Donald Trump portrays himself as a visionary foreign policy operator who, as president, weakened our country’s enemies and raised the world’s respect for America. He vows to do so again if elected in November.
In fact, Trump’s record as president is the exact opposite of what he claims, and his return to the White House could seriously undermine our standing and security in the world.
President Trump has made devastating decisions that have strengthened authoritarian regimes while making America and its allies less safe. His constant praise for Russian President Vladimir Putin has puzzled foreign policy and intelligence experts at home and abroad. His embrace of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has further fueled his campaign against reckless dictators and deployable nuclear weapons.
Perhaps Trump’s biggest mistake involved Iran, one of America’s most ardent and dangerous adversaries. He withdrew the United States from a 2015 multinational agreement aimed at curbing Iran’s nuclear ambitions in exchange for better economic treatment from the West. International experts say the plan worked because Iran pursued nuclear power primarily for energy purposes, not war. But Trump immediately reversed it.
He argued that imposing new economic sanctions on Iran would paralyze the Tehran regime and force it to beg for more. The New York Times recently reported that “Mr. Trump is wrong on both counts. … Iran is closer than ever to producing multiple nuclear weapons, and in recent weeks the pace at which it can produce nuclear fuel has increased dramatically.”
This is exactly what military and foreign policy experts predicted when Trump brazenly withdrew the United States from the treaty known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). As the nonpartisan Arms Control Association wrote five years ago, “Unsurprisingly, Trump’s misguided ‘maximum pressure’ campaign, which involved reimposing sanctions that were lifted when Iran met key JCPOA demands, has done nothing to force changes in Iran’s regional behavior.” That threatens U.S. allies.
The Arms Control Association said that “the most tragic aspect of this escalating crisis” is that Trump’s decision to violate America’s commitments under the JCPOA appears to be based on a series of falsehoods and misconceptions that Trump and his senior officials continue to repeat, specifically that the Obama/Biden administration would have “given Iran unfettered access to nuclear weapons.” That’s nonsense.
Five years later, on April 13, 2024, we will see how dire the situation is with Iran as a growing nuclear threat.
Iran has fired missiles and drone strikes at Israel as Israel continues its assault on Iran-backed Hamas in the Gaza Strip. The Arms Control Association reported the next day that Iran had closed its nuclear facilities to international inspectors, and a senior military official said Tehran could reconsider its ban on developing nuclear weapons if Israel retaliates by attacking its nuclear infrastructure.
Responsible Statecraft, another geopolitical watchdog, recently published a Middle East analysis titled “Trafficing Off the Iran Nuclear Deal Was One of Trump’s Biggest Failures.” The article said the decision brought Tehran “closer to the bomb than ever before.”
While Trump was reckless and haphazard in his approach to Iran, the Biden-Harris administration has been firm and realistic. In April, after Iran attacked Israel with missiles and drones, President Biden pledged that the United States and its G7 allies would “act collectively to increase economic pressure on Iran” and “take steps to limit Iran’s destabilizing military programs.”
As Trump campaigns to return to the White House, his foreign policy ideas are more reckless and misguided than ever: He has vowed to encourage any NATO member that doesn’t meet Russia’s military spending guidelines to “do whatever they want.”
Domestic and economic issues always dominate U.S. presidential elections, but voters should not overlook the danger of putting Trump, who has little understanding or interest in geopolitical policy and interests, in a position where he could do so much harm.
Charles Babington covered the Washington area, including Congress and the White House, for 20 years for the Washington Post, Associated Press and the Raleigh News & Absor.
