Washington, D.C. — After one year in office, the fallout from President Donald Trump’s abysmal record on national security and foreign policy is clear: America is more isolated, less respected, weaker at home, and ultimately less safe than when he entered the White House.
A new column from the Center for American Progress’ National Security and International Policy team reports that Trump has needlessly alienated and insulted America’s allies, stoked tensions, heightened risks, and surrendered the high ground of America’s moral and global leadership.
Whether it’s Trump’s immoral, unwise, and botched travel ban on Muslim-majority nations; his reckless Twitter warmongering on North Korea; or his self-isolating moves to upend the Iran nuclear deal and risk another military confrontation in the Middle East, the result has been the same: America is appreciably less secure than it was a year ago, the column says.
And the Trump administration’s daily campaign against the nation’s diplomats, intelligence community, law enforcement, and civil servants is gutting the very national security apparatus that the president will need to confront threats to America.
Unfortunately, the damage that President Trump has done to the United States’ reputation and interests around the world will have long-term consequences for Americans. Fewer nations will want to work with us. Fewer will trust our word. And still fewer will want to fight alongside us if and when the need arises. Nations will look elsewhere for leadership, including to China, further jeopardizing the international rules that America and its democratic partners have defined since World War II to favor freedom and prosperity.
Read “Trump’s National Security and Foreign Policy Failures: Year One” by CAP’s National Security and International Policy team
For more information or to speak to an expert, please contact Sam Hananel at 202-478-6327 or [email protected].