To paraphrase the old Western, “There’s a new sheriff in town and his name is Donald Trump.”
The leaders of France and Great Britain propitiated the new sheriff when visiting the White House. The Munich Security Conference was reprimanded and insulted by Vice President Vance. The new German chancellor declared that independence from the new sheriff would be his first priority. Ukrainian President Zelenskyy experienced the new order when branded an ungrateful war monger by Trump and Vance in the Oval Office. Russian leaders could not contain their glee and actually described themselves as “gobsmacked.”
What did Sheriff Trump propose? Tariffs and more tariffs. Cuts, if not elimination, in humanitarian foreign aid. A pull back, if not a pull out, of NATO. “America First” is the mantra. America alone is its meaning. Americans have harkened to the siren song of isolationism before.
One commentator ascribed Trump’s foreign policy vision to radical self-interest, not even enlightened self-interest. Such a view inexorably generates acceptance of spheres of influence as the natural order. Russia and China have theirs. We have ours.
We must correct our initial observation. There is no new sheriff in town. In fact, we now have no sheriff. But there are still plenty of bad guys.
I’m Bob Evans and that is my perspective.
