The Trump Doctrine: Embrace Adversaries, Antagonize Allies, Uplift The Far-Right
Trump is cozying up to Putin and insulting Zelenskyy. It's part of his broader foreign policy that undermines Western alliances, uplifts the authoritarian far-right, and threatens the post-WWII order.
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Updated - Monday, February 24: The US joined Russia in voting against a Ukraine-proposed UN General Assembly resolution that condemned Russia as the aggressor in their invasion of Ukraine and demanded an immediate withdrawal. The resolution passed without US backing. The rest of this article remains as written, with its core argument strengthened by this development.
We are witnessing one of the most abrupt and consequential foreign policy reversals in modern US history. While every president has a “doctrine,” few have made such a dramatic pivot.
Within just one month of returning to office, President Trump has changed America’s stance on the world stage, cozying up to adversaries, antagonizing allies, and uplifting the global far-right.
The Trump Administration has brought Russian President Vladimir Putin out of global isolation, furiously insulted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, alienated European allies, uplifted the German far-right’s AfD, and eroded America’s soft power with tariffs and the freezing of foreign assistance.
When it comes to Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, President Trump has made the most dramatic shift, turning away from America’s European allies and Zelenskyy and moving toward Putin - fully embodying Russian disinformation. Not only is Trump disrupting the US approach to Russia, he’s continuing the work of his first term, which was the upending of the post-WWII order.
This week, Trump falsely blamed Ukraine for Putin’s invasion and called Zelenskyy a “dictator.” This came after an unqualified Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth, gave away key concessions before Ukraine-Russia talks even began. Then, Secretary of State Marco Rubio was in Saudi Arabia negotiating with Russia without Ukraine at the table - with our European allies also sidelined.
Putin couldn’t have scripted this better himself.
Over the course of days, Trump ended the Biden-era approach to the Ukraine war, which was to coordinate heavily with European allies to apply pressure on an isolated Putin regime and provide unwavering support for Ukraine’s defense. Biden also refused to make Ukrainian NATO membership or territorial concessions to Russia, which Hegseth did before talks even began.
State Department officials reportedly advised Hegseth not to publicly take NATO membership off the table. Hegseth reportedly departed from a draft prepared that day and instead proclaimed that NATO membership for Ukraine and a return to pre-2014 terrority before Russia annexed Crimea was “unrealistic.” Hegseth also privately told Ukrainian officials that the US was considering withdrawing many troops from Europe, shocking those officials, according to NBC News.
On February 12, the same day Hegseth made those remarks, President Trump had a phone call with Putin - the first time a US President has directly spoken to the Russian President since 2022. Trump later updated Zelenskyy on the details of the call.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent was also in Kyiv on February 12 and reportedly delivered a demand letter directly to Zelenskyy requesting 50% of their rare Earth minerals. A shocked Zelenskyy refused to sign.
Trump then said that he would send a team to Saudi Arabia for a first round of talks with Russia, sending a delegation led by Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Notably missing from the talks - Ukraine and America’s European allies.
Zelenskyy was critical of the US exclusion of Ukraine from these first round of talks, and the Trump Administration, who was reportedly monitoring the Ukrainian President’s statements, did not like it.
On Tuesday of this week, Trump essentially blamed Zelenskyy for Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, claiming, “Today I heard, ‘Oh well, we weren’t invited. Well, you’ve been there for three years. You should’ve ended it after three years. You should’ve never started it. You could’ve made a deal.”
Zelenskyy responded, saying Trump was getting false information: “Unfortunately, President Trump – I have great respect for him as a leader of a nation that we have great respect for, the American people who always support us – unfortunately lives in this disinformation space.”
Zelenskyy’s comments set Trump aflame. Trump took to social media, calling Zelenskyy a "dictator without elections.” This is, of course, false. Elections have been suspended by Ukrainian law due to the ongoing war. Trump also repeated Russian disinformation about Zelenskyy being unpopular.
Meanwhile, in Saudia Arabia this week, Secretary of State Marco Rubio further brought Russia out of the cold - promising to restaff the Russian embassy.
We don’t know where these talks will lead, but given how they’ve begun, it’s clear that the Trump Administration is favoring Russian objectives and icing out its allies.
Former GOP Senator and Defense Secretary in the Obama Administration, Chuck Hagel, spoke to The Wall Street Journal about these moves:
“What’s happening is a serious challenge to the foundation of the post-World War II world order. I’ve never felt so concerned about the future of this country and this world as I am now.”
Let’s dive into this erosion of the Post-WWII order in more detail, then turn to the Trump Administration’s embrace of the global far-right and antagonizing of US allies.
Disrupting The Post-WWII Order
NATO was founded 75 years ago to safeguard America and Europe from the Soviet Union. NATO has promoted the shared values of democracy and sought to uphold the common security of the West. It’s been the main deterrent against Russian aggression.
This is why one of Putin’s key goals has been to weaken Western alliances, specifically NATO. And right now, President Trump is doing exactly that.
By blaming Ukraine for Russia’s invasion, the Trump Administration is accepting Russia’s narrative that the mere existence of NATO and the potential for Ukraine to join was provocative and warranted Putin’s murderous invasion.
