The arguments people made about Trump being strong on foreign policy were never solid. They were excuses that people pointed to because they were smart enough to know that most people wouldn't challenge them much on those points.
As a side note, I was at that game back in 2011 too! That USA chant unnerved me then and it is no surprise that it didn't even exist for this news.
I'm not saying he always bends to the foreign policy establishment. I'm saying he does not have the aversion to foreign entanglements that he and his supporters have so long pretended. His foreign policy is driven almost entirely by erratic personal whims, and his only identifiable principle in foreign policy is that he likes it when weaker nations must grovel before him, so that he feels powerful and like he is "winning."
That's why every decision is made "in the next two weeks." In Trump's head, if foreign leaders think his decision is still being made, they'll be more likely to approach him with flattery and favors and concessions to sway his thinking. It's why he loves tariffs: he gets attention and dopamine when foreign leaders have to ask him not to hurt their economies, and doesn't care at all that it hurts ours too. It's why he bullies Denmark over Greenland. It's why he bullies Ukraine but not Putin: he likes picking on the little guy who "doesn't hold the cards." He likes to feel powerful, important, respected, feared - which unfortunately has no clear association with what's best for the country or world.
Israel attacked an area in Tehran that my mom grew up in. My grandmother and Uncle were living in that neighborhood.
They’re okay.
But considering they bombed a residential area. Makes me wonder if Trump even knows the cost of a fight outside of a schoolyard.
Great piece, but I think you are missing the real reason why Trump bombed Iran; Netanyahu double dog dared him.
The arguments people made about Trump being strong on foreign policy were never solid. They were excuses that people pointed to because they were smart enough to know that most people wouldn't challenge them much on those points.
As a side note, I was at that game back in 2011 too! That USA chant unnerved me then and it is no surprise that it didn't even exist for this news.
If Trump just bends to the foreign policy establishment, why did he stop arming Ukraine?
I'm not saying he always bends to the foreign policy establishment. I'm saying he does not have the aversion to foreign entanglements that he and his supporters have so long pretended. His foreign policy is driven almost entirely by erratic personal whims, and his only identifiable principle in foreign policy is that he likes it when weaker nations must grovel before him, so that he feels powerful and like he is "winning."
That's why every decision is made "in the next two weeks." In Trump's head, if foreign leaders think his decision is still being made, they'll be more likely to approach him with flattery and favors and concessions to sway his thinking. It's why he loves tariffs: he gets attention and dopamine when foreign leaders have to ask him not to hurt their economies, and doesn't care at all that it hurts ours too. It's why he bullies Denmark over Greenland. It's why he bullies Ukraine but not Putin: he likes picking on the little guy who "doesn't hold the cards." He likes to feel powerful, important, respected, feared - which unfortunately has no clear association with what's best for the country or world.