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In the final hours of Trump's Presidency, it's worth asking: what just happened?
With respect to foreign policy, Trump told us exactly what was going to happen...back in 1987. That's when he placed a full page open letter in @nytimes @washingtonpost & @BostonGlobe
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![In the final hours of Trump's Presidency, it's worth asking: what just happened?With respect to foreign policy, Trump told us exactly what was going to happen...back in 1987. That's when he placed a full page open letter in @nytimes @washingtonpost & @BostonGlobe[THREAD]](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EsLD7IVXIAEkpNp.png "In the final hours of Trump's Presidency, it's worth asking: what just happened?With respect to foreign policy, Trump told us exactly what was going to happen...back in 1987. That's when he placed a full page open letter in @nytimes @washingtonpost & @BostonGlobe[THREAD]")
With respect to foreign policy, Trump told us exactly what was going to happen...back in 1987. That's when he placed a full page open letter in @nytimes @washingtonpost & @BostonGlobe
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He then followed up that letter with an interview on @Oprah http://www.oprah.com/own-oprahshow/what-donald-trump-told-oprah-about-his-presidential-hopes-video
At the time, there was speculation that the letter signaled his intent to run for President in 1988 https://www.nytimes.com/1987/09/02/nyregion/trump-gives-a-vague-hint-of-candidacy.html
This letter -- and what it might foreshadow for Trump's presidency -- was discussed by @BuzzFeed back in 2015 (when Trump was still a candidate) https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/ilanbenmeir/that-time-trump-spent-nearly-100000-on-an-ad-criticizing-us
The letter is remarkable in that it has all the hallmarks of what would become the Trump foreign policy.
These include...
These include...
...ridicule of existing US foreign policy because it lacked "toughness" (or, more specifically, "backbone") https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2018/06/a-senior-white-house-official-defines-the-trump-doctrine-were-america-bitch/562511/
...a focus on those "forgotten" at home due to US efforts abroad https://time.com/4804333/donald-trump-pittsburgh-not-paris-rally/
...complaints about free-riding allies https://foreignpolicy.com/2019/12/05/trump-right-alliances-free-riding-american-military-might-nato-japan-south-korea/
...questioning US policy in the Persian Gulf region https://foreignpolicy.com/2019/12/15/carter-doctrine-rip-donald-trump-mideast-oil-big-think/
...placing "taxes" (i.e. tariffs) on other countries so taxes could be lowered at home https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/12/4/18126061/tariff-man-trump-china-tweets-memes-stock-market
...make other countries pay https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/11/us/politics/trump-mexico-pay-wall.html
...and claiming the US is being laughed at https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-us-canada-42968940
Note: The world did LITERALLY laugh at Trump
I have to admit, I'm surprised this line never reappeared during the past 4 years (it's actually pretty good)
"we protect ships we don't own, carrying oil we don't need, destined for allies who won't help."
"we protect ships we don't own, carrying oil we don't need, destined for allies who won't help."
Notice how the letter ends with "let's not let our GREAT country be laughed at anymore."
Precursor to #MAGA for sure
Precursor to #MAGA for sure
So the perceived need to reset US foreign policy by putting "America First" had been in Trump's mind since at least the late 1980s.
As I've tweeted before, the trends creating that perception only heightened over the subsequent decades. https://twitter.com/ProfPaulPoast/status/1309110678490353664
So I've changed my mind a bit on Trump. Originally, I thought he wanted to "return to the '80s", which I tweeted here... https://twitter.com/ProfPaulPoast/status/1051888359449210881
Now I think he was disgusted by 1980s US Foreign Policy and didn't see anything happen over the subsequent decades to change those trends. Hence #MAGA and "America First".
He wasn't trying to be the "Second Reagan"; he was trying to be the "Anti-Reagan" (&, related, anti-George HW Bush) https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2020/08/24/republicans-must-choose-are-they-party-ronald-reagan-or-donald-trump/
For all of the talk of Trump being naive and ill-informed on foreign policy... https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/why-is-donald-trump-still-so-horribly-witless-about-the-world
... his views were nevertheless very consistent (and, in some ways, coherent) https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2016/01/donald-trump-foreign-policy-213546
So as Biden begins his Presidency, his foreign policy team must keep in mind that Trump's foreign policy views didn't emerge recently: they were long held and long resonated with a fair portion of the American public.
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