Podcast Episode
Join Aaron David Miller as he engages Jake Sullivan in a wide-ranging conversation on the challenges the United States confronts in a complicated world on Carnegie Connects.
Aaron David Miller, Jake Sullivan
Podcast Episode
Is Trump’s Foreign Policy Out of Control?
Join Aaron David Miller as he engages the Council on Foreign Relations’ Rebecca Lissner and the Stimson Center’s Emma Ashford on the second Trump administration's approach to foreign policy.
Published on Jan 15, 2026
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 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.
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