With the media raising concerns about Donald Trump’s willingness to use nuclear weapons, the Republican presidential front runner’s top national security advisor said that the candidate is not hot-headed and would use the military only when victory was likely.
“Donald Trump is not trigger happy,” Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions told Secrets. “I think the Trump message is that he’s going to protect the national interest, America’s interest, and he’s going to be realistic and he’s going to be less likely to engage ourselves in large military conflicts around the world.”
Trump has given a handful of interviews on foreign policy, and frustrated pundits by refusing to close the door on aggressive action, including a nuclear strike on the Islamic State.
The New York Times used this image in an editorial hitting Donald Trump’s foreign policy views.
The New York Times didn’t like that and wrote:
“In his interviews, Mr. Trump has said “unpredictability” is central to his thinking. He seems to have no inkling that operating in a dangerous world — one in which the United States is militarily involved in many conflict zones — requires some ability to communicate intelligently and forthrightly with both allies and enemies. It also seems to have escaped him that American voters deserve to know what a candidate is actually proposing.”
Trump, however, sees value in keeping his options open and foes on edge.
And Sessions said that Trump is likely to have a steady hand and long-term view.
Part of that, said Sessions, a key member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, will be upgrading the U.S. military so it’s ready for quick action if needed.
“I think there’s an opportunity for us to continue to rebuild our military, to have and be able to use it when the need arises and use it decisively and victoriously. But I think we’ve learned in the last 20 years that you’ve got to be careful about the ramifications of the use of military power,” said Sessions.
What’s more, he said that Trump is serious about getting allies to do more in both providing and paying for forces.
“He believes that our allies should contribute more. I totally agree with this . We pay 75 percent of the cost of NATO, this is unthinkable, the countries in Europe are so insistent that we do more while they’re not doing more. They’re defense budgets are a fraction of ours and most of their money is not well spent anyways. So we’ve got to get our allies more engaged around the world and they’ve got to be more active. The United States just cannot be the sugar daddy for the national security of the world,” said Sessions.
“And only then, when we have buy-in, can we be an effective world leader,” said the senator, adding, “I believe the United States is going to have to play a leadership role in the world but we’ve got to insist that our partners carry their share of the load.”
Paul Bedard, the Washington Examiner’s “Washington Secrets” columnist, can be contacted at [email protected]
