President Trump delivered a damning warning to Venezuela’s military in his Monday speech: drop Nicolas Maduro or lose everything. Trump’s tough talk has followed decisive action as the president deploys sanctions and other economic measures to send Maduro packing. Despite this strong posture, the administration’s critics have argued total withdrawal from America’s global commitments.
Don’t let these attacks confuse you. President Trump is restoring a much-needed dose of sanity to our foreign policy. The interests of average Americans are once again being put first in lieu of the global and political elite.
To be clear, this shift in priorities is precisely why the president has met such resistance within the U.S. foreign policy community. Establishment-backed nonprofits and international institutions like the United Nations have advocated for a foreign policy that benefits the few over the many.
These policies led to disaster.
Botched occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan which sacrificed countless lives and trillions of dollars in treasure. President Obama’s Nuclear Deal which sent hundreds of billions back to the radical Islamist regime in Iran and threw the Middle East into turmoil. An empowered China both economically and military at the expense of our traditional allies in Asia.
Despite these shortcomings, the establishment of both political parties was happy to stay the course. In an attempt to defend this outdated agenda, critics have reeled against President Trump’s “America first” agenda by labeling him an isolationist.
And yet, President Trump’s actions have thrown that accusation on its face. Stringent sanctions have been placed back on the Iranian regime and Tehran’s radical Islamist proxies are being confronted across the Middle East. ISIS has lost nearly 98 percent of its territory mostly since the president took office.
The Trump administration has also dramatically increased the number of freedom of navigation patrols in the South China Sea and hounded Beijing for its unfair trading practices. Don’t forget: Russia hasn’t gotten off easy either. President upended Obama’s ban on lethal weapons to Ukraine by selling high-powered snipers and Javelin rockets and increased non-lethal aid to Kiev.
Rather than recognize these victories, the establishment has worked to paint President Trump as favoring America in retreat.
Funny enough, his critics have tried to color him on the other side of the spectrum in regard to Venezuela. Now, President Trump is no longer an isolationist, but a neoconservative warmonger working to remove the innocent Maduro from power. Clearly, this is not the case.
Several things should be pointed out to help folks better understand the underlying American interests that are represented by disposing of the horrible Maduro regime.
First, the economic and social chaos of the Maduro government is a dramatic rebuke to the socialist fever dreams of the American left. A nation rich in natural resources has been turned into an economic and political basket case with millions of refugees fleeing Maduro’s socialist paradise.
Paging Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez: The Venezuelan people have seen your future and it does not work. The cognitive dissonance of the left is always shocking; but seldom as much so as in this case. In fact, it’s unsurprising, that some American progressive are embracing a leader who practices what they preach.
Furthermore, it is clear that a Venezuela in turmoil isn’t in the interest of the U.S. or its allies in the region. America is already hosting more than 300,000 Venezuelans immigrants who have fled due to Maduro’s left-wing policies.
Worse, Colombia, an important U.S. ally in the region, may host as many as four million Venezuelan refugees by 2021 if the situation is not under control. Overwhelming Colombia with migrants would only hinder America’s ability to combat illegal immigration and drug trafficking operations. Brazil is also experiencing its own woes due to the situation in Venezuela.
Venezuela’s regime is also no friend to the American people. Maduro allows his country to host members of the radical Islamist terrorist organization Hezbollah, the group responsible for killing hundreds of American soldiers in the 1983 Beirut barracks bombing.
Still, the resistance and criticism you hear in the media can be expected to persist as long as Trump continues to place the interests of the American people before those of the establishment and global elite. Because they believe that they know better than the American people who elected a president to put their interests first.
Robert Wasinger (@RobertWasinger) served in senior advisory and liaison roles on President Trump’s campaign and transition team.
The views and opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author and do not reflect the official position of The Daily Caller.