In the last year, President Donald Trump has racked up impressive foreign policy achievements. He authorized the bombing run that decimated Iran’s nuclear program. His hardball diplomacy with Qatar and Turkey helped bring enough pressure on Hamas to return the remaining Israeli hostages the terrorists kidnapped on October 7, 2023. And he ordered one of the most stunning special operations missions in U.S. history this month with the raid that brought Venezuela’s tyrant, Nicolás Maduro, and his wife, to a New York courtroom.
These victories are a testament to the virtues of muscular unilateralism. While past presidents often bowed to the constraints of the United Nations, Trump has ignored the bureaucrats in Turtle Bay. Quaint respect for the sovereignty of Iran and Venezuela did not deter them from threatening their neighbors. Operations Midnight Hammer and Absolute Resolve did.
But Trump’s my-way-or-the-highway foreign policy has downsides as well. He risks turning his foreign policy successes into a strategic liability. Instead of striking fear into the hearts of America’s adversaries, he is now alienating America’s allies.
