Trump Foreign Policy Stupidity 1.0: Alive and Well in Trump Foreign Policy Stupidity 2.0, by Scipio

For beginners, we are all (liberty lovers) giddy over the dizzying pace and extent of Trump draining the Swamp and “Defunding the Corruption”.  He has done more and faster to heal the nation’s fundamental domestic issues than I could have imagined. On a scale from 1 – 10, he is currently performing at an 11.  The appointment of Russell Vought as head of OMD may be Trump’s most effective stealth appointment BTW. Good form Donald in all you have done domestically so far!

Yet, when it comes to foreign policy, Trump’s “art of the deal” approach is mostly ineffective.  It’s based on bargaining, and in foreign affairs you sometimes don’t have anything to bargain with. (I will say more about this later) Deal making works well in business, but this ain’t Kansas and you ain’t The Wizard Donald.

We desperately need Tulsi Gabbard and Kash Patel confirmed by the Senate so the President can get some objective advice on what is reality happening in the world, and understand the distorted advice he has been getting.  Their opposition in their confirmation hearings is because the swamp knows these two have the goods on the military-industrial-intelligence complex and their “forever wars”.

There are two major diplomatic/war issues facing the President now; Ukraine and the Middle East. He is failing miserably on both fronts. Shockingly, his policies are pretty much the same as Biden’s.

I believe the President’s Intent, is to settle these issues peacefully and with equity, but he is clearly misinformed on the situation on the ground and the participant’s own interests.  The President’s policy has been to put those two areas interests subservient to the USA’s.  Those days of “me first” are over in the new multi-polar world. “America First” sells well at home, but not abroad.  That is the reality of the new world order, and Trump hasn’t gotten the message.

As mentioned, President Trump is getting bad advice from somewhere.  I have my guess who they are.  But notice how Trump changes what he is asking for in peace negotiations. It changes almost daily, while his domestic policies have been well thought out and unwavering.  The contrast is startling.  It’s as if another person is running foreign policy made up of “war monger incorporated” recycled relics rather than the cool calculated Trump we know at home.

Take Marco Rubio.  He is the highest-ranking American diplomat, and if he were a tack he would be the dullest one in the box.  See my (https://www.americanpartisan.org/2022/03/what-you-can-learn-from-observation-marco-rubio-march-7-2022-as-a-case-study-by-scipio/).  Rubio was the only Trump appointee to pass Senate confirmation unanimously unopposed. That should tell you something.  Those appointees whose interests are close to Trump’s values have to fight for confirmation.  The Swamp loves Rubio, you should not, neither should President Trump.

President Trump said his number one diplomatic focus would be China.  Yet, he picked Marco Rubio to be his top diplomat as head of State.  Rudio’s anti-China rhetoric has been so severe over the years, China has forbidden Rubio to step foot in China. Please President Trump, explain to me how you can appoint your top diplomat for your top diplomatic policy target who is not allowed to step foot in that country because of his “persona non grata” (Latin for unwelcome, unacceptable especially as a diplomat) status in China?  It’s beyond bewildering.  Besides, Rubio’s previous explanation of why he voted to not impeach Trump sounds like a political pretzel.  He said he agreed with the charges brought against Trump (which were patently false), but was going to vote against impeachment anyway. What?  I could go on about this dumb cluck, but you get the picture.

Then there is Trump’s envoy to Ukraine, General Keith Kellogg.  See my (https://www.americanpartisan.org/2024/12/kellogg-is-a-flake-by-scipio/). Less than a week after I posted this, Russia rejected everything Kellogg proposed.

Just in the last few days Trump spoke directly with Putin because it was obvious Trump’s minions were incompetent.  Yet, Putin let Trump know he was in no position to bargain (https://sonar21.com/putin-dumps-bucket-of-reality-cold-water-on-trump/) .  Russia now controls on the battlefield the parts of Ukraine Russia wanted protected in the negotiated Minsk peace agreement.  They even control the location of Ukraine’s rare earth minerals that Trump so desperately wants.  Now winning on the battlefield what the West (primarily the US) refused to negotiate in 2022, Russia is not going to “negotiate” away what Trump can’t take away from him.  The Ukrainian army is on the verge of collapse.  Trump’s proposals have been the same as Biden’s, give in to us or we are going to continue arming Ukraine and sanction you.  Well, look how that has turned out President Trump.  Truth is you never had a plan relevant to 2025.  You thought 2025 was still 2016.

Putin reiterated to President Trump two days ago what he has been saying since 2022 when he initiated the Specialized Military Operation (SMO), not a war, against Ukraine.  His objectives were: 1. protect the ethnic Russians living in the breakaway provinces of the Donbass, 2. de-nazify Ukraine, 3. de-militarize Ukraine, and 4. keep Ukraine from joining NATO. Putin had actually been warning about this since Feb 2014 when Kiev started bombing innocent civilians in the Donbass provinces in unprovoked aggression because these Ukranians voted for independence. Many pro-Russian Ukrainians were burned alive in a protest in Odessa during this post 2014 period. Apparently having talked with Putin directly, Trump has gone from saying Russia needed to give up Ukrainian territory to now saying Russia may take all of Ukraine (https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/ukraine-may-be-russian-someday-trump-says-while-floating-he-wants-500bn-rare-earth).

Currently Trump has minions advising him on foreign policy.  Clearly foreign policy is an area Trump is not interested in other than international trade and he is thus susceptible to bad influence by his unipolar centric advisors who are unaware they live in a multipolar world since Trump 45.  They are trapped in the past ignorant of the changes in the world’s new world order and blinded by their own Russophobia.

When it comes to the Middle East, Trump is at his worst (https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/egypt-set-host-emergency-arab-summit-palestinian-displacement).   Biden did something no other President ahead of him was able to do, he united Russia and China, after Nixon had successfully placed a wedge between the two (https://www.cfr.org/report/no-limits-china-russia-relationship-and-us-foreign-policy).  Now, Trump, with is Middle East policy, especially relating to Gaza and Palestine, has united the entire Middle East against the US (https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/red-line-trumps-gaza-takeover-plan-has-united-arab-world-more-ever).

This past Saturday Lebanon formed a new government with five Hezbollah members, just one day after US envoy Morgan Ortagus said “Hezbollah would have no part” in the new Lebanese government.  It was a clear diplomatic slap in the face of the US, as Lebanon had heretofore not been able to form a new government in over two years (https://thecradle.co/articles/lebanese-pm-forms-new-government-including-hezbollah-allies).

Apparently, Trump can’t get over his eye for a real estate opportunity.  His plan for Gaza redevelopment sounds like a real estate deal, not an attempt at a diplomatic solution to the root of the Israeli-Palestine problem.  Even in the USA, only 17% believe Trump’s Gaza plan is a good idea. (https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/nearly-half-of-americans-reject-trump-s-gaza-displacement-pl).

Stepping in it repeatedly, Trump recently rudely tapped the King of Saudi Arabia on the opposite shoulder like a high school prank as he walked past the king. Touching the king is forbidden in Saudi Arabia (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uz5Fb-avMdo).  Then Trump got into an awkward meeting later with King Abdullah of Jordan causing Egypt’s Sisi to unexpectantly cancel an upcoming meeting (https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/egypts-sisi-cancels-planned-white-house-visit-after-awkward-trump-king-abdullah).  Add all this to Trump approving $1 billion in arms sales to Israel while having Benjamin Netanyahu as the first head of state to visit Trump, there are a lot of skeptical eyes in the Middle East right now (https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/us-readies-new-1bn-arms-sale-israel-netanyahu-arrives-washington).