USA Today: on Foreign Policy

John Kerry: Trump turned world of respect into world of chaos

Trump withdrew from the Iran deal and the Paris Agreement, which he slammed as diplomatic mistakes that gained nothing for the U.S. He withdrew troops from Syria as the threat from the Islamic State subsided. "In fact, what Donald Trump inherited, which was this growing economy and a world of respect, he has turned into a world of chaos literally," Kerry told reporters. "Our nation and the world, with respect to all of these critical priorities, is at much greater risk as a result of this." Source: B.Jansen in USA Today: 2020 Democratic National Convention Aug 21, 2020

Donald Trump: No involvement in Hong Kong protest or Tiananmen anniversary

[In "The Room Where It Happened", former NSA head John] Bolton writes in the excerpts that the president seemed unmoved by the massive protests last year in Hong Kong against China's communist government over human rights crackdowns. 'I first heard Trump react on June 12, upon hearing that some 1.5 million people had been at Sunday's demonstrations. 'That's a big deal,' he said. But he immediately added, 'I don't want to get involved,' and, 'We have human-rights problems too,' Bolton writes, according to the excerpts.

'I hoped Trump would see these Hong Kong developments as giving him leverage over China. I should have known better,' Bolton continues. 'That same month, on the 30th anniversary of China's massacre of pro-democracy demonstrators in Tiananmen Square, Trump refused to issue a White House statement. 'That was 15 years ago,' he said, inaccurately. 'Who cares about it? I'm trying to make a deal. I don't want anything.' And that was that.'

Source: USA Today excerpts from "The Room Where It Happened" Jun 17, 2020

Joe Sestak: Building liberal world order is what makes America First

Sestak, who graduated from the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, in 1974 and earned a Ph.D. from Harvard, said in a campaign video released Sunday that "America's retreat from the world today" is "dangerous and damaging to our American Dream." He said that "building the liberal world order based upon the rules of individual and human rights, open and fair markets, fair and just governments" is "what really makes 'America First.' " Source: USA Today on 2020 Democratic primary Jun 23, 2019

Donald Trump: Reject ideology of globalism; embrace doctrine of patriotism

President Donald Trump blamed Iranian leaders for sowing "chaos, death and destruction" in a steely speech to the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday that heavily emphasized the president's support of national sovereignty over globalism.

Touting his meeting this year with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and blasting Iran for spreading mayhem in the Middle East, Trump offered an impassioned defense of a foreign policy doctrine he said would allow countries to reject "global governance."

"We reject the ideology of globalism, and we embrace the doctrine of patriotism," Trump said. "We will never surrender America's sovereignty to an unelected, unaccountable, global bureaucracy."

Trump's remarks were buffeted by warnings from other world leaders that America's pullback from the international institutions was ill-conceived and even dangerous. "Do not accept the erosion of multilateralism. Don't accept our history unraveling," the President of France said.

Source: USA Today on Trump Administration UN Speech Sep 25, 2018

Donald Trump: Foreign aid only for allies with shared values

Lobbing criticism at a bevy of international institutions, Trump called the U.N. human rights council "a grave embarrassment to this institution" and said the International Criminal Court "has no jurisdiction, no legitimacy and no authority." He touted some of his most divisive foreign policy decisions, including his crackdown on immigration and his recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.

The "America first" remarks drew on a similar speech he delivered at the United Nations last year but included more detailed examples of how that vision informs his policies on trade, immigration and the world's hot spots.

Trump suggested he would sharply curtail U.S. foreign aid, saying he ordered a review of whether countries that receive American assistance are allies with shared values. "We are only going to give foreign aid to those who respect us and, frankly, are our friends," Trump said. "And we expect other countries to pay their fair share for the cost of their defense."

Source: USA Today on Trump Administration UN Speech Sep 25, 2018

David Perdue: National debt impacts our foreign policy

America's foreign policy has depended on three precepts: development, diplomacy and defense. The debt jeopardize our ability to fund them. I've traveled around the world to meet with our troops, foreign leaders and diplomats, so I've seen the impact the debt is having on America's ability to lead globally. When Defense Secretary James Mattis said, "if you don't fund the State Department fully, then I need to buy more ammunition," he summed up how the debt is impacting our entire foreign policy. Source: OpEd in USA Today for 2020 Georgia Senate race Oct 5, 2017

Alan Keyes: Rwanda: Humanitarian grounds 150x more than in Bosnia

Q: Do you support President Clinton’s Bosnia policy?
A: No. Every single argument that was raised with respect to Bosnia on humanitarian grounds applied over 150 times to Rwanda, and we sat on our hands and did nothing. Why do we need to send 20,000 troops to Bosnia when all those European countries can do the same job we can? Our neighboorhood is our neighborhood. Source: Interview with USA Today Jan 23, 1996

The above quotations are from Columns and news articles in USA Today. Click here for definitions & background information on Foreign Policy. Click here for other issues (main summary page).
*2020 Presidential contenders on Foreign Policy:*
	*Democrats running for President:* Sen.Michael Bennet (D-CO) V.P.Joe Biden (D-DE) Mayor Mike Bloomberg (I-NYC) Gov.Steve Bullock (D-MT) Mayor Pete Buttigieg (D-IN) Sen.Cory Booker (D-NJ) Secy.Julian Castro (D-TX) Gov.Lincoln Chafee (L-RI) Rep.John Delaney (D-MD) Rep.Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI) Sen.Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) Gov.Deval Patrick (D-MA) Sen.Bernie Sanders (I-VT) CEO Tom Steyer (D-CA) Sen.Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) Marianne Williamson (D-CA) CEO Andrew Yang (D-NY) *2020 Third Party Candidates:* Rep.Justin Amash (L-MI) CEO Don Blankenship (C-WV) Gov.Lincoln Chafee (L-RI) Howie Hawkins (G-NY) ~~Gov.Gary Johnson~~(L-NM) ~~Howard Schultz~~(I-WA) Gov.Jesse Ventura (I-MN)	*Republicans running for President:* ~~Sen.Ted Cruz~~(R-TX) ~~Gov.Larry Hogan~~ (R-MD) ~~Gov.John Kasich~~(R-OH) V.P.Mike Pence(R-IN) ~~Gov.Mark Sanford~~ (R-SC) Pres.Donald Trump(R-NY) Rep.Joe Walsh (R-IL) Gov.Bill Weld(R-MA & L-NY) *2020 Withdrawn Democratic Candidates:* Sen.Stacey Abrams (D-GA) Mayor Bill de Blasio (D-NYC) Sen.Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) Sen.Mike Gravel (D-AK) Sen.Kamala Harris (D-CA) Gov.John Hickenlooper (D-CO) Gov.Jay Inslee (D-WA) Mayor Wayne Messam (D-FL) Rep.Seth Moulton (D-MA) Rep.Beto O`Rourke (D-TX) Rep.Tim Ryan (D-CA) Adm.Joe Sestak (D-PA) Rep.Eric Swalwell (D-CA)
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