Dollar, China, Tariffs, Russia, Ukraine, Israel, Iran, and More.
As Donald Trump prepares to return for his second term as US president, all of his top cabinet candidates are China hawks. We analyze Trump’s likely foreign policy and economic strategy.
As he prepares to return to the White House, US President-elect Donald Trump has appointed neoconservative Iran hawk Brian Hook to lead his State Department transition team. This has excited pro-Israel groups.
At a September event at the Israeli-American Council, Trump proudly declared, “I was the best friend Israel ever had”.
All of the likely candidates for Trump’s secretary of state and national security advisor are China hawks. These include neocons Marco Rubio, Robert O’Brien, and Mike Waltz. Three other possible choices, Ric Grenell, Bill Hagerty, and Vivek Ramaswamy are so-called “MAGA” Republicans who have distanced themselves from neoconservatism, but still share the neocons’ vehement hatred of China and would escalate tensions with Beijing.
Trump’s former trade representative Robert Lighthizer is coming back in his second administration. Lighthizer is another hawk who oversaw the trade war on China during Trump’s first term. Lighthizer started his political career in the Ronald Reagan administration in the 1980s, when he helped wage a similar trade war on Japan.
During his campaign, Trump pledged to impose tariffs of “more than” 60% on Chinese goods. China is the United States’ third-largest trading partner, after Canada and Mexico.
The former chief strategist in Trump’s first administration, Steve Bannon, boasted in 2018, “We’re at war with China”. Bannon confidently predicted a US war in the South China Sea by 2027. The week of the November 2024 election, Bannon made similar remarks, stating that Trump will have to “defend” Taiwanese separatists. Bannon urged Trump to settle the proxy war against Russia in Ukraine in order to prepare for conflict with Beijing.
In the following video and podcast, Ben Norton analyzes what Trump’s foreign policy and economic strategy will likely be, based on his previous term and statements made by him and his allies during the 2024 campaign. Norton addresses China, Russia, Ukraine, Israel, Iran, tariffs, de-dollarization, and more.
Topics
0:00 Intro
0:33 Summary of Trump’s foreign policy
10:44 Neocons in Trump’s cabinet
14:41 China
18:48 Tariffs & trade with China
24:47 US dollar & re-industrialization
29:39 Protectionism
37:01 Russia & Ukraine
42:23 Israel-Palestine
44:31 Iran
46:36 Middle East (West Asia): Yemen, Iraq, Syria
49:41 Latin America: Mexico, Venezuela, Cuba, Nicaragua, Bolivia
53:17 Africa
54:32 Europe
56:11 Japan & South Korea
57:53 Outro