When Donald Trump was first elected president, foreign policy seemed like the zone of greatest danger, the place where a political novice promising to remake the world order was most likely to blunder.
Instead, Trump’s first-term foreign policy was broadly successful, with more stability, fewer dramatic stumbles and more breakthroughs than his domestic policy efforts. And it was much more successful than the rolling crises and debacles of the Joe Biden presidency, a contrast that was one of the underrated cases for Trump’s restoration.
Now, with the deal to end the war in the Gaza Strip, the pattern of Trump 1.0 is reasserting itself.
If peace in Ukraine remains elusive, Trump has induced Europe to bear more of the burden without yielding to the Russians, as many critics feared. The Iranian nuclear program and terror networks have been hammered without major blowback. And now there is the possibility of a real breakthrough in Israel and Palestine, an achievement that’s the result of the White House’s strong-arming diplomatic efforts.
All of which raises a question: What if Trump’s domestic policy were more like his foreign policy? Yes, presidents stymied at home often find it easier to maneuver overseas; that pattern is hardly unique to Trump. But a few keys to his success on the world stage, if applied at home, might make his domestic efforts more popular.