The former US president assured that he would place allies in key positions in the Pentagon and other sectors to radically change the direction of US foreign policy.
According to former advisors and diplomats close to the former US president, in Donald Trump’s second term, people he trusts would be placed in key positions in the Pentagon, the State Department and the CIA, whose main loyalty would be to him, giving Trump greater freedom to enact policies that would radically change the US position in the face of the country’s current challenges, Archyde.com said.
Issues ranging from the conflict in Ukraine to trade with China, as well as the federal institutions that implement — and sometimes restrict — foreign policy will be changed by the Republican, aides and diplomats said.
During his 2017-2021 term, Trump struggled to impose his sometimes impulsive and erratic vision on the US national security system, and the former president often expressed frustration with senior officials who prevented, shelved or dissuaded him from some of your proposals for change.
According to the media, having more loyalists in power would allow Trump to advance his foreign policy priorities more quickly and efficiently. Among this year’s campaign proposals, Trump said he would deploy U.S. Special Forces against Mexican cartels — something that likely won’t win approval from Mexico’s government.
If he returns to power, Trump would not waste much time and would cut defense aid to Europe and further reduce economic ties with China, in addition to imposing new trade tariffs on member countries of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) if they do not meet their commitment to commit 2% of their gross domestic product (GDP) to defense, the advisors said.
Unlike what happened in the run-up to his 2016 election, Trump has cultivated a group of people he speaks to regularly and who have significant foreign policy experience and personal trust, according to media reports.
His advisers include John Ratcliffe, Trump’s last director of National Intelligence, former US Ambassador to Germany Richard Grenell, and Kash Patel, a former Trump official who held various positions in the intelligence and defense communities.