It was the best speech of his presidency.
In his State of the Union address, President Trump spelled out his vision for America, reaching out to both sides of the aisle to let everyone know that “America First” is not a policy of hate or exclusivity. Rather, it means that we look out for our own first, and thus are better able to help others.
Unlike some on the Left, Trump believes that our country, despite its flaws, has always been a special place and can continue to be such if we but work together for the common good. He mentioned D-Day and the moon landings and the policies that led to great prosperity for millions of Americans, arguing that these should inspire us today to work together and to put aside partisan bickering. At the same time, he warned of those who would replace our system with discredited and alien ideologies that died with the Cold War.
A strong, prosperous America is of great benefit not only to her own citizens, but to the world as a whole. Trump illustrated this when he spoke of a renewed effort to fight HIV/AIDS and childhood cancer, efforts that would benefit every person on this planet.
We cannot accomplish great things as a nation, at home or abroad, if we do not look out for our own national interests. As I explain in my book, America First: Understanding the Trump Doctrine, the whole purpose of having a nation in the first place is to ensure the well-being of those belonging to that nation. Our interests are those things that affect the safety, security, and prosperity of the American people. That is not selfishness, anymore than it is selfish for a father to look out for his own children before attending to the needs of his neighbors. The two are not mutually exclusive, but, as the proverb says, “charity begins at home.” A nation in disarray is of no service to anyone, especially not the people who live there.
As such, Trump’s policies at home and abroad have made America a better place, and he outlined this in his State of the Union address. We are reaching full employment, and for some of the more historically disadvantaged groups in our country, the levels of unemployment are some of the lowest in recorded history. This has come about not from any kind of artificial make-work program or by unnaturally intervening in the marketplace, but rather by insisting that other nations play by the rules.
Trump singled out China, and rightly so. For too many years, that country has been able to dominate the American marketplace, not through the quality of their products, but by stealing our trade secrets, dumping their goods, manipulating their currency, and other unfair practices that led to a decimation of American manufacturing, once the pride of the world. Under President Trump, who is not afraid of using any tool in the box to further American interests, even things such as tariffs that are almost a dirty word to dogmatic globalists, American manufacturing is coming back.
But it is not just China. Under the Trump administration, the bad deal NAFTA was scrapped, and a new trade agreement, the USMCA, was reached, which, if passed in Congress, will be of benefit not just to our neighbors to the north and south, but especially to our own workers, farmers, and entrepreneurs. We cannot stick to ideology when it comes to trade, or anything else for that matter, but must go with what works for the American people and trust that our foreign interlocutors will do the same for their own citizens. As a businessman, Trump understands that when both sides come to the table looking out for their own interests, when a deal is made, it is beneficial to all involved.
Trump’s approach to NATO has been heavily criticized, but it was long overdue. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization came into being to contain the spread of Soviet communism and preserve the freedoms we fought hard to defend over the course of our history. It served that purpose well, but, with the collapse of the USSR, the time is ripe to re-evaluate this potentially “entangling alliance.” No one had the guts to do that until Trump was elected president. He was called irresponsible for challenging the conventional wisdom that all alliances are eternal even if the reason for them has passed, and especially when the lion’s share of the burden continues to fall upon the United States. Trump has not pulled us out of NATO, but his bold willingness to take an objective look at our need or desire to remain a part of that organization has caused other members of the alliance to step up to the plate and begin to pay their fair share.
Just as alliances should not last beyond the reason for their existence, so too should wars be brought to an end when victory is achieved. Our fight in Afghanistan, a righteous effort that was launched in response to a direct attack on our homeland, degenerated into an unwinnable effort at re-making the country of Afghanistan into something it has never been. Trump has correctly re-oriented our policy into ensuring Afghanistan never again becomes a terrorist haven, but will leave the details of how the Afghans run their country up to the Afghans themselves. As such, we are now at the brink of promising negotiations with all parties to that conflict, with the hope of bringing our soldiers back home.
The list of foreign policy successes goes on and on: the defeat of ISIS, the development of a working relationship with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, and, above all, his standing up for American interests wherever they might be threatened. Trump is hoping and working for peace, but he is not afraid to use the full force of American might to defend our fellow citizens where our interests are threatened.
This is what an “America First” policy looks like. It puts the interests of our people first and defends them against all adversaries, making this country a better place to live and a country capable of reaching out to other nations to work together for a safer, prosperous, and more just future.
Danny Toma served 22 years as a foreign service officer with the Department of State. His book, America First: Understanding the Trump Doctrine, is published by Regnery Publishing.
