Foreign policy of Donald Trump during the 2016 presidential election
"[19] Trump has called for allied countries, including Germany, Israel, Japan, Saudi Arabia, and South Korea to pay the United States for helping protect their nations.
[20][21][22] Trump unveiled a list of foreign policy advisors in April 2016: Joseph E. Schmitz, Walid Phares, Keith Kellogg, Carter Page,[23] Bert Mizusawa, Gary Harrell, Chuck Kubic and George Papadopoulos.
"[29] According to Duke political science professor Peter Feaver, the list "looks more like an ad hoc coalition of the willing than any deliberate effort to reflect a particular candidate's vision of America's role in the world.
[27] Previously when asked about who he was consulting with on foreign policy during an interview on MSNBC's Morning Joe, Trump responded with "I'm speaking with myself, number one, because I have a very good brain and I've said a lot of things".
[42] Bloomberg News reported in July 2016 that Trump Organization executives and advisers traveled to Havana in late 2012 or early 2013 to explore golf-course developments in Cuba, possibly a violation of the embargo.
This was evident just this week when, as an example, a young woman in San Francisco was viciously killed by a 5-time deported Mexican with a long criminal record, who was forced back into the United States because they didn't want him in Mexico.
[47]A study published in Social Science Quarterly in May 2016 tested Trump's claim that immigrants are responsible for higher levels of violent and drug-related crime in the United States.
[54] Experts also note that on federally protected wilderness areas and Native American reservations, the Department of Homeland Security may have only limited construction authority, and a wall could cause environmental damage.
[73] He pledged "swift, robust and unequivocal" action against Chinese piracy, counterfeit American goods, and theft of U.S. trade secrets and intellectual property; and has condemned China's "illegal export subsidies and lax labor and environmental standards.
[80] This was followed by U.S. Army General Mark Milley's testimony during his Senate confirmation hearing to be the next Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff where he said that China was the United States' primary challenge and they were outspending the U.S. in research, development and procurement.
"[118] Trump's statement is based on his interpretation of a provision in the agreement that "the U.S. and other partners are prepared, as appropriate, to cooperate with training to strengthen Iran's ability to protect against and respond to nuclear security threats, including sabotage."
[127] In his 2000 book, “The America We Deserve,” by Donald Trump and Dave Shiflett, he suggested that he would be in favor of a pre-emptive strike if Iraq was viewed as a threat to national security.
[154] During his presidential campaign, Trump broke with long-standing bipartisan U.S. policy on the construction of Israeli settlements in the West Bank as a precursor to negotiations with the Palestinians, saying that Israel "have to keep going" and "I don't think there should be a pause.
Of course, the recognition of Israel's right to exist as a Jewish state is also a major sticking point, with the current Palestinian leadership repeatedly refusing to meet that basic condition.
[191][192] At a Republican primary debate in February 2016, Trump claimed that he "never discussed" the Libyan intervention at the time it occurred; Politifact noted that this assertion was "patently inaccurate" and gave it its "Pants on Fire" rating.
[214] During the presidential debate on October 9, 2016, Trump suggested he differed on his vice-presidential nominee Mike Pence's support for airstrikes against the Syrian regime, stating "he and I haven't spoken and I disagree.
"[216] On February 16, 2017, President Trump's Secretary of Defense, James Mattis, declared that the United States was not currently prepared to collaborate with Russia on military matters – including future anti-ISIL US operations.
[219] On April 7, 2017, Trump ordered the United States Navy to launch cruise missiles at Shayrat Air Base in response to the Khan Shaykhun chemical attack.
The response had wide international support[220] and was highly praised by the majority of Republicans as well as Democratic senators,[221] and many countries, however it drew criticism from Russia, who the United States had warned in advance about the attack.
Ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul wrote that Trump's accusation that the United States created ISIL "echoes exactly a myth propagated by Russian state-controlled media and bloggers.
"[1] When asked if Erdoğan was exploiting the coup attempt to purge his political enemies, Trump did not call for the Turkish leader to observe the rule of law, or offer other cautions for restraint.
"[239] U.S. foreign-policy experts such as Strobe Talbott and Amie Kreppel noted that this was incorrect, pointing out that while the EU was established in part to rebuild the European economies after World War II, it was not created specifically to compete with the United States.
In fact the United States sanctioned the EU's creation to foster peace, prevent another catastrophic war, and create a "strong European market to consume American-made goods to help fuel American economic growth.
"[243] In July 2016, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier stated that he was concerned about what he sees as Trump's contradictory promises to "make America strong again" while simultaneously reducing involvement overseas.
[268] In the first presidential debate, Trump pondered that "it could be Russia, but it could also be China"; he had at that time also been briefed about and discussed extensively with US intelligence officials the Russian government's attempts to interfere in the 2016 election.
[276] Trump criticized former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev as not having "a firm enough hand" controlling Russia, mentioning China for effectively handling the situation during the Tiananmen Square massacre, saying: "they were horrible, but they put it down with strength.
They described it as "subservien[ce] to Putin" and a "fervent defense of Russia's military and cyber aggression around the world, and its violation of international law in Ukraine" which they saw as "harmful to US interests".
[303] Sergey Lavrov said the meeting was productive, and added that Moscow was ready to work with Washington on all issues as soon as Donald Trump's foreign policy team was fully formed.
[318] In his 2000 book, The America We Deserve, Trump argued that European countries used NATO as a pathway to place the burden of international responsibility on the United States while "their conflicts are not worth American lives.
"[329] Political scientists Gene Gerzhoy and Nick Miller write that the idea the nuclear proliferation is inevitable and good for the United States flies "in the face of a wide range of recent scholarship.
