{"id":163977,"date":"2025-09-28T04:07:40","date_gmt":"2025-09-28T12:07:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/?p=163977"},"modified":"2025-09-28T04:10:40","modified_gmt":"2025-09-28T12:10:40","slug":"wp-trump-swerves-and-swaggers-on-the-world-stage-what-remains-largely-missing-for-the-president-are-the-kind-of-foundational-principles-that-historians-might-someday-refer-to-as-a-trump-doc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/?p=163977","title":{"rendered":"WP: Trump swerves and swaggers on the world stage: What remains largely missing for the president are the kind of foundational principles that historians might someday refer to as a \u201cTrump doctrine.\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

Karen Tumulty writes<\/a>: <\/p>\n

The populist and nationalist catchphrase that Trump and his supporters use is \u201cAmerica First.\u201d What it means, however, is whatever he wants it to…<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think there\u2019s a Trump doctrine. I don\u2019t think he has a philosophy. I don\u2019t think he does grand strategy. I don\u2019t even think he does policy as that term is conventionally understood in Washington,\u201d said John Bolton, who was U.N. ambassador under George W. Bush and national security adviser during Trump\u2019s first term. \u201cThere isn\u2019t any Trumpism that\u2019s going to survive. It\u2019s all about his interest and what he wants.\u201d<\/p>\n

…While Trump\u2019s approach is unconventional, those who support it say it is indeed grounded in a philosophy.<\/p>\n

\u201cRather than pursuing a traditional establishment foreign policy, President Trump is weighing all these international engagements through the lens of U.S. national security. In other words, he is guiding his policies on what will contribute to the security and prosperity of the American people rather than in pursuit of some abstract greater good,\u201d argued Victoria Coates of the Heritage Foundation, a former deputy national security adviser to Trump. \u201cAt the same time, his patience is not infinite.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The pursuit of personal, tribal and national interests is a principle — self-interest. <\/p>\n

Sometimes interests are more important than principles.<\/p>\n

For 40 years, Donald Trump has stood for immigration control and protectionism to protect the interests of ordinary Americans. <\/p>\n

ChatGPT says: Yes \u2014 the pursuit of one\u2019s own interests is a principle, though it doesn\u2019t look like a \u201cdoctrine\u201d in the way policy elites or historians tend to frame foreign policy. A \u201cTruman Doctrine\u201d or \u201cBush Doctrine\u201d is articulated in universal terms \u2014 defending freedom everywhere, pre-emptive strikes, etc. Trump never bothers with that layer of abstraction. Instead, his principle is transactional: what\u2019s in it for me (or the U.S., as he equates the two)?<\/p>\n

If you strip away the performance, the core Trump principles look like this:<\/p>\n

1. Radical transactionalism. Every relationship, foreign or domestic, is viewed as a deal. Alliances, treaties, NATO, trade agreements \u2014 they\u2019re not binding commitments but contracts to be re-evaluated constantly.<\/p>\n

2. Nationalism over universalism. He\u2019s suspicious of global institutions (UN, WHO, WTO) and prefers bilateral, winner-take-all deals where the U.S. is on top. \u201cAmerica First\u201d is his organizing principle.<\/p>\n

3. Strength as credibility. Projection of power \u2014 military, economic, or personal bravado \u2014 is seen as the only real form of diplomacy. Deterrence through intimidation rather than trust.<\/p>\n

4. Loyalty as currency. Whether with foreign leaders or domestic allies, loyalty to him is a prerequisite for favorable treatment. Principles of consistency or institutional rules are secondary.<\/p>\n

5. Skepticism of \u201cbuffered\u201d abstractions. As you put it, the liberal-internationalist \u201cbuffered identity\u201d expects doctrines articulated in terms of values, norms, or institutions. Trump distrusts that layer of rhetoric. He communicates instead in visceral, immediate terms: deals, money, winning, humiliation, dominance.<\/p>\n

So yes, Trump has principles \u2014 they\u2019re just not the kind that fit neatly into the framework elites use to define a \u201cdoctrine.\u201d They\u2019re more instinctive, pragmatic, and tied to personal and national self-interest rather than abstract ideals.<\/p>\n

LF: How could Trump articulate his worldview honestly and accurately while using the language esteemed by the buffered?<\/p>\n

ChatGPT: If Trump wanted to translate his instincts into the idiom of the \u201cbuffered identity\u201d \u2014 the intellectualized, abstract, value-laden language of policy elites \u2014 he would have to reframe his gut impulses as systematic doctrines rather than deals. In other words, he\u2019d keep the same substance but dress it in \u201crespectable\u201d terms. Something like this:<\/p>\n

1. From \u201cAmerica First\u201d \u2192 \u201cPrincipled Sovereignty.\u201d
\nInstead of saying \u201cwe don\u2019t want to get ripped off,\u201d he\u2019d cast it as a commitment to sovereign equality: every nation has the right to defend its own interests without being subordinated to supranational institutions.<\/p>\n

2. From \u201ctransactional deals\u201d \u2192 \u201cReciprocal Realism.\u201d
\nRather than \u201cwe\u2019ll leave NATO if they don\u2019t pay,\u201d he could describe it as a doctrine of reciprocity: partnerships must be mutually beneficial, or they undermine international order.<\/p>\n

3. From \u201cstrength is credibility\u201d \u2192 \u201cDeterrence Through Resilient Power.\u201d
\nHis obsession with dominance could be framed as a belief in credible deterrence: peace comes from unmistakable demonstrations of resolve and capacity.<\/p>\n

4. From \u201cloyalty to me\u201d \u2192 \u201cTrust and Reliability in International Relations.\u201d
\nPersonal loyalty, recast as reliability: the U.S. rewards consistent partners and penalizes opportunistic free-riders.<\/p>\n

5. From \u201cgut instinct\u201d \u2192 \u201cPragmatic National Interest.\u201d
\nHis improvisational style could be sold as pragmatic adaptability: a willingness to adjust to changing conditions rather than being shackled by outdated dogma.<\/p>\n

If he were speaking in this more buffered register, Trump might articulate something like:<\/p>\n

\u201cThe United States affirms a doctrine of Principled Sovereignty and Reciprocal Realism. We believe nations are strongest when they safeguard their own interests while respecting the reciprocal commitments of others. Our credibility rests on resilient power, and our partnerships must be rooted in reliability and fairness. America will pursue pragmatic strategies, not rigid dogmas, to ensure peace and prosperity for our people and, through strength, for the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

That\u2019s basically \u201cAmerica First\u201d translated into the language of a Brookings white paper.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Karen Tumulty writes: The populist and nationalist catchphrase that Trump and his supporters use is \u201cAmerica First.\u201d What it means, however, is whatever he wants it to… \u201cI don\u2019t think there\u2019s a Trump doctrine. I don\u2019t think he has a … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21791],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-163977","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-america"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t