Analysts: ‘ America First’ leaves America alone
President’s actions cost country respect, they say
President Trump vowed hewould put “America First” in world affairs, but much of what he did left the United States “less admired, less respected and less feared than it needs to be,” said Aaron David Miller, an adviser to Republican and Democratic presidents.
Miller credited Trump with speeding the dismantling of the Islamic State’s caliphate in Iraq and Syria, as well as preventing new wars. “There are fewer Americans dying in these conflicts,” said Miller at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.
But Miller and other analysts assessed Trump’s global achievements as muddled or harmful.
Trade agreements
On Jan. 23, his first official workday in office, Trump pulled the U. S. out of a major trade pact negotiated by President Obama with 11 Pacific countries. Trump called his move “a great thing for the American worker.” The others vowed to push ahead.
The same day, the White House said Trump would renegotiate the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement with Mexico and Canada to stop U. S. companies from moving plants and eliminating American jobs. Trump said hewould withdraw from the deal if a new accord could not be reached that was fairer to American workers and reduced the U. S. trade deficit. U. S. neighbors have resisted big changes, and talks go on.
Both gestures were disastrous for U. S. trade and influence, said Anders Aslund, an economist at the Atlantic Council think tank. He said the U. S. marginalized itself fromMexico, a key partner in both trade deals.
The agreement with Pacific countries was supposed to set standards for trade, labor and the environment for East Asia underU. S. leadership. By pulling out, Trump in effect allows China to set standards, Aslund said.
Travel ban
The Supreme Court approved travel restrictions that affect Chad, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Syria and Yemen, though legal challenges continue.
Trump also promised to build a wall along the southern U. S. border to keep out undocumented immigrants.
His actions could make it difficult for some countries to cooperate with theUnited States on such priorities as counterterrorism, said Daniel Fried, a former assistant secretary of State.
“It may not have an effect immediately or today or tomorrow, but it’s going to accumulate,” he said.
NATO battles
In his first meeting with NATO allies in May, Trump scolded their “chronic underfunding” of the military alliance.
Trump “does not look like a reliable ally,” Aslund said, but he has done more than the Obama administration to counter Russia’s threat to NATO’s eastern flank.