Trump Reveals Secrets That Everyone’s Been Wanting to Know

by Phil Schneider
5.6K views

Donald Trump’s foreign policy record in politics was basically non-existent when he took the oath of office in 2016. He had extensive business experience around the world. But he was the consummate outsider when he entered the White House. Even his supporters were rather concerned that he would be good at negotiating business deals but not as effective in dealing with threats to world peace. What transpired during his Presidency surprised nearly everybody. Trump’s record on foreign policy was actually excellent, and he proved nearly all of the skeptics wrong.

Usually, the main issue that comes up when an outsider like Ross Perot or Donald Trump enters the political fray is the concern of how the outsider will handle foreign policy issues. What connection does New York Real Estate management have with tensions between China and Taiwan? The concern is indeed reasonable. But there is a basic fallacy in thinking that political insiders with much experience have an upper hand in dealing with foreign policy issues. Looking back at the last century of American political leaders, it is hard to argue that the more experienced politicians served America’s interests better in handling foreign policy.

Starting his Presidency at the end of World War II, Harry S. Truman, a relatively inexperienced Vice President, who fought bravely in World War I, was suddenly thrust into the most critical job at a most critical time in American history. World War II was winding down, but major decisions needed to be made, such as dropping the Atom Bomb and sending the airlift into Germany at the beginning of the Cold War. Although Truman was outsmarted by Stalin like FDR was, he made decision after decision that proved to be extremely wise. He established a new world order that has averted a World War since he took over the Oval Office, and of course, he took the controversial step of recognizing the State of Israel, against the advice of his State Department. It was not his political experience, as much as his ability to make wise decisions under pressure, even if they were unpopular, that served him so well.

John F. Kennedy, similar to Truman, was a political novice when elected into office, who had fought bravely in World War II. But, as opposed to his generals who nearly brought the world to the precipice of World War III during the Cuban Missile Crisis, Kennedy stayed cool-headed and outsmarted Russia in order to avert a catastrophe that would have engulfed the whole world. Again, his experience was not as important as his ability to make the right decisions under pressure.

The most experienced President to be elected in the 20th century, the consummate political insider, was LBJ. He was able to receive the best advisors and get advice from anyone he needed. He had traveled across the entire world in his capacity as Vice President, thereby getting a close look at all kinds of regions, including the Far East. But when he was thrust into the Presidency, following the Kennedy assassination, he presided over the worst foreign policy disaster of the United States of America in recent memory, the Vietnam War. He didn’t start the Vietnam War, but he escalated it, and this led to tens of thousands of dead American soldiers and hundreds of thousands of wounded soldiers.

Richard Nixon and Henry Kissinger’s record on triangulation vis-a-vis China and Russia may have been the right strategy. But, the five years that they kept soldiers dying in Vietnam, for no clear reason outside of preserving American prestige, was as wrong-headed as was LBJ’s reasoning. Their experience did not necessarily lead to effective governance.

Perhaps the reason that Donald Trump has proven to be so effective was that he was so unpredictable, even if it was due to his not-so-wonderful character traits. Trump, at once loved Generals, and distrusted them. He appointed excellent people to critical tasks, and then replaced them like a pair of old shoes once they didn’t serve his goals. With President Trump, his common sense was the #1 thing that determined policy. That is indeed a problematic recipe that could prove tragic, like it did with LBJ.

But Donald Trump’s instincts have always been very much in tune with middle America. He is not a dye-in-the-wool conservative who gets stuck in preconceived notions. He knows that liberalism has a positive side, but that it has gone off the rails in the last decade and morphed into progressive craziness.

Donald Trump certainly cannot be classified as a moderate middle-of-the-roader. He is a populist businessman who means what he says, and is never scared of saying or doing things that are unpopular. Perhaps that explains some of his wild popularity among previously disinterested voters. He genuinely wants to make America great again, but without getting entangled in the costly and ineffective idea of nation building. He wants to help America be prosperous and not be dependent on China for vital goods in difficult times.

He doesn’t always say the smartest things under pressure, but Donald Trump certainly has earned bragging rights to say that his foreign policy record speaks for itself.


1 comment

buddyboy May 2, 2023 - 7:38 pm

He is the consummate politician cum business man and no one can deny that. Following his untimely departure ( stolen elections ) has vindicated him and left America and the world in C H A O S. He should be brought back ASAP to do the job.

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