A potential Trump comeback signals a significant change in foreign policy from Biden

In his first epistle to the Corinthians, the Apostle Paul writes, “The one who prophesies speaks to people for their strengthening, encouraging and comfort.” While written in a global rather than godly context, An America First Approach to U.S. National Security, a new volume edited by former National Security Council chief of staff Fred Fleitz, helps us peer into a potential future defense policy if former President Donald Trump in November wins a second, nonconsecutive term over President Joe Biden.

And the result is indeed encouraging.

The work, published by the America First Policy Institute, is particularly perspicacious about global affairs given the authority of its authors. Trump has reportedly discussed various foreign policy issues with Fleitz and his fellow contributors, including Rep. Michael Waltz (R-FL) and retired Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg, national security adviser to then-Vice President Mike Pence. The Financial Times places Fleitz at the table in the “Trump Machine,” the inner circle preparing for a second term. Likewise, the Trump campaign has identified Kellogg as a policy adviser who could take a role in his next administration.

Kellogg, in his chapter, argues that our great nation finds itself hovering at “a pivotal moment.” With the election less than six months away, Kellogg poses a choice between “the failed foreign policy of a Biden Administration or a Trump policy of America First.” The latter, Kellogg posits, has “a record of success” and “offers us a proven pathway forward today.”

What does “America First” mean? For Kellogg, the term suggests the country “will work with our allies to advance American interests.” More specifically, he says, the nation would “leverage international organizations when they offer clear ways to secure U.S. interests, but America will never be subordinate or beholden to any international institution in which the ‘consent of the governed’ is replaced with the rule by unelected elites or when these institutions pursue objectives contrary to American interests and constitutional rights.”

Waltz, in his contribution on the use of force, calls for America to “focus its military power at deterring the peer threat of China.” That power, argues the congressman, who served over 26 years in the Army and was decorated with four Bronze Stars, comes with caveats. The last three decades’ lessons, coupled with the evolution in warfighting, compel a realism about America’s “ability to change foreign cultures, the need to use the maximum possible resources against the most vital collection of goals, and a need to use the full spectrum of United States political, economic, and military power to buttress the core military challenge of balancing a conventional peer adversary.”

Along similar lines, former Secretary of Veterans Affairs Robert Wilkie makes plain the Biden administration’s missteps in military management and provides an urgent call for a course correction. His critique underscores the imperative of maintaining military morale while picking our way past the pitfalls of woke ideology.

“The Biden Administration’s incompetent management of the military has caused the most severe military crisis since Richard Nixon and General Creighton Abrams gave America the all-volunteer force in 1973,” Wilkie writes. It is that crisis that Wilkie’s take on an America First approach would seek to defuse.

Looking inward, well-regarded former Secretary of Homeland Security Chad Wolf and former senior policy adviser and chief of policy at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Robert Law delve into homeland security, stressing the critical importance of securing the border to safeguard national sovereignty. In particular, Wolf and Law suggest persuasively that “to control the U.S. border and prevent exploitation by bad actors, we must reduce the flow of illegal aliens trying to enter the United States.” They contend that the most effective way to do this is to resume the Trump administration’s Migrant Protection Protocols, aka the “Remain in Mexico” policy, which they follow by recommending that America “promptly resume construction of the border wall system to serve as a physical deterrent to unlawful crossings.” From their mouths to God’s ears, one hopes, as today, people increasingly find themselves falling back on a besieged Second Amendment to secure their own homelands.

Peering across the Pacific, Stephen Yates, former White House deputy assistant to Vice President Dick Cheney for national security affairs, and Adam Savit, AFPI China Policy Initiative director, dissect the complexities of U.S.-China relations, urging a robust strategy to counter the self-dubbed Middle Kingdom’s malign influence. Yates and Savit’s analysis calls for a comprehensive approach that leverages American economic and military power to mitigate threats posed by the Chinese Communist Party.

Moving the focus from the Far East to the Middle East, Ellie Cohanim, State Department deputy special envoy to monitor and combat antisemitism, underscores the significance of strengthening alliances and supporting regional allies like Israel. The brilliant Cohanim’s insights emphasize the strategic imperative of a secure and stable Middle East in advancing America’s broader security objectives. Perhaps never before has this been closer to home than in an America where violent riots rock college campuses with calls for genocide and an end to Israel, driven by an alliance of pro-Hamas protestors and far-left “progressives.”

On alliances, former State Department spokeswoman and Naval Reserve officer Morgan Ortagus highlights the importance of engagement through strong partnerships while advancing American interests. On the trade front, former U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer advocates an approach that safeguards American wealth and technology from adversaries. In Lighthizer’s view, “the best thing we can do for our own national security and for that of our allies is to not only have the finest military in the world but also to have the strongest economy powered by the most advanced technology.”

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In their analysis of energy security, former Energy Secretary Rick Perry and his then-senior adviser on international relations, Sam Buchan, point out that energy security “not only ensures robust economic growth, but it also empowers the United States to advance its security interests and support America’s allies and partners abroad — unimpeded by foreign dependencies.”

When in the presence of prophecy, Revelation 1:3 urges, “Blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it, because the time is near.” Analogously, if less eternally, it’s worthwhile to take to heart this volume. Given that Trump leads Biden in Arizona, Nevada, Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, and Georgia, the time may indeed be near.

Christopher C. Hull, Ph.D., is president of Issues Management Inc., a public affairs firm that does grassroots and advocacy work including on national security. He was previously chief of staff to a member of the House of Representatives.