For years, Donald J. Trump built his political identity on rejecting costly foreign interventions and endless wars. But in office, he has overseen a sweeping military campaign against Iran, one that risks reshaping the Middle East and the global economy. As the conflict deepens and contradictions sharpen, what explains this striking reversal in Trump’s foreign policy?
“Our current strategy of regime change is a proven, absolute failure. We have created the vacuums that allow terrorism to grow and thrive,” stated Donald J. Trump in August 2016, then the Republican nominee for the 45th President of the United States.
Earlier that year, Trump had shocked his own party when he blasted former President Bush and called the Iraq invasion a “big, fat mistake.” And across the campaign trail, Trump promised a radically altered American foreign policy, one that did not involve disastrous military entanglements and ‘forever wars’ fought in the name of other people. If elected, he would put “America First.”