Trump's Foreign Policy Contradictions

Jacob Sullum / Townhall Columnist

Now that Donald Trump is the presumptive Republican nominee for president -- a development that no one, including Trump, foresaw a year ago -- it may be a good time to consider what he might do if he beats Hillary Clinton this fall. The "major foreign policy address" that the billionaire developer gave last week suggests he is trying to figure that out along with the rest of us.

 

Trump's main foreign policy strength is his willingness to tell the truth about the disastrous interventions championed by Republicans as well as Democrats during the last few decades. He has long been critical of the war in Iraq (not quite since the invasion, but almost), and he sees the same pattern playing out in Libya, Syria, and Egypt: The U.S. heedlessly topples a secular dictator, promoting instability and Islamic terrorism.

"Each of these actions [has] helped to throw the region into chaos and [given] ISIS the space it needs to grow and prosper," Trump says. "It all began with the dangerous idea that we could make Western democracies out of countries that had no experience or interest in becoming a Western democracy."

Although Trump is frequently mocked as a foreign policy naif, that analysis displays more wisdom than anything Hillary Clinton has said in her long history of supporting arrogant meddling around the world. I do not know whether a President Trump would keep his promise that "we are getting out of the nation-building business," (you may recall that George W. Bush said something similar in 2000) but his wariness of such projects seems sincere.

Ted Cruz Ends Presidential Ambitions, But Declares He’ll Continue To Defend The Constitution

Matt Vespa / Townhall Tipsheet

As Christine noted earlier this evening, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), the conservative’s conservative, has ended his presidential ambitions after devastating defeat to billionaire Donald Trump. Trump had momentum after his decisive victories in the Acela Corridor primaries, which only further increased his significant delegate lead.

As former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina took the stage to introduce the senator, she said that both she and Cruz had “fallen in love” with the Hoosier state.

This is a man who favors substance over sloganeering. Who favors respect over insult. Who favors positive policy solutions over hand waving,” she added.

Upon taking the stage, Cruz delivered his usual anecdote about his family’s roots, the story about his father’s very humble beginnings, and how the dividends reaped from fleeing Cuba was allowing him to cast a ballot for his son running for the highest political office in the land. Then, came the bombshell, where the conservative fighter said, “from the beginning I've said that I would continue on as long as there was a viable path to victory. Tonight, I'm sorry to say, it appears that path has been foreclosed.”

‘‘Together, we left it all on the field of Indiana. We gave it everything we’ve got, but the voters chose another path, and so with a heavy heart but with boundless optimism for the long-term future of our nation, we are suspending our campaign,” he added.

May 04, 2016     Morning Jolt ... with Jim Geraghty

Republicans Choose to Nominate Guy Getting 41 Percent Against Clinton Sad! Not good! The CNN/ORC poll, completed ahead of Trump’s victory last night, found Clinton leads 54 percent to 41 percent, a 13-point edge over the New York businessman, her largest lead since last July. Overall, voters are evenly split on their opinion of Clinton -- 49 percent see her favorably and the same share unfavorably. But a decidedly larger group (56 percent) see Trump unfavorably than see him favorably (41 percent). Intellectual honesty requires me to point out that Hillary’s overall head-to-head strength is hiding some surprisingly soft numbers on issues: Clinton is also more trusted than Trump on many issues voters rank as critically important, with one big exception. By a 50 percent to 45 percent margin, voters say Trump would do a better job handling the economy than Clinton would. Clinton has the edge on a range of other issues. She is more trusted than Trump on terrorism (50 percent Clinton to 45 percent Trump), immigration (51 percent to 44 percent), health care (55 percent to 39 percent), the income gap (54 percent to 37 percent), foreign policy (61 percent to 36 percent), education (61 percent to 34 percent) and climate change (63 percent to 30 percent). It’s fair to wonder if Trump could play his cards right, make the election a referendum on the economy -- notice the different numbers on immigration, terrorism, and foreign policy -- and make this race a lot closer than his skeptics expect. But then again, with numbers like these, any other Republican would have had a better shot of beating Hillary. “It’s just the CNN poll!” his fans will shout. Yeah, and 20 of the past 22 polls.

A year after jihadis attacked AFDI free speech event, the war has just begun

By Robert Spencer/ Jihad Watch

 

I was co-organizer of and a speaker at the free speech event in Garland, Texas one year ago today. Jihad Watch was a co-sponsor. It is this simple: when jihadis say that they will kill us for drawing Muhammad, we have two choices: draw Muhammad and show that we are not submitting to violent intimidation, […]
 
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Obama to CUT Refugee Screening Time for Unvetted Migrants, Terror Concerns on Capitol Hill

Pamela Geller / Atlas Shrugs

This is reckless and dangerous. The Paris and Brussels jihadis posed as migrants. Obama has removed the mask — this is an all-out war on our security and our freedom.

He stood silent in 2011/2012 when our international organization, SION, called for emergency asylum for Christians and religious minorities trying to escape Islamic supremacist genocide. He did nothing. Hundreds of thousands have been slaughtered. Now he wants to import the perpetrators. The refugees brought into the USA have all been Muslims, save for a handful.

Europe is a cautionary tale. Take heed, Mr. President.

“Obama Plan to Cut Refugee Screening Time Raises Concerns About Terrorism,” By Adam Kredo, Washington Free Beacon, May 3, 2016
Lawmakers warn...

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RIGHT SIDE PATRIOTS IS BACK...LIVE!

Today, Wednesday, May 4th from 2-4pm EST, Right Side Patriots Craig Andresen and Diane Sori will discuss the nightmare that is Indiana, Ted Cruz suspending his campaign, Trumpenomics, Trump's incoherent foreign policy, and the battle between God and medicine,

Hope you can tune in at americanpbn.com