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Trump Makes Case for Foreign Policy 02/25 06:08
President Donald Trump's State of the Union address tilted heavily on
domestic issues, but he also made the case for his foreign policy efforts to
Americans who are increasingly uneasy about his priorities.
WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Donald Trump's State of the Union address
tilted heavily on domestic issues, but he also made the case for his foreign
policy efforts to Americans who are increasingly uneasy about his priorities.
The president cheered brokering a fragile ceasefire deal in Gaza and his
team's bringing home hostages taken by Hamas militants, capturing autocratic
leader Nicols Maduro in Venezuela and pressing fellow NATO members to increase
defense spending among his biggest wins. He also warned Iran anew as he builds
up U.S. forces in the region and weighs whether to carry out new military
action against Tehran.
At a moment when polls show the American public increasingly concerned about
the economy, Trump's assignment Tuesday evening also was to cut through
thickening skepticism that he's staying true to his "America First" philosophy
after a year in which his focus was often far from home. It's a wariness shared
by some who once counted themselves among Trump's closest allies.
But Trump attempted to make the case that he's taking the right approach
balancing domestic policy concerns while using America's military might when
needed.
"As president, I will make peace wherever I can, but I will never hesitate
to confront threats to America wherever we must," Trump said.
Sixty-one percent of U.S. adults said they disapprove of how Trump is
handling foreign policy, while 56% say Trump has "gone too far" in using the
U.S. military to intervene in other countries, according to surveys from The
Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research conducted earlier this
month and in January.
Here are a few moments where Trump sought to explain his foreign policy
approach 13 months into his second term:
Why he is talking about attacking Iran again
Trump explained to Americans why he's pondering military action, just eight
months after he claimed that U.S. strikes had "obliterated" three critical
Iranian nuclear facilities and left "the bully of the Middle East" with no
choice but to make peace.
"We wiped it out and they want to start all over again. And they're at this
moment again pursuing their sinister ambitions," Trump said. "We are in
negotiations with them. They want to make a deal, but we haven't heard those
secret words: We will never have a nuclear weapon."
Earlier Tuesday, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi wrote on X: "Our
fundamental convictions are crystal clear: Iran will under no circumstances
ever develop a nuclear weapon."
Trump envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner are scheduled to meet again
Thursday in Geneva with Iranian officials.
But the pathway to a deal seems murky as the authoritarian clerics who rule
Iran say they will only discuss the nuclear issue. The U.S. and Israel also
want to address Iran's ballistic missile program and its support for regional
armed proxies, including Hezbollah, Hamas and the Houthis.
Trump struggles to end the war in Ukraine
Tuesday also marked the four-year anniversary of Russia's invasion of
Ukraine.
On the campaign trail, Trump boasted that he would be able to end the war in
one day, but he has struggled to fulfill his pledge.
He made scant mention of the war in his record-setting 108-minute speech.
"The killing and slaughter between Russia and Ukraine, where 25,000 soldiers
are dying each and every month," Trump said, reiterating that he's working to
end the war.
Russian and Ukrainian officials are negotiating in U.S.-mediated talks but
are at loggerheads over key issues, including Russian demands that Kyiv concede
Ukrainian territory still in its control and who will get the Zaporizhzhia
nuclear power plant, the biggest in Europe.
Trump appears eager for a peace deal before the U.S. midterm elections
despite the challenges. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says the White
House has set a June deadline for the war's end and will likely pressure both
sides to meet it.
Another victory lap on Maduro and focus on Western Hemisphere
Trump again celebrated last month's capture of the Venezuelan leader in an
audacious military operation, saying the U.S. "just received from our new
friend and partner, Venezuela, more than 80 million barrels of oil." The Trump
administration had previously said it was orchestrating the effort to sell a
total of about 30 to 50 million barrels of Venezuelan oil that had been
stranded by a partial blockade imposed by the administration.
Trump paid tribute to a helicopter pilot who was wounded in the operation
but still managed to carry out the mission and paused to award him the
Congressional Medal of Honor.
He also introduced a former political prisoner, Enrique Mrquez, who was
freed by the Venezuelan government last month following the U.S. operation. He
was a presidential candidate in the 2024 election and a former member of the
National Electoral Council.
"This was an absolutely colossal victory for the security of the United
States," Trump boasted.
Trump's action against Maduro, coupled with an increasingly aggressive
posture in the Western Hemisphere aimed at eliminating drug trafficking and
illegal migration, are a concern for many in the region -- although they also
have won support from some smaller countries.
Trump has likened the strategy to the Monroe Doctrine, with its rejection of
outside influences and assertion of U.S. primacy throughout what the
administration considers to be "America's backyard."
U.S. forces, under Trump's orders, have carried out dozens of military
strikes on alleged drug-running vessels in the Caribbean, seized sanctioned oil
tankers and tightened the embargo of Cuba as part of what the president is
referring to as the "Donroe Doctrine."
"We're also restoring American security and dominance in the Western
Hemisphere, acting to secure our national interests and defend our country from
violence, drugs, terrorism and foreign interference," Trump said.
Tariff strategy following Supreme Court ruling
The president ahead of the address ridiculed the six justices, including two
conservatives he appointed in his first term, who last week struck down his use
of a 1977 legal authority he had cited for most of the tariff hikes he imposed
over the past year on friends and foes alike.
In his speech, he took a more measured tone, calling the decision "an
unfortunate ruling from the United States Supreme Court."
Trump on Monday threatened countries around the world to abide by any tariff
deals they have already agreed to.
Any country that wants to "play games" with the Supreme Court decision,
Trump posted on social media, will be met with "a much higher Tariff, and
worse, than that which they just recently agreed to."
"The good news is almost all countries and corporations want to keep the
deal that they already made," Trump said Tuesday. He added, "The legal power
that I as president have to make a new deal could be far worse for them and
therefore they will continue to work along the same successful path we had
negotiated before the Supreme Court's unfortunate involvement."
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