What Happened to America First? 

The federal government has been shut down for over three weeks, and President Donald Trump, who has long embraced “America First” as his mantra, is flying to Asia today. 

The 47th president refused to negotiate with Democrats to keep the federal government open, greeted the shutdown with open arms, and used it as an excuse to fire more civil servants and continue to decimate the Education Department. He took a wrecking ball to the East Wing of the White House. He has been primarily preoccupied with foreign affairs and with winning a Nobel Peace Prize, except when ordering military strikes that have killed more than 30 people on foreign boats, he claims, without evidence, are smuggling drugs. When he isn’t skirting with war against Venezuela and Colombia, he’s bailing out Argentina for $20 billion, stoking ire from American farmers and ranchers. He hasn’t completely neglected what’s going on within America’s borders, as he’s been busy justifying sending the military into American cities. 

Meanwhile, health insurance premiums are projected to jump by an average of 18 percent, according to the health policy analysts at KFF. A president with an actual “America First” focus might want to do something about that. Democrats are offering Trump that opportunity with their demand that health insurance fixes be in any bill to reopen the government. Trump, hardly one to be precious about rules, could also lean on Republicans to suspend the filibuster and tackle the problem on a party-line vote. If he can dispatch troops to your city, he can insist supine Congressional Republicans help lower health care costs.  

Presidents often spend more time on foreign policy than voters would like because global affairs are essential regardless of how much the electorate cares about them. Implementing their foreign policy is easier for presidents than wrangling with a balky Congress over legislative minutiae. Still, presidential administrations can attend to foreign and domestic matters simultaneously. And knocking a president for trying to forge peace under difficult circumstances would be a cheap shot. 

But in Trump, we do not see a president sincerely trying to resolve complex disputes abroad, let alone craft thoughtful policies at home. We’re seeing a self-indulgent president looking for shortcuts to build literal and figurative monuments for himself.  

Trump has not hidden his lust for the Nobel Peace Prize but has no proven capacity to do diplomatic labor to hammer out durable agreements that resolve underlying issues. He seems far more interested in creating a narrative that the sheer force of his personality is enough. He has repeatedly made bizarre claims to have already ended seven wars, overhyping far more limited handshake agreements. The Israel-Hamas ceasefire agreement is not wholly superficial—Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners were exchanged—but no underlying issues were resolved, and both sides have already accused the other of violating the ceasefire. According to The New York Times, Trump administration officials are privately expressing “concern” that Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu “might vacate the deal.”  

The one person on the world stage who is completely uninterested in photo ops to fluff Trump’s ego is Russian President Vladimir Putin, which helps explain why Trump sporadically shelves his fawning and vents his frustrations at Kremlin recalcitrance. As of last week, Trump’s Asia trip included a meeting with Putin, but was called off on Tuesday, followed by the president slapping sanctions on the Russian oil industry. This may seem out of character for Trump, who usually is deferential to Putin. But it also shows an interest in maintaining engagement on the issue. “We hope that they won’t be on for long. We hope that the war will be settled,” Trump said. A true “America Firster” would just wash his hands of the whole conflict and stick to conducting business with both countries in America’s narrow economic interests. But Trump can’t seem to quit Russia and Ukraine, so badly does he crave that handshake moment and that shiny Nobel medal. 

What is so important in Asia that Trump must leave the country while the federal government is shuttered? The itinerary appears hastily arranged—a meeting with the Chinese President was just announced yesterday—but ostensibly, the agenda with Asian leaders includes tariffs and investment. Such a trip can be sold as an “America First” sojourn, as Trump is trying to get good “deals” for the domestic economy. But it’s also a reminder that no matter how 19th-century protectionist Trump would like to be, he can’t pretend he isn’t in a 21st-century global economy.  

More importantly, Trump has no guarantee that the trip will pay off, even though he will likely hype any deal as a great windfall. Nothing about the trip appears urgent. His participation in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit next week is not unusual for a president, though the 45th president usually skipped them. A broader ceasefire agreement ending skirmishing between Thailand and Cambodia is expected, and Trump will no doubt want to be on hand to take credit and demand his Nobel. But that has nothing to do with “America First.” 

Trump can’t bend every world leader to his will. But he can order wrecking balls to level the East Wing. He can also build a ballroom that is nearly double the size of the White House executive residence. . That won’t do much for America, but it will make Americans think of him whenever they gaze upon the White House.  

I do not pine for an “America First” nationalist or isolationist president. But Trump did not turn his back on his signature slogan to embrace a thoughtful, internationalist outlook like George H.W. Bush, who took grief for spending too much time on foreign policy. Trump eschews both nationalism and internationalism in favor of narcissism. He will seek monuments for himself, and globetrot if that’s what it takes. The interests of Americans will always come last.  

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