I have followed Donald Trump for a long time, even before he entered politics, because I am a fellow New Yorker.
Many mocked him when he dared to speak his mind on matters of international relations. How could Trump have known? Real estate developers and reality TV stars did not belong in the realm of national security; that was reserved for the specialists.
On the other hand, when it comes to the big foreign policy concerns, Trump was correct. The educated elites were the ones who erred!
Presenting Trump’s top six:
China
There was a long-held belief that China would become a cooperative trade partner and rule-follower if the United States let its economy develop. This view held that China would model itself after Japan, South Korea, and Europe. It was Trump’s opinion that was different. When he said that China had been taking advantage of us for decades, the experts just laughed. “China raided our factories, offshored our jobs, gutted our industries, stole our intellectual property, and violated their commitments under the World Trade Agreement.”
“China is going to eat our lunch?,” Joe Biden said to an Iowa City audience in 2019, dismissing the prospect that China may surpass the United States as global leader. Oh, please. Trump was correct, and the experts were incorrect.
Unstoppable U.S. Energy
Trump knew that the recent breakthroughs in oil and gas production will shift the global and American geopolitical landscape even before he sought the presidency in 2015. Experts warned that the world was running out of oil when President Obama left office, and oil was selling for $120/barrel.
Oil dropped below $40/barrel as a result of Trump’s endorsement of the US energy sector, which increased US output. It sparked unprecedented economic development in the United States, but it had a devastating effect on Russia’s and Iran’s economy as well, as both countries relied on oil prices over $90/barrel to finance their governments. Since they were unable to pay the high cost of war, Russia and Iran had to cut back on oil exports, which saw a decline of about two-thirds under Trump’s administration.
As expected, oil prices soared back up to $100/barrel after Biden undid Trump’s energy policy. With these unexpected gains, Iran bolstered its nuclear program and prepared its proxy forces to launch attacks against Israel. Russia attacked Ukraine with its newly acquired money. Russia attacked Ukraine under Obama and Biden for reasons that Trump has failed to address. During Trump’s presidency, they were unable to fund costly conflicts.
Afghanistan and Iraq Conflicts
For twenty years, both the Democratic and Republican parties backed the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. It was Trump’s opinion that was different. Even back in 2003, he referred to the Iraq war as “a mess.” He was correct, it seems. We wasted trillions of dollars and American lives on two conflicts we can never win.
Iran was
Because it enriches Iran without halting its nuclear weapons development, Trump withdrew from Obama’s defective nuclear deal with Iran. The head of Iran’s Quds Forces, General Qassam Soleimani, was assassinated by his order. Trump decided to put a stop to Iran’s energy program and oil sanctions rather than engage in pointless and protracted discussions.
Both Iran and its proxy forces were in a precarious financial position when Trump stepped down as president. However, President Biden extended a helping hand to Iran. He decided not to enforce sanctions, gave Iran billions of dollars, and changed his mind on American energy output. With this $100 billion windfall, Iran re-engaged in proxy warfare with Israel via Hezbollah and Hamas.
Consensus on Abraham
In order to achieve a more comprehensive peace between the Arab world and Israel, American officials insisted for decades that we must resolve the Palestinian issue. The Palestinians’ repeated refusal to engage in genuine negotiations, however, meant that a lasting peace remained elusive.
Trump, on the other hand, prioritized peace between the Arab world and Israel. Worldwide, oil prices fell as a result of his energy policy. The leaders of the Arab world came to the realization that their government could not be supported only by the profits from oil exports. For economic diversification to take place, they had to resolve their conflict with Israel.
It was also Trump’s observation that the younger Arab leaders, having grown up in a more liberal society and exposed to Western education, would be receptive to sweeping social reform and the establishment of commercial relations with Israel. When Israel and the Sunni Gulf governments reached the Abraham Accords, it was a historic first. After decades of failure, Trump finally achieved success.
NATO
From John F. Kennedy onward, every president of the United States has griped about the fact that our NATO partners were underpaying for our shared defense. For Obama, they were “freeloaders.” Every time we asked an ally to pay for our defense, they would make an excuse about how they couldn’t pay the 2% of GDP they had pledged.
Our NATO partners ultimately upped their defense expenditures after Trump hectored, reprimanded, and threatened them. As it happens, they actually did have the cash on hand.
Washington politicians, specialists, and bureaucrats have misunderstood the nation’s most pressing foreign policy issues for a long time. It need someone from the outside looking in with fresh eyes. Trump restored American security through a mix of commerce, economics, and common sense, rather than through endless rounds of useless diplomacy and an open pocketbook. Even better things will happen during his second term.
