by Fred Fleitz
In my opinion, the most important of all of Donald Trump’s promises during the 2024 presidential campaign was to “make America safe again” by restoring American leadership and peace through strength.
This is because Joe Biden will leave Trump with grave national security challenges around the world. U.S. weakness under Biden, Biden’s frivolous foreign policy that designated climate change as the top U.S. national security threat, and major foreign policy failures have caused U.S. and global security to seriously deteriorate since 2021.
The war in Ukraine, caused by Biden’s weak foreign policy and his disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan, has become a stalemate and long-term war of attrition that could escalate, possibly with Russia using nuclear weapons, if Ukraine expands its attacks into Russian territory. President Biden and European leaders have no plan for a Ukrainian victory or ending the war and have instead promoted an endless war approach of arming Ukraine “for as long as it takes.”
U.S. relations with Russia and China plummeted during the Biden administration. Biden has not spoken to Russian President Putin since before Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022. There has been little meaningful U.S. diplomacy with China. Biden’s inept foreign policy has pushed Russia into the hands of China as part of a new anti-West axis that includes Iran and North Korea. Chinese military provocations against Taiwan and in the South China Sea soared during the Biden years with no serious response by the United States.
And then there is the Middle East, where Israel is facing a seven-front war in the aftermath of the horrendous October 7, 2023, Hamas terrorist attack. Increased instability in the Middle East since Biden became president was caused by his appeasement of Iran, which is $100 billion richer today due to Biden’s refusal to enforce oil sanctions against Iran. Weak U.S. leadership under Biden also caused tensions to explode in this region. This includes recent missile attacks by Iran and Israel against each other for the first time and huge advances in Iran’s nuclear weapons program. Without a return of American deterrence and a strong U.S. president, the Middle East is facing the prospect of a full-scale Israel-Iran war that could go nuclear.
Mr. Trump will have numerous advantages in dealing with the global crises caused by Biden and reinstituting U.S. deterrence and peace through strength. Trump’s decisive electoral college and popular vote wins and the likely GOP control of Congress will signal to the world that the American people are behind him. And unlike 2017, Democrats will not be questioning the legitimacy of Trump’s election with false claims of Russian interference.
Trump will also benefit from his extensive national security experience.
Donald Trump has experience from his first term successfully dealing with leaders worldwide—even leaders of U.S. adversaries—with a reputation for toughness and unpredictability. You can already see how world leaders are preparing for a stronger United States under a second Trump term from their statements after his election win. Diplomats from countries around the world have told me for months that they urgently wanted to see Trump return to the White House because they believe global stability requires a strong U.S. president. Russian President Putin and Ukrainian President Zelensky know Trump will be a far stronger president than Biden, who is determined to end the war in Ukraine. I believe it will be very hard for both leaders to resist Trump’s pressure on them to quickly agree to a cease-fire.
President Trump will not repeat the personnel errors of his first term by selecting national security cabinet members like Rex Tillerson, James Mattis, John Bolton, and H.R. McMaster, who did not support his national security agenda and constantly worked against it. He will also select officials who are prepared to do the difficult job of reforming and streamlining national security agencies.
Similarly, I expect determined efforts by a second Trump term to take politics out of the work of U.S. intelligence agencies to ensure that they produce the crucial, policy-relevant intelligence Mr. Trump will need to implement his national security policies. Although it will take time and effort by some very tough Trump officials to reform our intelligence agencies, this is a critical and long-overdue task to protect America’s security. Americans will no longer tolerate politicized intelligence agencies that meddle in U.S. politics.
Fulfilling President Trump’s promise to make America safe again will be a tall order given the scale of the global chaos that President Biden will leave him. However, I am confident that President Trump will quickly achieve this goal by reestablishing American leadership and deterrence, engaging in robust diplomacy, and assembling an exceptional national security team that will be solidly behind his national security agenda.
America’s enemies are not looking forward to January 20, 2025.
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Fred Fleitz previously served as National Security Council chief of staff, CIA analyst, and a House Intelligence Committee staff member.
Photo “Donald Trump” by Dan Scavino Jr.
