Washington, DC – With a series of incoherent and unlawful actions that will harm Americans and our ability to lead in the world, the first two weeks of President Donald Trump’s return to the White House has been remarkable for the speed at which its “America First” foreign policy has gone off the rails.
From picking fights with our allies to creating chaos and confusion in dozens of countries affected by the abrupt freeze on noncontroversial and life-saving foreign assistance programs, the recklessness of the Trump administration is already causing lasting damage to our security and America’s reputation in the world.
“While President Trump wastes time dreaming up new names for the Gulf of Mexico and fantasizing about buying Greenland, the rest of the world is moving on without us,” said Kristina Biyad, Acting Executive Director for Foreign Policy for America. “Meanwhile, Secretary Rubio and other officials are left to clean up the confusion from these erratic foreign policy pronouncements. Our adversaries couldn’t be more thrilled with the chaos.”
Ironically, President Trump’s effort to systematically dismantle the nonpartisan federal workforce will gut our national security agencies, leaving his administration unable to achieve any of its priorities. But more troublingly, these attacks on our diplomacy and development professionals and programs will make it impossible for the United States to address the real global threats Americans face, from stopping fentanyl trafficking to preventing future pandemics.
“If President Trump is so worried about oversight of our foreign policy and assistance programs, why did he fire the State Department’s nonpartisan watchdog?” asked Brian Volsky, Policy Director for Foreign Policy for America and former senior investigative counsel at the State Department’s Office of Inspector General. “Inspector General Richardson, a retired Air Force colonel, was unanimously confirmed by the Senate last year—firing him will only make it harder for State Department leadership to root out waste, fraud, and abuse.”
This moment demands a recommitment to the values that have guided our nation’s role as a leader on the global stage. Over the next four years, FP4A and our community will not waver in the fight for progress and principled American leadership on the global stage. We will continue to build upon our community’s collective will to defend and advance the strong, diplomacy-first foreign policy we need. We will remain an outlet for unity, strength, and leadership both for our members and the broader foreign policy and national security community.
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