This isn’t new, of course. During Trump’s first term, he made an effort to undermine NATO and empower Putin. Trump also extorted Ukrainian President Zelenskyy by withholding necessary military aid in an effort to get an announced probe into then-candidate Biden.
One could argue Trump’s actions contributed to Putin’s false belief that the US and NATO were divided enough for him to launch this invasion of Ukraine with minimal consequences. While President Biden united European allies against Russia’s unjustified invasion, it now appears Trump aims to return American foreign policy to the transactional nature of his first term.
During his 2024 campaign, Trump suggested he would not affirm Article 5 of the NATO treaty, which guarantees mutual defense in the event an ally is attacked. Now, as President, he is leaving NATO allies out in the cold as he directly negotiates the future of an invaded sovereign country without their input.
Embrace Of The Global Far-Right
This isn’t all about Putin, of course. When you recognize that the authoritarian far-right has long been a globally collaborative movement, the Trump Administration’s foreign policy moves make a lot more sense.
While in Europe last Friday, Vice President J.D. Vance delivered a Munich speech accusing European allies of suppressing the German far-right party AfD, without directly naming them. Vance then met with the AfD’s leader. Vance did not meet with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
This comes after Elon Musk went even further than Vance last month, directly endorsing the German AfD on multiple occasions and appearing virtually at an event where he said that Germany has “too much of a focus on past guilt.” Musk made those comments just two days before Holocaust Remembrance Day— and only days after making what many believed was a Nazi salute at a Trump inauguration event.
Musk’s comments were particularly controversial, given how important remembrance of the Holocaust is in German society. Germany prioritizes extensive education on WWII and the Nazis’ descent into genocidal mania, ensuring historical accountability remains central to its national identity.
German officials were also outraged by Vance’s comments. From The New York Times:
Eighty years after American soldiers liberated Dachau, top German officials this weekend all-but accused Mr. Vance — and by extension, President Trump — of boosting a political party that many Germans consider to be dangerously descended from Nazism.
That party, called the Alternative for Germany, or AfD, is sitting second in the polls for next Sunday’s parliamentary elections, with about 20 percent of the public saying they support it. But no other German party is willing to govern with it. That’s because the AfD has at times downplayed Hitler’s atrocities. Some party members have reveled in Nazi slogans.
This is part of a broader play within Trumpworld and the global far-right. I’ve written extensively about how far-right authoritarianism is a globally collaborative movement.
Donald Trump, Elon Musk, J.D. Vance, Tucker Carlson, some Republican lawmakers, and Project 2025’s Kevin Roberts have all praised right-wing dictators like Hungary’s far-right authoritarian leader Viktor Orbán as a model to emulate in the US. They echo Russian talking points and defend Vladimir Putin. They embrace far-right leaders like Argentina's President Javier Milei, who just attended CPAC and stood on stage with Elon Musk and a chainsaw on Thursday.
The global far-right aligns on cultural issues and their views on power. They all believe in consolidating power in the executive and pushing repressive policies. They’re becoming increasingly collaborative, and I think that should be kept in mind when analyzing Trump’s foreign policy moves, especially as Trump pursues far-right authoritarianism domestically.
Antagonizing Allies & Eroding America’s Soft Power
The Trump Administration has done a significant amount of damage to America’s soft power. America’s ability to exert power and influence abroad without firing a bullet relies on American reliability. The US has used a combination of multilateral deal-making and foreign assistance to influence global affairs. That reliability has gone out the window in Trump’s first month.
When it comes to foreign aid, the Trump Administration has essentially totally dismantled USAID and frozen billions in foreign assistance everywhere, from Latin America to Southeast Asia to Africa. They’re doing this in defiance of a court order. The USAID not only upholds key pro-democracy initiatives and humanitarian assistance that countries all over the world depend on, but it also creates global goodwill for the US and is a buffer against China’s efforts to expand its influence through its growing foreign aid programs.
On trade, Trump is once again putting pressure on our biggest trading partners, Canada and Mexico, with tariffs that risk a wider trade war. Trump, who himself re-negotiated NAFTA and renamed it the USMCA, sought to directly undermine it as soon as he walked into office. Trump is using economic tools of isolationism that weaken US influence
How can America’s allies depend on the good faith of the United States when it can just tear up a deal depending on the mood of the President?
Relationships, especially those of a diplomatic nature, require trust. When that trust is broken, relations unravel. The damage of this moment will reverberate for decades.
Allies and countries that depend on American assistance now have to make contingency plans for two Americas - the Democratic or Republican States of America. Every four years, you might get one or the other. If you get a Republican President, there’s a heightened risk they might walk away from the commitments their Democratic predecessor made.
Taken together, all of these foreign policy moves from President Trump are more than a slight shift—it’s a total realignment of America’s values on the world stage. Trump’s foreign policy is not an America First doctrine, but an Authoritarians First doctrine.
As he isolates allies and aligns with autocrats, one question looms: Can the US still claim to be the leader of the free world, or has it become just another player in a rising global far-right movement?
