The liberals love to complain, but when you look closely, the trends of their complaints reveal a few truths. They only complain about what Trump is doing now, instead of what he did recently. This is because almost every choice he has made has worked out well for us as a nation, and this is no more obvious than when you look at foreign policy.
They have condemned every step he has taken on the global scale, but they can’t talk about any of it in retrospect because it has all been successful. Let’s really look at Trump’s foreign policy and see if he is lucky or good.
How well do you remember the campaign? The media grilled Trump on everything, but foreign policy, in particular, is fun to recall. Trump simultaneously promised to follow a hardline policy against ISIS and North Korea and a general move towards non-interventionism. The media were fast to point out all of the contradictions and tell us that such a policy would be impossible and betrayed Trump’s political inexperience.
Now, we can see how vehemently Trump has strived to keep his promises. He has been extremely tough where he promised, and the number of American troops engaged in active war zones is smaller than at any point during the Obama Era. Rather than present a contradictory foreign policy, Trump has threaded the needle and found the near impossible middle ground that actually expresses the will of the people.
North Korea
This is the easy place to start. From day one, Trump promised a no-nonsense approach to North Korea. He lobbied China to back him in bringing the rogue nuclear nation under control. At every step of the journey, the left told us he was sprinting us headlong into a nuclear war. Now, after only a year, North Korea has reopened negotiations that were broken for years. They have promised to fully suspend nuclear testing (for the first time in decades), and satellite photos confirm that they have collapsed their primary testing facility.
That’s the small news. Leaders from North and South Korea have met, in person, and discussed serious reconciliation negotiations for the first time since the war ended in the 50s. We might still be a long way from a lasting peace, but families split by the 48th parallel have reunited for the first time in decades this year.
If that isn’t a huge step in the right direction, what is? Remember, all of this is a complete reversal from Obama’s track record with North Korea. Trump has done what none before him could, and he did it his way throughout.
Middle East
This is where we can really see the balancing act behind Trump’s foreign policy. He has won two military victories in the region and is on the verge of a third win. This is all without committing a single additional ground troop to any of the conflicts in the area.
It starts in Iraq. Trump said he had a plan to eliminate ISIS in no time. The plan, as it turns out, was nothing special. He removed the shackles from our military, and our strategic planning and merciless air campaign backed Iraqi and coalition (all non-American) troops. It took less than a year. ISIS is in shambles and holds no significant territory. Trump presented a hardline stance, but he didn’t have to get us involved in nation building or optional wars to do it.
Afghanistan is a similar story. Trump prioritized ISIS, but as soon as they were relatively contained, he turned his attention to Al Qaeda in Afghanistan. They have now lost ground for the first time since 2014. No additional ground troops were necessary.
Syria is the big issue. Trump talked about getting out of Syria. Assad has made it difficult to keep that promise, but Trump has managed to resist temptation to increase our involvement in the region. We’ve held our ground, and when Assad committed war crimes with chemical weapons, we responded with appropriate force.
All of this has been done without actually escalating the situation with Russia or Iran. Trump has mixed strong words, stronger actions and an adamant refusal to break his promise on interventionism. The result is a campaign that has annihilated terrorists and kept us from directly escalating wars that aren’t ours to fight.
This makes more sense when you put numbers behind it. Trump has had more success against terrorists in one year than Obama had in eight. Yet, Trump’s rate of dropping bombs is lower than Obama’s average. He’s accomplishing more with less investment. Trump’s kill count is also much lower than Obama’s. It’s simple proof that decisive military action is more humane than the nonsense Obama preached and followed for eight years.
Rallying Nations
Trump’s biggest success so far has been his ability to reduce our foreign involvement by actually winning a few campaigns. Amazing how that works. What might be more impressive is how he has rallied nations to his causes. China could not be called an ally by any stretch. Yet, Trump was able to galvanize their support in handling North Korea. Trump used the threat of trade war to get China to finally adhere to some of the sanctions they promised. Kim Jong Un capitulated within weeks.
Similarly, Trump has empowered allies in the Middle East to be larger players in handling conflict. American ground troops didn’t route ISIS. That action was primarily performed by Iraqis, with a bit of help from Saudi Arabia and other coalition forces.
The best example is in Syria. The first time Assad used chemical weapons (that Obama assured us he didn’t have), Trump acted alone to show the world that we didn’t have to tolerate this nightmare. When Assad tried his hand again, it was Israel who responded first. Even when the U.S. struck, it was to support calls made by France. The progressive Macron actually took the lead on that effort. It was the French who provided proof and insisted on action. The U.S. merely honored the call (which is a good thing since French missiles didn’t work very well).
When you put all of this together, it is nearly overwhelming. Trump’s rhetoric has been impossible to pinpoint and difficult to follow. But, it has consistently applied pressure wherever it was needed, and it helped the nations of the world to direct their efforts successfully. The evil regimes of the world are actually falling, and we haven’t really seen that since the 80s.
But, rhetoric is only half the story. Trump has made it clear and obvious that he will hold to his word, and that the United States military is still the ultimate force in this world. When you put it together, you have the most successful foreign policy we’ve seen since WWII.
