Patriots: For over 26 years, your generosity has made it possible to offer The Patriot Post without a subscription fee to military personnel, students, and those with limited means. Please support the 2024 Year-End Campaign today.

November 14, 2024

The Trump Doctrine

“Our policy is very simple: peace through strength.”

Donald Trump’s foreign policy was, during his first term, not only successful; it was the most successful foreign policy of any president since Ronald Reagan. Yet thanks to their animus for Trump personally, pseudo-experts on foreign policy have refused to give Trump credit for his obvious wins: a quiescent Russia, a contained Iran, Middle Eastern peace accords between Israel and several of its Arab neighbors, an increasingly isolated China, and burgeoning liberty movements in South America. Instead, these supposed geniuses suggest that Trump’s foreign policy is haphazard, dangerous, unhinged; they long for the purported calm of Democratic foreign policy, based on specious nostrums about democracy, lack of enforcement mechanisms and endless negotiations that result in more conflict.

In reality, Trump’s foreign policy has always been straightforward and effective. That’s become utterly clear thanks to his foreign policy picks for his second term: Pete Hegseth for Defense Secretary; Marco Rubio for Secretary of State; Mike Waltz for National Security Adviser; John Ratcliffe for CIA Director; Mike Huckabee for Ambassador to Israel, among others. Each of these foreign policy picks shares a particular vision of America in the world; they reflect a Trump Doctrine.

That doctrine is simple. As Trump himself expressed it to me on my show some two weeks before the election, “Our policy is very simple: peace through strength. We had no wars — and I’m not an isolationist — I helped a lot of countries. I kept countries out of war.” This policy can be expressed in a few key propositions.

First, America’s interests are paramount. America first does not mean that America ignores the rest of the world; it means that the interests of American citizens ought to be the chief concern of the American government. This ought to be a truism. Those interests include everything from the freedom of the seas, which guarantees America’s economic supremacy, to the strength of American allies in contentious regions, sufficient to counter external threat without direct American intervention.

Second, America’s interests must be carefully calibrated to our investment in them. If we have only a weak interest in democracy in a far-flung land, we ought not pretend that Wilsonian bromides suffice as a rationale for heavy investment. All resources are scarce resources — none scarcer or more precious than the blood and treasure of the American military. Self-deception about the ease of war is dangerous. If we’re going to draw a red line, it ought to be a red line. As Joe Biden learned, saying “no” is no substitute for actual foreign policy.

Third, all measures and means necessary to achieve America’s interests are on the table. Such measures and means range from crushing the economic wherewithal of America’s enemies to credibly threatening military force when necessary. The ancient Latin adage “si vis pacem, para bellum” — if you want peace, prepare for war — is a key principle for the Trump Doctrine. What’s more, war is ugly and cannot be made antiseptic. That means that America’s might, when unleashed, must be calibrated toward victory rather than hamstrung by niceties and pieties. The most humane war — if any war is to be fought — is the shortest and most victorious. In short, the Trump Doctrine says: f*** around, find out.

Fourth, all of this ought to be publicly proclaimed. If our enemies know our principles, they will avoid the fight. War occurs when one side retains the hope of victory — either through sheer capacity or through the increasing weakness of will of the other side. America must broadcast both our capacity and our will. Doing so leaves no room for the errors that end in war.

Trump has followed these principles to the letter across both of his administrations. And what has followed has been the most peaceful administration in modern American history. The Trump Doctrine will continue to bring increasing peace so long as it is implemented. And by all indicators, President Trump is determined to do so over the next four years.

COPYRIGHT 2024 CREATORS.COM

Who We Are

The Patriot Post is a highly acclaimed weekday digest of news analysis, policy and opinion written from the heartland — as opposed to the MSM’s ubiquitous Beltway echo chambers — for grassroots leaders nationwide. More

What We Offer

On the Web

We provide solid conservative perspective on the most important issues, including analysis, opinion columns, headline summaries, memes, cartoons and much more.

Via Email

Choose our full-length Digest or our quick-reading Snapshot for a summary of important news. We also offer Cartoons & Memes on Monday and Alexander’s column on Wednesday.

Our Mission

The Patriot Post is steadfast in our mission to extend the endowment of Liberty to the next generation by advocating for individual rights and responsibilities, supporting the restoration of constitutional limits on government and the judiciary, and promoting free enterprise, national defense and traditional American values. We are a rock-solid conservative touchstone for the expanding ranks of grassroots Americans Patriots from all walks of life. Our mission and operation budgets are not financed by any political or special interest groups, and to protect our editorial integrity, we accept no advertising. We are sustained solely by you. Please support The Patriot Fund today!


The Patriot Post and Patriot Foundation Trust, in keeping with our Military Mission of Service to our uniformed service members and veterans, are proud to support and promote the National Medal of Honor Heritage Center, the Congressional Medal of Honor Society, both the Honoring the Sacrifice and Warrior Freedom Service Dogs aiding wounded veterans, the Tunnel to Towers Foundation, the National Veterans Entrepreneurship Program, the Folds of Honor outreach, and Officer Christian Fellowship, the Air University Foundation, and Naval War College Foundation, and the Naval Aviation Museum Foundation. "Greater love has no one than this, to lay down one's life for his friends." (John 15:13)

★ PUBLIUS ★

“Our cause is noble; it is the cause of mankind!” —George Washington

Please join us in prayer for our nation — that righteous leaders would rise and prevail and we would be united as Americans. Pray also for the protection of our Military Patriots, Veterans, First Responders, and their families. Please lift up your Patriot team and our mission to support and defend our Republic's Founding Principle of Liberty, that the fires of freedom would be ignited in the hearts and minds of our countrymen.

The Patriot Post is protected speech, as enumerated in the First Amendment and enforced by the Second Amendment of the Constitution of the United States of America, in accordance with the endowed and unalienable Rights of All Mankind.

Copyright © 2024 The Patriot Post. All Rights Reserved.

The Patriot Post does not support Internet Explorer. We recommend installing the latest version of Microsoft Edge, Mozilla Firefox, or Google Chrome.