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| American President, Donald Trump during his election rally |
Trump’s foreign policy narrative before his ascendance to the presidency fell flat when he ordered to launch a surprise attack on the Russian-backed Assad regime. Another significant shift was Donald Trump’s exchange of pleasantries with the Chinese President, Xi Jinping, on the very same day. This reversal of Trump's foreign policy is surprising in a sense that Trump used to praise the Russian strongman, Vladimir Putin, and the Syrian dictator, Bashar Al Assad, during his election campaign terming them as the bulwark against rising extremism and terrorism. On the other hand, in his pre-election speeches, he declared China a currency manipulator, a source of American economic turmoil and a job stealer.
What prompted Trump’s foreign policy reversal?
First of all, we have to take a good look at what brought Donald Trump so close to the Russian foreign policy line and what became the reason of his 180-degree policy shift soon after the alleged chemical attack by the Syrian regime. Usually, candidates unleash a wave of rhetoric to attract as many voters as possible but soon after taking charge they had to face grim realities of administrative hindrances and rival power centers in the government. Same is the case with Donald trump. Trump used strong language for both his internal and external opponents but had to adjust once he was elected as the president of United States. The American military establishment considers Russia as their arch rivals in the primary disputes around the world, and thus were hell-bent on changing the course of Trump’s foreign policy, and ultimately their point of view prevailed.
The other main reason was the removal of extremists and pro-Russian politicians like Michael Flynn and Steve Bannon from the decision making bodies. Michael Flynn resigned from his post of national security advisor after confessing that he misled the president and the vice president about his contacts with the Russian Ambassador. In contrast, Steve Bannon was removed from the national Security Council after creating differences with the President Trump's son-in-law. This resulted in the weakening of the pro-Russian lobby in the Washington, ultimately leading towards tensions between the two countries.
The alleged devastating chemical attack by the Syrian regime in the rebel controlled area also proved to the wind of change. The repercussions of this attack on the relations between the two global powers are yet to be seen fully, but we can perceive it to be the tip of iceberg towards the complete transformation of Trump’s foreign policy.
In contrast to this, the dialogue between the Chinese President and the American president was held in a friendly environment. The grandchildren of Donald Trump welcomed the Chinese President with Chinese Mandarin songs, which was highly appreciated by the Chinese president and his wife. The primary reason behind this shift in Trump’s foreign policy is the amount of investment, Chinese companies have in the United States of America. If the United States under Trump imposes heavy tariffs on the Chinese imports, then the Chinese companies as a last resort can take out their money from different sectors of the economy, but even without recourse to this harsh measure, higher tariffs will have a destructive effect on the prices of various products.
Incentives for America in keeping good relations with China
About Muhammad Asim
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