Certain MAGA supporters exhibit cluelessness regarding foreign policy, as illustrated by Marjorie Taylor Greene. She’s hardly alone. MTG speaks for those unable to grasp three elementary foreign policy concepts, a) allies, b) deterrence, and c) isolationism’s dangers. She seeks to gut the defense budget and foreign aid. From her appearance on Steve Bannon’s War Room:
I'm entering amendments to strike $500 million more dollars for nuclear-armed Israel. It's important to say nuclear-armed Israel because they do have nuclear weapons. This is not a helpless country. And we already give them $3.4 billion every single year. …They don't need another $500 million in our defense budget. That's for the American people's defense. That's for the defense of the United States of America and our borders. … Our government just bombed Iran on their behalf.
I'm entering an amendment to strike $500 million for Taiwan. We give them $300 million every year … and they just got $2 billion in 2024. …They don't need $500 million more.
I'm also entering an amendment to strike $500 million to Jordan. Jordan doesn't need it. They get $1.6 billion every single year.
This is analogous to defunding police on a global scale, abetting criminals.
We bombed Iran because it poses an existential threat to America.
Our ally Israel spent long months degrading Iran's Hamas, Hez b’Allah, and Houthi proxies, then erased most of Iran’s air defense system last Fall. They sacrificed troops, civilians, and treasure while doing most of the heavy lifting.
After they cleared the way, our pilots safely batted cleanup.
Why do some now demand terminating aid?
Because they’ve long opposed support, so they pretend we did Israel a favor. What helps Israel helps America. Do they doubt Iran, responsible for killing hundreds (thousands according to Trump) of American troops and swearing to annihilate us, is serious? Israel fights on the front lines against the same islamo-terror targeting America. The U.S. maintains military bases in Jordan and Israel. Much foreign aid constitutes de facto rent, bribery to obtain intelligence, or Pakistani collusion to exterminate bin Laden.
Let’s address these three principles, beginning with allies. Enemies and friends populate the world. Friends cooperate against common enemies. Sometimes allies aren't friends, but share common enemies. Stalin vs. Germany during WWII, for example. If it wasn’t for Stalin decimating German forces after they invaded Russia, American troops would have suffered far greater casualties after D-Day.
Does the federal government ally with local police departments, and only occasionally is the National Guard or military required to maintain order? Should federal and local law enforcement share intelligence and assets? Why is it different at international scale? Israel represents local police; America the National Guard.
This is the Trump doctrine of designating regional police. MTG rejects alliances: “...there are some parts of this [National Defense Authorization Act] that I cannot support, and that’s continued foreign aid and foreign funding.”
There's a far larger issue here: civilization. American civilization is “the last best hope of earth.” Lincoln’s 1862 annual message to Congress is relevant:
[W]e cannot escape history. We of this Congress and this administration, will be remembered in spite of ourselves …. We say we are for the Union. The world will not forget that we say this. We know how to save the Union. The world knows we do know how to save it. We — even we here — hold the power, and bear the responsibility. In giving freedom to the slave, we assure freedom to the free… We shall nobly save, or meanly lose, the last best hope of earth.
In giving security to our Israeli partners in civilization — along with Arabs and Europeans that Iran actively threatens — we assure America's security, the same formulation Lincoln outlined.
Immediately after dropping big, beautiful bombs on Iran, Trump flew to NATO. After decades of Iranian belligerence, Europeans could finally exhale. NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte stated simple facts in a text to Trump: “Mr President, dear Donald, congratulations and thank you for your decisive action in Iran, that was truly extraordinary, and something no one else dared to do. It makes us all safer.” Allies cooperate against mutual enemies.
Deterrence is the second misunderstood principle. Rutte amplified his remarks during the NATO press conference:
And I think this is exactly what you want the American President to do, provide that type of leadership. And so, I find him very predictable. …I just want to recognize your decisive action on Iran. You are a man of strength but you're also a man of peace. …The great thing is you took out the nuclear capability of Iran. This was crucial. You did it in a way which is extremely impressive but the signal sends to the rest of the world that this president, when it comes to it, yes, he is a man of peace but if necessary he is willing to use strength, the enormous strength of the American military. So I think that signal to the rest of the world, this is far beyond Iran, is extremely important. …Daddy has to sometimes use strong language.
Peace is impossible without “predictable” periodic displays of strength, signals sent “to the rest of the world.”
Which is Trump’s military doctrine in one sentence.
Consider Ukraine, which MTG wants to immediately abandon. Ukrainian conflict wasn’t Trump’s idea, but a mess he inherited. Trump is undoubtedly correct: Ukraine and October 7 wouldn’t have happened on his watch.
As Noam Chomsky, dean of American leftists, observes, the reason it’s certain Russia was provoked into attacking Ukraine is because the media incessantly described the attack as unprovoked.
Provocation began soon after the Soviet collapse, when warmongers required an enemy to feed their blood lust and profits. Provocation intensified under Biden. Trump won’t abandon Ukraine, replicating Biden’s Afghanistan exit. That would signal weakness, the opposite of deterrence. We’re stuck with Ukraine until a solution is negotiated.
MAGA isn’t a suicide pact. Making America great again can’t occur if chaos permeates the globe. NATO members finally agreed to pay up after, not before Trump bombed Iran. Doing otherwise would have shown ingratitude. Forceful leadership brings respect and cooperation. Individuals and nations crave leadership.
After too many years since 9/11, complacency has emerged, creating a neo-isolationist movement within MAGA’s universe. This abets islamo-communist efforts to undermine America from within, the objective of decades of extensive Soviet, CCP, Iranian, Qatari, etc. subversion. Billions of dollars and tens (hundreds?) of thousands of foreign operatives have yielded first the communist, now the Islamist, takeover of many of our institutions. New York City is next. The battle against those seeking to destroy our civilization remains fully active.
Isolationism fosters hesitancy to act and wishful thinking regarding developing threats. Complacency is again dangerously elevated. Al-Qaeda never went away, it’s regrouped for a more potent second act. Identical to 2001, warning signs are dismissed. The TSA’s rescinding of shoe x-rays may have been reckless.
Trump wrestles existential issues, economic and political. The economy faces a debt implosion, while our ongoing civil war comes to a head with the 2026 midterms. Victory must be assured for that pivotal battle. Trump focuses on the most critical problems and is making short work of the global ones. Distractions such as incessant whining about Epstein or our foreign allies are distractions, irrelevant to consequential future concerns. We can either look backward or proactively address essential matters. Second-guessing Trump isn’t helpful.
The MAGA movement can’t dissipate into a revenge tour. A little is appropriate, including investigations of James Comey and John Brennan as designated scapegoats. Allowing retribution to monopolize finite political energy constitutes a distraction and a grave error. Showing magnanimity toward defeated enemies (domestic and foreign) is ancient and prudent.
Douglas Schwartz blogs at The Great Class War, applying pattern recognition of historical cycles to place current events into context.
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