A dove is born—and his name is Donald Trump. In recent weeks, the president has brokered peace between longtime combatants and reduced tensions between the United States and its adversaries, from sub-Saharan Africa to the Hindu Kush. The list of diplomatic wins keeps growing: Congo, Yemen, Kashmir, and now Gaza.
Trump wants to rebrand the GOP as America’s peace party. It’s an audacious move for the man who once said of North Korea’s Kim Jong Un that “I too have a Nuclear Button, but it is a much bigger & more powerful one than his, and my Button works!”
The days of fire and fury are over—for the moment. Not that Trump has become a liberal idealist. Nor is he a peacenik. For Trump, a more peaceful world is essential for America to triumph in the new era of deglobalization. The potential upside includes fewer wars, economic development, and more room for the United States to focus on competition with China.
The potential downside: everything else.
