As the United States enters another period of profound global uncertainty, the return of Donald J. Trump to the White House represents more than a political comeback, it signals a reconfiguration of America’s role in the international order. Trump’s Climate & Global Governance first term actively dismantled many traditional structures of U.S. engagement abroad. Driven by the slogan “America First,” his approach functioned less as a coherent doctrine and more as a disruptive force that recalibrated strategic priorities through nationalism, unilateralism, and protectionism. As multipolarity deepens and institutions weaken, Trump’s re-emergence is already reshaping how the U.S. engages with allies, adversaries, and international systems. This editorial evaluates how his actions and rhetoric are reorienting American foreign policy, focusing on alliances, global trade, climate governance, defence posture, and diplomacy. It questions whether this shift reflects pragmatic realism or entrenched retrenchment.
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Trump has recast American commitments to alliances as contingent rather than enduring. Throughout his first term, he derided NATO members for underfunding defence and even threatened to withdraw from the alliance. These criticisms persist. In recent campaign speeches, Trump reiterates that U.S. protection will depend on whether allies “pay their fair share.” This framing has prompted European states to increase defence budgets and re-evaluate their reliance on U.S. leadership. Likewise, in the Indo-Pacific, Trump abandoned multilateralism in favour of bilateral deals, focusing on cost-sharing with Japan and South Korea. He showed disdain for broader cooperative efforts, like ASEAN and the Quad, preferring direct negotiations that leverage economic pressure. His second term does not promise a return to alliance-building. Instead, allies face a strategic environment where American support hinges on financial contribution, not shared democratic values or collective security obligations.
China: From Strategic Competition to Economic Containment
Trump’s China policy, already confrontational during his presidency, has hardened further. He launched a full-scale trade war, imposed sweeping tariffs, and implemented restrictions on Chinese tech firms. These measures were not reactive but formed part of an ideological shift toward decoupling. Since leaving office, Trump has pledged even harsher trade measures and promised to “end dependence on China.”
His rhetoric frames China as both an economic predator and a national security threat. He has proposed revoking China’s most-favoured-nation trade status and banning Chinese ownership of U.S. agricultural land. These are not campaign exaggerations but extensions of policies already initiated in his first term. Trump’s vision is rooted in containment: reducing economic entanglement, excluding China from critical supply chains, and confronting its geopolitical rise with tariffs and sanctions rather than diplomatic engagement.
The Middle East: Stability through Pressure
Trump’s Middle East strategy is centred on deterrence and selective normalisation. He brokered the Abraham Accords, aligning Israel with Gulf Arab states, while marginalising the Palestinian issue. His administration withdrew from the Iran nuclear deal and authorised the assassination of General Qassem Soleimani, marking a shift toward coercive containment of Iran.
This approach has not changed. Trump continues to oppose any negotiations with Tehran, framing diplomacy as weakness. He supports maximum pressure through sanctions, arms sales, and strategic alliances with authoritarian regimes, like Saudi Arabia and the UAE. His support for Israel’s military actions remains unconditional, further side-lining multilateral peace-making. Trump’s regional doctrine prizes transactional security arrangements and regime alignment over normative diplomacy or human rights frameworks.
Economic Nationalism: Reshaping the Global Trade Order
Trump’s economic nationalism is not rhetorical flourish, it is policy. His presidency saw withdrawal from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), the renegotiation of NAFTA into USMCA, and the imposition of tariffs on steel, aluminium, and a broad array of Chinese imports. These actions redefined America’s global economic posture.
Now, Trump calls for a “universal baseline tariff” on all imports and vows to expand industrial subsidies for key sectors. Globalisation, in his narrative, is framed as a threat to sovereignty and jobs. The World Trade Organization (WTO) is portrayed as a constraint rather than an arbitrator. Trump’s vision is to restore domestic manufacturing, reduce trade deficits through confrontation, and treat economic exchange as a zero-sum competition. This strategy has tangible impacts. It strains relations with allies, disrupts supply chains, and shifts the U.S. away from rules-based economic engagement. Yet it also resonates with domestic constituencies frustrated by deindustrialisation. Trump’s approach positions trade policy as a tool of both economic strategy and political identity.
Climate Policy and the Rejection of Global Governance
Trump’s climate scepticism and rejection of global governance remain hallmarks of his foreign policy. His withdrawal from the Paris Agreement, rollback of environmental protections, and dismissal of climate science as “political theatre” defined his first term. This stance has not softened.
