Trump Is Opening a New Chapter in US Foreign Policy
His aggressive use of economic and military power to coerce not just enemies but friends is unprecedented. But the emerging Trump Doctrine also risks depleting America’s future strength.
Talks loudly, carries a big stick.
Photographer: Carlos Barria/Pool/Getty Images North America
Nearly six months into Donald Trump’s presidency, a Trump Doctrine is coming into view. Contrary to the fears of his critics, and the hopes of some admirers, Trump is no isolationist. And contrary to those who claim Trump is simply a marvel of ad hoc-ery and inconsistency, there is a distinctive pattern to the policies he has pursued.
This Trump Doctrine emphasizes using American power aggressively — more aggressively than Trump’s immediate predecessors — to reshape key relationships and accrue US advantage in a rivalrous world. In doing so, Trump has blown up any talk about a post-American era. Yet he has also raised troubling questions about whether his administration can wield America’s outsized influence effectively and keep it strong.
The isolationist label has long followed Trump, but it’s never accurately described an idiosyncratic man. Yes, Trump disdains core elements of US globalism, from the international trade system America established to its promotion of democratic values and its defense commitments around the world. Yet Trump has also argued that America should assert itself more forcefully in a cutthroat world. And today, as Trump pursues a capacious view of presidential power at home, he is offering an equally ambitious conception of American power abroad.