criticizes military aid for Ukraine. He can be withering about America’s closest allies. But Trump is not an across-the-board isolationist. When he was president, he engaged with the world in ways that still shape U.S. policy. Rather than ignoring China, he adopted a more confrontational approach than any president in 50 years. In the Middle East, he imposed “maximum pressure” sanctions on Iran and ordered the assassination of a top general. He also fired missiles at Syria after it used chemical weapons against its own people. A pure isolationist wouldn’t have taken those steps. The Morning has been publishing a series called The Stakes, focused on the policy positions of the presidential candidates. Today, I’ll look at Trump’s foreign policy by asking two questions: How much of an isolationist is he? And does he deserve credit — as he often argues — for the lack of major wars when he was president? 1. An isolationist?I find it helpful to think about Trump’s foreign policy views on a spectrum from most isolationist to most interventionist:
One theme that unites all of this is that Trump prefers dealing with other countries one on one rather than through multilateral trade deals or international groups like NATO. “He thinks it dilutes American leverage to be negotiating within such a large group,” Jonathan said. “He views all international institutions as scams designed to siphon from the American Treasury.” 2. The ‘no wars’ president?And how should you think about Trump’s claim that he avoids war? “I don’t have wars,” he has said. Unlike many of his statements, this one has a basis in reality. During his presidency, Trump didn’t involve the U.S. in new conflicts, and no other country started a major war. During Biden’s presidency, by contrast, Russia invaded Ukraine, and Hamas attacked Israel. Many Democrats argue that this pattern is a coincidence. Trump’s supporters argue that it stems from his combination of strength and unpredictability. “Trump makes our enemies fear escalation, which causes them to back down,” Marc Thiessen, a conservative Washington Post columnist, wrote. Trump himself told The Wall Street Journal that other countries fear him as “crazy” (preceding that word with an adjective that family newspapers try to avoid). There may well be some truth to this idea. Unpredictability has advantages. But it also has disadvantages. And Trump’s foreign policy wasn’t merely unpredictable; it was often chaotic. His own aides sometimes didn’t know what he wanted. Trump also put his personal interests, or those of people close to him, above any ideological beliefs. He allowed his businesses to accept payments from foreign governments. On the TikTok question, he reversed his position apparently after being lobbied by an investor in the company who is also a Republican campaign donor. This self-interest is one reason that former Trump aides — including two defense secretaries and one national security adviser — have called him dangerously unfit to be commander in chief. “No one has ever been as dangerous to this country as Donald Trump,” Gen. Mark Milley, who ran the Joint Chiefs of Staff under Trump, told Bob Woodward. If Trump takes office again, U.S. foreign policy is likely to be much more uncertain than if Kamala Harris wins.
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Opinions College officials must condemn support on campus for Hamas and its violence, Erwin Chemerinsky writes. Harris should rely on diplomacy to create her own “America first” foreign policy, one that would press Ukraine to negotiate and acknowledge Taiwan is part of China while increasing aid to the island, Stephen Wertheim argues. Gail Collins and Bret Stephens discuss Election Day. Here are columns by David French on American divisions and Nicholas Kristof on how to end the war in Gaza. Now you can subscribe to New York Times podcasts. Full access to our shows on Apple Podcasts and Spotify, including past episodes, is now included in an All Access or Audio subscription. Subscribe now.
Cosplay: At Comic Con, emergency superhero tailors are on standby, armed with glue guns and Popsicle sticks. Print powerhouse: Costco’s magazine is now the third largest in America. Ask Vanessa: “Why are hospital gowns so ugly?” Metropolitan Diary: Subway lasagna. Lives Lived: Sister Sally Butler was a nun, social worker and activist who blew the whistle on the sexual abuse of children in the parish where she once worked in Brooklyn. She died at 93.
W.N.B.A.: The New York Liberty are champions for the first time after a 67-62 overtime win in Game 5 of the Finals. Read a recap. N.F.L.: A blowout loss to the Steelers put the New York Jets deeper into disarray. It was a gritty Sunday of football. College football: Vanderbilt is ranked in the AP Top 25 poll, its first appearance since 2012. (See the full rankings.) |