Under Trump, America Reclaims The Global Moral High Ground

The United States has historically positioned itself as a defender of basic natural ⁢rights ⁣globally. However, under President Joe Biden’s administration, this ⁣commitment has diminished, with accusations that the government has actively suppressed free speech and targeted political opponents, ⁤including Christian groups. The administration‌ is criticized ⁢for colluding with Big Tech to censor dissenting opinions, leading to a perception that ‌the U.S. has shifted from its role as a⁢ leader in‌ upholding natural ‍rights to becoming increasingly authoritarian.

In this context, Vice President J.D. ⁤Vance⁣ delivered a provocative speech at the Munich Security Conference, where he defended free speech and criticized European nations for their own censorship practices. His remarks highlighted ⁢the internal threats to democratic values in Europe, which surprised many European leaders who⁢ frequently enough lecture other countries​ about human rights.

The significance of Vance’s address lies in its challenge to both European ‌and American leaders who have strayed from the principles ⁢of free speech and democracy. Secretary of State Marco Rubio echoed these sentiments, affirming that the U.S. should be concerned about democratic backsliding in allies and emphasizing the⁣ need for open discourse.

Furthermore, the Trump administration is taking a more dynamic approach to champion free ‌speech, contrasting sharply with past policies that ‌have ‌embraced censorship. ⁤It‍ aims to ⁣support independent journalism and challenge the suppression of conservative voices.

this analysis suggests a shift ​in​ American foreign policy⁢ under Trump’s ​leadership toward a more proactive defense of natural rights and free speech, both domestically⁣ and internationally, contrasting sharply with Biden’s administration.


Since its founding, the United States has long been considered a champion for basic natural rights throughout the civilized world. Not content with simply guaranteeing these principles at home, America has sought to use its reputation and influence to pressure foreign leaders to ensure such principles for their own peoples.

But in recent years, U.S. leadership’s commitment to upholding God-given rights to free speech and religion has fallen by the wayside. Under President Joe Biden, America was no longer a defender of natural rights, but an assailant of them.

In addition to weaponizing the legal system to target his political opponents (including Christians), the 46th president and his administration undertook what was arguably the largest attack on free speech in modern U.S. history.

The administration colluded with Big Tech companies to censor Americans whose views ran counter to the government’s preferred narratives and funded censorship tools to achieve similar goals. Biden’s untoward desire to stifle free speech was so potent that he spent his final days in office lamenting decisions by social media entities to stop using manipulative left-wing “fact-checkers” to throttle disfavored speech on their platforms.

In the span of four years, the Delaware Democrat morphed the United States from the world’s leading champion for natural rights into a knock-off version of an increasingly despotic Europe.

Which brings us to Vice President J.D. Vance’s monumental speech at the Munich Security Conference.

America’s vice president could have easily used his address to regurgitate the same worn-out platitudes about diplomatic “cooperation” and “improving relations” routinely espoused by Washington and European dignitaries. Instead, he took a much bolder approach.

Throughout his nearly 20-minute remarks, Vance gave a full-throated defense of free speech. While acknowledging the Biden administration’s censorship practices, Vance eloquently explained the importance of maintaining open discourse in civil society and lambasted self-professed “democratic” European states for deploying authoritarian tactics to silence their own peoples.

“… [T]he threat that I worry the most about vis-à-vis Europe … is the threat from within, the retreat of Europe from some of its most fundamental values — values shared with the United States of America,” Vance said. “In Britain, and across Europe, free speech, I fear, is in retreat.”

European elites were stunned. For the first time in ages, they were confronted with the reality of their own hypocrisy on natural rights — an issue they regularly lecture other nations about on the world stage.

While watching Europeans throw temper tantrums over Vance’s remarks is certainly amusing, the significance of the vice president’s address cannot be overstated. It’s arguably one of the most consequential foreign policy speeches given by a leading U.S. political figure in the modern era and represents a dramatic shift in America’s approach to free speech, both domestically and internationally.

In one fell swoop, Vance delivered the message that, under President Donald Trump, the suppression of natural rights by Western powers — even those that portend to hold an affinity for such principles — will no longer be ignored by the United States.

