Description
Donald Trump formulated a foreign policy vision of America First that combined nationalist anti-globalism with populist anti-elitism. Trade protectionism, staunch anti-immigration measures, transactionalism and the sustained criticism of US allies and partners as source of national weakness and decline signaled a sharp departure from a grand strategy of liberal hegemony. Both foreign and domestic perceptions of America’s role in the world and its global influence shifted in the process. This paper will first examine how Trump exploited a longstanding disconnect between elite and public opinion on the appropriate degree of US engagement with a populist intervention against a ‘corrupt’ foreign policy establishment and the failed policies it promoted, from trade liberalization to military interventionism. It will then detail how America First formulated a polarizing vision primarily addressed to a core audience of White working-class and non-college educated voters, reinforcing popular sentiments of economic pessimism, nativism and anti-elitist resentment for domestic political gain. Finally, the paper will examine the lasting political effects of America First on US foreign policy beyond the Trump presidency, and to what extent the strategic assumptions of the Biden administration and perceptions of the United States continue to be shaped by the forces of nationalism and populism.
