In a report titled, The Foreign Policy-First President? by the EU Institute for Security Studies (EUISS) by Dr. Giuseppe Spatafora, who focuses on transatlantic and EU-NATO relations, argues that Trump 2.0 is neither isolationist nor disengaged, but is using foreign policy as a tool to secure domestic economic and strategic advantage. The report’s most striking contribution lies in its data-driven indicators visualised across multiple charts.
These include: (1) a longitudinal chart of US military strikes in 2025 compared with the previous administration; (2) a tariff exposure map detailing countries facing these trade measures; (3) a network diagram of new bilateral economic agreements under Trump 2.0; (4) personnel distribution charts tracking US troop deployments in Europe; and (5) regional breakdown charts of foreign military sales (FMS).
The strike data chart is particularly revealing. Despite rhetorical commitments to non-intervention in the National Security Strategy and National Defense Strategy, the chart tracking US strikes in 2025 shows activity surpassing that of the previous administration. Operations have concentrated in Yemen and Somalia, while high-profile raids in Iran, Nigeria and Venezuela illustrate a preference for short, high-intensity actions, designed to maximise impact without long-term deployments.
Trade figures tell a parallel story. A colour-coded tariff map highlights the unprecedented scope of measures imposed—not only against China, Canada and Mexico, but also against partners such as India. Tariffs targeting India in response to its continued purchases of Russian oil demonstrate that economic coercion under Trump 2.0 is functional rather than ideological. The network diagram of new bilateral agreements further illustrates the administration’s effort to replace multilateral frameworks with a system anchored in US market access, supply-chain security and “Buy American” commitments.
Defence related charts add another layer of nuance. Personnel distribution graphs indicate that US troop levels in Europe have remained broadly stable, contradicting narratives of abrupt disengagement. Meanwhile, foreign military sales charts show Europe as the largest regional purchaser in 2025, though with a declining proportional share compared to 2024—an early indicator of diversification.
What makes this analysis particularly important is its reliance on empirical evidence through charts which function not as supplementary illustrations, but as the analytical backbone of the report. Taken together, the empirical evidence complicates the notion of isolationism. Trump 2.0 is not disengaging; it is reorganising power. Military activism, transactional peace diplomacy and tariff-driven bargaining form a coherent strategy: leverage abroad to secure advantage at home. For countries like India, the challenge is not US absence, but adapting to a partner whose leadership is increasingly conditional, economic and coercive.