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Is Trump’s Foreign Policy Out of Control?
Wed, January 14th, 2026
Live Online
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In the first year of his second term, President Donald Trump has pursued an aggressive foreign policy that has shattered the norms and conventions that have guided almost all of his Republican and Democratic predecessors. Although the administration has framed this as an “America first” agenda that will strengthen the nation’s standing around the world and bring prosperity at home, the U.S. national interest now appears tethered to the president’s personal vanities, prejudices, and his political and financial interests.
Is the recently articulated National Security Strategy a reliable guide as to how the administration will act going forward? Does the recent use of military power in Venezuela represent a one-off headline or does it foreshadow more aggressive action under the “Donroe Doctrine”? And is this the sunsetting of once traditional U.S. values and the rise of foreign policy driven by displaying American power and might?
Join Aaron David Miller as he engages the Council on Foreign Relations’ Rebecca Lissner and the Stimson Center’s Emma Ashford on these and other issues, on the next Carnegie Connects.
Carnegie India does not take institutional positions on public policy issues; the views represented herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Carnegie, its staff, or its trustees.
Event Speakers
Senior Fellow, American Statecraft Program
Aaron David Miller is a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, focusing on U.S. foreign policy.
Emma Ashford
Senior Fellow, Reimagining US Grand Strategy, Stimson Center
Emma Ashford is a senior fellow with the Reimagining U.S. Grand Strategy program at the Stimson Center, where her work focuses on questions of grand strategy, international security, and the future of U.S. foreign policy. She has expertise in the politics of Russia, Europe, and the Middle East. Ashford is also a columnist at Foreign Policy, and an adjunct assistant professor in the Security Studies Program at Georgetown University.
Rebecca Lissner
Senior Fellow, Council on Foreign Relations
Rebecca Lissner is a senior fellow for U.S. foreign policy at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) and a Brady-Johnson distinguished practitioner in grand strategy and lecturer with the Jackson School of Global Affairs at Yale University. She is a leading scholar of American grand strategy who has served in senior national security and foreign policy roles in the White House.