Trump foreign policy plan stresses home front
By DARREN SAMUELSOHN and MICHAEL CROWLEY 12/18/2017 05:14 AM EST
President Donald Trump is set to unveil a national security plan Monday that reflects the most inward-focused vision of American foreign policy in recent memory – with a heavy emphasis on economic strength and defending U.S. borders.
At the same time, the official document presents relatively conventional views at odds with Trump’s own positions—including praise for the role of diplomacy and warnings about Russia’s malign intentions. The strategy “is wildly inconsistent with Trump administration behavior,” said Kori Schake, a former State Department official now at Stanford University’s conservative Hoover Institution who is familiar with portions of the document.
A draft excerpt of the document, formally known as the National Security Strategy, sternly declares that Russia, along with China, “challenge[s] American power, influence and interests, attempting to erode American security and prosperity.”
It also warns against the belief that “engagement with rivals” will turn them into “benign actors and trustworthy partners.” That is likely a veiled repudiation of President Barack Obama’s outreach to Iran, though it also echoes the critique of foreign policy insiders concerned about Trump’s frequent vows to befriend Russian President Vladimir Putin.
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https://www.politico.com/story/2017/12/18/trump-foreign-policy-security-302242