This pivot was also evident during Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s recent appearance on CBS’s “Face the Nation.” When asked by regime hacktivist Margaret Brennan about Vance’s Munich address and what it accomplished “other than irritating our allies,” Rubio calmly replied, “Why would our allies or anybody be irritated by free speech and by someone giving their opinion? We are, after all, democracies.”

The secretary noted that any anger directed at Vance’s denunciation of government censorship “actually makes his point,” and that America has “very valid” reasons to be concerned about European powers “backsliding” from the “values that bind us together … like free speech and democracy.” (This exchange came before Brennan attempted to offer a failed defense of state-enforced censorship by outlandishly claiming free speech was to blame for the Holocaust).

An emphasis on the Trump administration’s plans to deliver uncensored speech to Americans and people throughout the world was also apparent during Rubio’s Thursday interview with independent journalist Catherine Herridge. The Florida native specifically noted the importance of distributing its message through channels outside of traditional, legacy media outlets — which routinely censor news deemed harmful to Democrat causes.

“… [W]e can’t allow our message to solely be provided through the filter of legacy, traditional media outlets whose … readership is down, their viewership is down, their ratings are down,” Rubio said. “[W]e have to take our message where people are getting their news and information, and in these sort of long-form interviews where you’re getting serious questions and can provide answers to nuanced issues, not little sound bites that they run during the cable news hour for news and entertainment purposes. So, we’ll engage everybody, but we almost certainly see a greater emphasis on independent journalism because that’s where people are getting their news and information.”

Exclusive: @SecRubio will open the State Department briefing room to independent journalists.

“We can’t allow our message to solely be provided through the filter of legacy, traditional media outlets…their readership is down, their viewership is down, their ratings are down.  I… https://t.co/t5BReWwgtj pic.twitter.com/07ucdSw9SV

— Catherine Herridge (@C__Herridge) February 21, 2025

This commitment to unfiltered speech is also evident when examining the individuals set to work under Rubio at the State Department. Earlier this month, Trump tapped Revolver News’ Darren Beattie to serve as undersecretary for public diplomacy, a role that will be key in furthering the administration’s pro-speech advocacy throughout the world.

During his time at Revolver, Beattie was instrumental in uncovering funding sources behind NewsGuard, a pro-censorship tool that’s weaponized taxpayer dollars to try and defund conservative news outlets such as The Federalist via phony “credibility” ratings. He also did seminal work digging into the Biden administration’s “Disinformation Governance Board” and other facets of the left’s “disinformation industry.”

Part of Beattie’s responsibilities will include overseeing the State Department’s Bureau of Global Public Affairs, which notably housed the Global Engagement Center. As The Federalist’s Margot Cleveland previously explained, GEC “funded the development of censorship tools” (including NewsGuard) that work to silence (primarily conservative) speech online and “used ‘government employees to act as sales reps pitching … censorship products to Big Tech.’”

Beattie’s pro-speech stance is even more notable when contrasted with the views of his Obama-era predecessor, Richard Stengel.

In a 2019 Washington Post op-ed, Stengel described how he “came to see how [America’s] First Amendment standard is an outlier,” and he argued that it should not guarantee constitutional protections for so-called “hate speech.” He even advocated for “add[ing] new guardrails” to curb speech that he claimed “incites hate.”

“Yes, the First Amendment protects the ‘thought that we hate,’ but it should not protect hateful speech that can cause violence by one group against another,” Stengel wrote. “In an age when everyone has a megaphone, that seems like a design flaw.”

Trump and his team have made clear their understanding that defending speech and other God-given freedoms is paramount to ensuring the survival of Western Civilization. In order for real democracy to thrive, citizens must be allowed to exchange thoughts and ideas without fear of government repression and censorship.

Biden and Co. never considered these hard truths because, much like their European counterparts, they fervently reject the virtues that made Western Civilization great. In fact, their dystopian Marxist worldview is completely antithetical to such principles.

Unlike his predecessor, Trump is making clear his intent to hold the West accountable to the values it preaches, and that through bold and unapologetic leadership, America’s status as the world’s champion for natural rights will nevermore be in question.


Shawn Fleetwood is a staff writer for The Federalist and a graduate of the University of Mary Washington. He previously served as a state content writer for Convention of States Action and his work has been featured in numerous outlets, including RealClearPolitics, RealClearHealth, and Conservative Review. Follow him on Twitter @ShawnFleetwood



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