WASHINGTON – Reality TV is about winning. It doesn’t matter how you manage to be a “survivor,” so long as you stay on the island. That’s the sensibility that Donald Trump, the ultimate reality-television star, brings to foreign policy.
In Trump’s world, winners don’t have to worry about alliances, nuclear proliferation or human rights – if they come out on top.
Trump’s comments during Wednesday night’s debate in Las Vegas conveyed a values-free approach to foreign policy that would make Machiavelli blush. A generous characterization would be that he voiced an extreme “realism” that focused entirely on U.S. interests. A harsher assessment is that Trump’s amoral approach would alienate long-standing allies and potentially endanger U.S. security.
Trump’s disdain for traditional foreign policy positions was clear in his positive comments about Russian President Vladimir Putin. Even after U.S. intelligence agencies accused Russia of hacking American political parties to destabilize the election, Trump still had good things to say about the Kremlin leader.
Trump seems convinced that he and Putin could achieve a kind of personal detente. “He said nice things about me,” Trump enthused Wednesday night. “If we got along well, that would be good. If the United States and Russia got along well and went after ISIS, that would be good.” It’s hard to argue against greater Russian-American cooperation, but Trump seems oblivious to the possibility that he might be used by a belligerent, autocratic Kremlin leader.