Donald Trump followed his win of 5 northeastern states on April 26 with a highly publicized foreign policy speech.
The basic thesis of the speech was this: the foreign policies under Obama have weakened America and we need to return to a position of strength.
“If President Obama’s goal had been to weaken America, he could not have done a better job.”
In the forty minute speech he gave long criticism of America’s post-Wold War II foreign policy, which he said he wants to replace “randomness with purpose” and “chaos with peace.”
He also stressed that he wants to put “America first.”
“My foreign policy will always put the interests of the American people and American security first.”
Trump laid out the 5 weaknesses of American foreign policy as he sees them:
Overextended resources
“President Obama has weakened our military by weakening our economy. He’s crippled us with wasteful spending, massive debt, low growth, a huge trade deficit and open borders.”
Allies are ‘not paying their fair share’
“Our allies must contribute toward the financial, political and human costs of our tremendous security burden. But many of them are simply not doing so. They look at the United States as weak and forgiving and feel no obligation to honor their agreements with us.
“In NATO, for instance, only 4 of 28 other member countries, besides America, are spending the minimum required 2% of GDP on defense.”
Our allies can’t depend on us
“We’ve had a president who dislikes our friends and bows to our enemies. He negotiated a disastrous deal with Iran, and then we watched them ignore its terms, even before the ink was dry.
“In negotiation, you must be willing to walk. The Iran deal, like so many of our worst agreements, is the result of not being willing to leave the table. When the other side knows you’re not going to walk, it becomes absolutely impossible to win.
At the same time, your friends need to know that you will stick by the agreements that you have with them.”
America not respected by rivals
“In fact, they are just as confused as our allies, but an even bigger problem is that they don’t take us seriously any more.
“When President Obama landed in Cuba on Air Force One, no leader was there to meet or greet him – perhaps an incident without precedent in the long and prestigious history of Air Force One.
“Then, amazingly, the same thing happened in Saudi Arabia -- it’s called no respect.”
No clear foreign policy since the Cold War
“Since the end of the Cold War and the break-up of the Soviet Union, we’ve lacked a coherent foreign policy.
One day we’re bombing Libya and getting rid of a dictator to foster democracy for civilians, the next day we are watching the same civilians suffer while that country falls apart.”
He covered a lot of ground in the speech, including relations with the Middle East, the use of military force to take out ISIS, America’s relationship with Israel, and the need to find common ground with hostile nations such as Russia and China.
The Trump campaign says that this is the first of many scripted speeches outlining what a Trump administration would look like, and where it would break from the Obama and Bush administrations.
Zalmay Khalilzad, Foreign Ambassador to the U.N., from Iraq and Afghanistan, introduced Mr. Trump.
This is his second scripted speech, the first at AIPAC.
Trump said immediately following the announcements of the wins in a victory speech with a proclamation that he is the presumptive nominee for the Republican party.
The Republican frontrunner won by wide margins in Rhode Island, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Delaware—most states by over 30 percent.
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