The President made a big to do of the unveiling of his National Security Strategy on Monday. The National Security Strategy of the President of the United States is a big deal, and it warrants a good hard look.
Essentially, the National Security Strategy is an outline that shows what the President’s priorities are. President Trump, as he so often does, used the occasion to show off what he believes to be his greatest accomplishments thus far. He asserted that this strategy is not only the position of the administration but is also founded upon his personal goals.
The statement discusses homeland security, the promotion of American prosperity, the ability to secure peace through strength, and the extension of US influence internationally. All lofty ideals and arguably decent goals.
The problem, however, is the President. He is unable to realize that those stated goals will require agencies and regulations that he has actively dismantled.
For starters, the United States, powerful as we are, cannot accomplish any of those goals on the world stage alone. Working with allies is critical to national security on all fronts. This President has systematically removed the US from a position of world leadership and has alienated some of our closest allies.
The President has shared top-secret intelligence information gathered from Israel with Russians in a private Oval Office meeting. He has removed the United States from the Trans-Pacific Partnership and the Paris Climate Accord. He has even gone so far as to re-tweet anti-Muslim propaganda from a British bigot and come under criticism from the British Prime Minister.
Additionally, the President is a constant contradiction. While he might state these things as his personal and administration goals, he is sure to tweet something entirely contradictory in short order. What message does that send to the rest of the world; our few remaining allies and our ever-expanding list of adversaries. The President’s America First strategy is already at odds with many of the key points in the National Security Strategy, such as the promotion of democracy around the world.
How will it appear to the world when the President of the United States who claims to be interested in promoting democracy globally, attacks the democratic institutions in his own country. Every time the President tweets about the fake media and corrupt courts, the contradiction will be readily apparent.
This President cannot lead the world toward democracy while simultaneously attempting to take America further from it.
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