He has vowed to revoke Biden-era climate legislation, including green energy subsidies and electric vehicle incentives. He frames climate cooperation as a globalist trap that undermines U.S. industry. Beyond climate, Trump has repeatedly denigrated international organisations, like the UN, WHO, and WTO, viewing them as forums where American power is diluted. His opposition is structural. Multilateral governance is incompatible with his nationalist paradigm. Global agreements, in his view, impose obligations without delivering strategic advantage. The result is a diminished U.S. role in coordinating responses to global challenges, be they environmental, health-related, or security-oriented.
Diplomacy by Personality: Centralised, Spectacular, and Unpredictable
Trump’s diplomatic style prioritises personality and media spectacle over institutional stability. His high-profile meetings with North Korea’s Kim Jong-un, admiration for Vladimir Putin, and contempt for professional diplomats signalled a major departure from tradition. Many top State Department roles remained unfilled during his presidency, and seasoned diplomats were side-lined.
This pattern continues. Trump promotes a leader-to-leader style of foreign relations, dismissing bureaucratic process as inefficient. His diplomacy is impulsive, centralised, and reactive, often delivered via social media rather than formal communiqués. This undermines predictability and trust, especially among allies who rely on continuity. More than a stylistic difference, this approach weakens the strategic apparatus of American diplomacy. Policy becomes inseparable from personality. Outcomes hinge on favour or disapproval. It contributes to institutional erosion and a decline in America’s credibility as a stable, rules-based partner.
Defence Posture: Bigger Budgets, Less Entanglement
Trump expanded the U.S. defence budget significantly during his first term while advocating for troop withdrawals from conflict zones. He established the U.S. Space Force, modernised the nuclear arsenal, and prioritised cyber and missile defence. Yet he criticised NATO, questioned mutual defence obligations, and pushed for an “America First” defence strategy.
This duality persists. Trump supports high military investment but opposes costly engagements. He pledges to end “forever wars” and reduce U.S. troop presence abroad, favouring a model of deterrence by capability rather than by deployment. This recalibration implies more drones, missiles, and special operations, and fewer bases and large-scale operations. His approach signals readiness without entanglement, military dominance that does not equate to permanent commitments. This alters alliance dynamics, as partners question both U.S. reliability and predictability in crisis response.
The Global South: Peripheral, Politicised, and Neglected
Trump’s foreign policy largely ignores the Global South, reducing engagement to migration control and transactional aid. During his first term, he cut funding for development programs, withdrew from key multilateral forums, and employed inflammatory rhetoric that alienated leaders in Africa and Latin America.
This neglect continues. Latin America is viewed mainly through the lens of border security and narcotrafficking. Africa is rarely mentioned in Trump’s public addresses. Development aid is framed as charity for compliant partners, not a strategic investment. Multilateral cooperation on health, education, or governance is absent from Trump’s foreign policy narrative. This vacuum provides opportunities for China and Russia, who are expanding their influence through infrastructure, arms sales, and digital diplomacy. Trump’s disengagement not only forfeits soft power, it cedes ground to competitors in critical emerging regions.
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Donald Trump’s foreign policy is no longer experimental, it is established. His first term reshaped American international engagement, and his continued dominance in Republican politics ensures that this model is neither temporary nor marginal. Trump’s actions, dismantling alliances, weaponising trade, rejecting global norms, reflect a coherent worldview: sovereignty above cooperation, strength over consensus, and nationalism over globalism. Whether this represents necessary recalibration or reckless unilateralism depends on perspective. Supporters argue it restores strategic clarity and national interest. Critics warn of isolation, unpredictability, and weakened global leadership. Regardless, the effects are evident: a fragmented international order, empowered adversaries, and uncertain alliances. Trump has already altered the trajectory of U.S. foreign policy. The world is not waiting to see what he will do. It is responding to what he has done.
“America First” is no longer a campaign slogan, it is the organising principle of American foreign policy under Donald Trump. His second act in the White House reinforces trends already in motion: alliance scepticism, economic nationalism, climate denial, and transactional diplomacy. These are not projections, they are policy pillars. The international community must now confront a durable shift. For allies, this means strategic hedging. For rivals, it opens new manoeuvring space. For institutions, it signals a prolonged absence of U.S. leadership. Trump’s foreign policy does not seek to manage the liberal international order, it seeks to replace it with a narrower, nationalist framework. Whether this new paradigm will ensure long-term U.S. security and prosperity remains contested. But what is clear is that the era of predictable American globalism is over. The world must now navigate a power whose compass has fundamentally changed direction.
