WASHINGTON President Donald Trump took an early victory lap for his America First diplomacy Tuesday, claiming a series of big wins on his foreign policy priorities.
Some of his claims were true in a few cases, even careful and precise. Others were premature. Some were exaggerated; others incomplete.
But taken together, the foreign policy sections of Trumps State of the Union address sounded more like a campaign speech than a detailed explanation of American diplomacy.
Some presidents have used the State of the Union to build a public case for going to war George W. Bush before the 2003 invasion of Iraq, for example. Others tried to convey nuanced messages for their diplomatic priorities; Barack Obamas professorial speeches come to mind.
Not Trump. His themes are familiar to anyone who followed the 2016 campaign: a strong America with a strong military, unafraid to throw its weight around but also determined to bring U.S. troops back from endless wars.
The president even noted that he had campaigned on the same core promises, including a foreign policy that puts Americas interests first. Every one of his predecessors would say he too put Americas interests first, but this president suggests and perhaps believes that the principle is his alone.
Even some critics of Trumps foreign policy acknowledge hes scored some accomplishments and launched potentially promising negotiations without stumbling into a major crisis.
But he hasnt persuaded most voters that his impulsive, bull-in-a-china shop style deserves admiration.
A CNN poll this month found that voters give Trump his highest marks on managing the economy, which has been surging: an approval rating of 48 percent. But on foreign policy, his approval rating was an anemic 40 percent.
A more detailed survey by the Chicago Council on Global Affairs found that most Americans disagree with some of Trumps core foreign policy views. That survey found that 68 percent disagreed with Trumps decision to withdraw from the Paris agreement on climate change, and 66 percent disagreed with his decision to walk away from Obamas nuclear deal with Iran.
Foreign policy is unlikely to be the top issue in the 2020 campaign. Still, its what some political strategists call a threshold issue; voters want a presidential candidate to display at least basic competence in international affairs. And they judge an incumbent president on his achievements and mistakes.
Tuesday night gave Trump a chance to make the case for his success, and to set out what aides described as his vision. Anyone who studied the text for substance found plenty of case-making but little nuance.
Trump congratulated himself for moving the U.S. Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem. But he never mentioned his larger goal of forging a peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians, a project he once pronounced not as difficult as people have thought.
He boasted that after withdrawing from Obamas nuclear deal with Iran, he had ordered the toughest sanctions ever imposed on Iran. But he didnt suggest how or when the sanctions, which have hurt Irans economy, would lead to his ostensible goal, a new round of nuclear negotiations or a collapse of the regime in Tehran.
If there was a centerpiece, it was Trumps declaration of victory in the wars in Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan, and his reaffirmation that he will bring U.S. troops home as soon as possible despite the qualms of many of his own aides.
He said Americans have been fighting in the Middle East for almost 19 years (actually almost 18) and that the United States has spent more than $7 trillion on those wars (a vastly inflated estimate.)
