A response to John Bolton’s characterization of foreign policy in the Trump administration.
A response to John Bolton’s characterization of foreign policy in the Trump administration
I n the National Review article “Containing Isolationism” (January 5), our former Trump-administration colleague John Bolton gave a dark account of President Trump’s America First approach to U.S. national security. Portraying that policy as one of isolationism, Bolton maintained that the best approach to national security — his approach — is somewhere between Trump’s supposed isolationism and liberal internationalism.
We disagree and believe that Ambassador Bolton misrepresented one of President Trump’s greatest successes. His America First approach to national security effectively promoted American interests and global security and kept our country out of new wars.
And although Bolton may not like it, America First has transformed conservative thinking on national security.
With the Russian invasion of Ukraine and surging threats from China, Iran, and North Korea, global security today clearly is much worse than it was at the end of the Trump administration. This is largely because the Biden administration abandoned the America First approach to national security and returned to the failed globalist policies of the past.
As a new Congress settles in, now is a perfect time to discuss the urgency of restoring this approach to protect our nation’s security and freedom.
America First has been unfairly criticized by Bolton and others as being isolationist and averse to acting in partnership with U.S. allies. Some critics have even tried to associate the America First approach with extreme nationalist groups, such as the isolationists of the 1930s and ’40s, that tried to keep the United States out of World War II.
None of this is true. The America First approach to national security today emphasizes policies that put first the interests of the people of the United States rather than the globalist agendas of the liberal elite.
This approach calls for America to have a strong military with decisive presidential leadership working with its international partners and allies worldwide to address global conflicts. When doing so, America works with allies who pull their own weight in defending their security and who can also help promote global security. Each of these factors can go a long way toward keeping our country out of unnecessary and unending wars.
Through internal strength, our nation is best poised to lead and engage in the world and accomplish more for the American people and for the peace, prosperity, and freedom of other countries. America First is not isolationism. Rather, it is purposeful, transactional engagement with other nations to serve American interests first.
America First calls for the prudent use of military force. This primarily means staying out of foreign conflicts unless American security interests are endangered. It also means first employing tools short of military force, such as diplomacy, economic and financial pressure, information warfare, and other tools to address global conflicts before resorting to military force.
We saw this in how the Trump administration addressed the threat from North Korea — with strong presidential leadership, diplomacy, cooperation with allies, formations of alliances, and effective and enforced sanctions. President Trump ignored recommendations by many experts and some of his advisers to bypass peaceful responses to North Korea’s provocations and wage war.
Although the Trump administration did not achieve its ultimate goal of denuclearizing North Korea, it did significantly lower tensions with Pyongyang and created the prospect of a lasting peace without using military force. North Korea also halted testing long-range missiles and nuclear weapons from 2017 until the end of the Trump administration.
This is how the America First approach to national security works: A U.S. president puts the American people first to protect our nation’s security through decisive leadership, negotiating from strength, working with allies, and trying peaceful tools to resolve global conflicts before turning to military force.
Sadly, the Biden administration has abandoned the successful America First approach to U.S. national security, with calamitous results. Decisive leadership that prioritizes the interests and security of the American people has been replaced with confusion and liberal globalist priorities such as fighting climate change and making the U.S. military woke. The lack of serious and effective national-security policies has emboldened our enemies and led to dangerous provocations from China and Iran, and led to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Furthermore, the administration’s approach to the Russian invasion of Ukraine has been inconsistent and rudderless. The president refused to provide Ukraine with the arms it needed before the Russian invasion and was slow to provide weapons after the invasion. The U.S. is now sending advanced weapons such as Patriot missiles and M1 Abrams tanks that President Biden refused to provide a few months ago because he claimed they could start World War III.
Despite growing concerns about the Ukraine crisis becoming an endless war or about Putin resorting to nuclear weapons, the Biden administration has no strategy to bring this conflict to an end.
A surge in provocations from North Korea during the Biden administration has been especially stark. In late 2021, North Korea test-launched a submarine-launched ballistic missile from a submerged submarine and a possible hypersonic missile for the first time. Last year, North Korea test-launched 75 or more missiles — the most ever in a single year — and resumed launching long-range missiles, which it suspended in 2017.
Threats from North Korea’s nuclear program also increased during the Biden administration. In March 2022, satellite imagery indicated that North Korea was making preparations to conduct an underground nuclear test. North Korean leaders also resumed making threats to use and expand the country’s nuclear arsenal.
The implications of the Biden administration’s return to the failed national-security policies of the past are dire and likely will make our nation less secure and contribute to global instability over the next two years. It seems inevitable that America will lose even more influence and prestige.
This is why members of Congress and other leaders must speak out about the urgency that our country return to America First national-security policies to protect our freedom and security.
We also hope that Bolton will someday admit that the America First national-security policies that he helped implement during the Trump administration were largely successful, are far from isolationism, and have permanently transformed conservative thinking on national security.
Congress must hold hearings to hold the Biden administration accountable for its failed national-security policies, even though our divided Congress is limited in what it can do to force administration officials to change them. A successful approach to American national security will not be a return to the failed policies of the past or isolationism — it will keep our nation safe and free through American strength and leadership while keeping our country out of unnecessary wars.
Lieutenant General (Ret.) Keith Kellogg was the national-security adviser to President Donald J. Trump and Vice President Mike Pence. He is currently the co-chairman of the Center for American Security at the America First Policy Institute. Fred Fleitz was chief of staff of the National Security Council in the Trump administration and is a former CIA analyst. He is vice-chair of the Center for American Security at the America First Policy Institute.