The Don(ald) of American Nationalism

On February 24, the United States voted against Ukraine at the United Nations General Assembly. The resolution demanded a withdrawal of Russian troops, while condemning the invasion and recognizing Russia as the aggressor in the 2022 war. This veto marked a significant shift in U.S. foreign policy under President Donald Trump.

The Biden administration policies on Ukraine were significant in strengthening Trump’s campaign against former Vice President Kamala Harris. In light of their failure, with no decisive victory for Ukraine in sight, with the U.S. government billions of dollars out of pocket, the Republicans took another approach; promising a swift end to the war, and that American taxes would no longer go to support foreign countries. Patriotism, nationalism, and white Anglo-Saxon protestantism was the spoken, and unspoken motto of Trump and his supporters.

The re-election of Trump marked the shift away from globalism towards ‘America first’. In his address to New Hampshire, he emphasized that “a Biden victory will be bad for you, good for China, and truly great for these globalists. A Trump victory will be bad for the globalists, the rhinos, the communists, the Marxists, but it will be great for the hard-working people of New Hampshire.”

Trump’s ‘communists’ is an overt reference to China and Russia, the latter which remains associated with communism in the collective American memory. The ‘red scare,’ a mass panic over the threat posed by encroaching communism, led to persecution of communists under a federal policy led by Senator Joe McCarthy known as “McCarthyism.” Nationalism, in the American context, has therefore always been used as a tool of unification against communism, or whatever the residing administration deems is a threat to national security and interests. Today, it is being used to prevent the emergence of a multipolar world.

In recent years, the West’s attempts to weaken Russia through sanctions forced the Kremlin to prioritize domestic affairs, namely, social and economic. The isolation of Russia from the West through economic measures, forced Russia to revise policies, and call for internal nationalistic unification in a ‘Russia first’ internal rebrand. 

The collapse of the Soviet Union left a political vacuum where its global influence once stood, which the U.S. was the only candidate to fill. Fifteen independent states other than Russia had been members of the U.S.S.R., and its collapse increased American international influence considerably. The hegemony of the 21st century was the ‘new world order,’ as referenced by U.S. Presidents, such as George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton. Over the last few years, however, the world has been shifting towards a dynamic where Russia and China are competing with the U.S. for international influence, and that is what Trump’s administration will seek to prevent. Globalization has been suspended, and as the federal government refocuses its efforts on domestic affairs in a bid to “Make America Great Again,” the parallels between Trump’s White House and the Kremlin are becoming all too apparent.

In recent years, the West’s attempts to weaken Russia through sanctions forced the Kremlin to prioritize domestic affairs, namely, social and economic. The isolation of Russia from the West through economic measures, forced Russia to revise policies, and call for internal nationalistic unification in a ‘Russia first’ internal rebrand. Europe’s abandonment of Russian gas with no reasonable alternative backfired, resulting in European governments repurchasing gas from Moscow, in rubles. To the Americans, billions of dollars were being funneled into Ukraine with no decisive victory, with concerns of corruption, while domestically prices for basic goods were rising exponentially.

In contrast to the West, Russia appeared to be enhancing its position domestically and internationally. They were fighting their own war based on a nationalist pretext, instead of funding a foreign one. Hopes that Russia’s wartime economy and its isolation from the international financial system would prove to be its Achilles heel in its war against Ukraine proved futile. The Kremlin avoided the anticipated economic collapse through a series of measures. Government policies such as an increase in federal expenditure, capital control, and strengthening trade ties with non-Western states, including China, Egypt, and Brazil are among the wartime policies implemented by the Russians. Socially, the Kremlin focused on fostering nationalism among its citizens. High school and college students are required to take a course entitled “The Fundamentals of Russian Statehood,” which emphasizes the Russian ideology promoted by President Vladimir Putin, combining elements of the historical, political, and spiritual.

Russia was fighting its own war based on a nationalist pretext, instead of funding a foreign one.

The rise in Russian nationalism since the Ukraine war was ill-countered by Biden’s globalist government, which had no domestic alternative to offset this phenomenon. The focus on foreign policy and globalisation, characteristic of Democrats, discouraged national unity in the U.S., where internal division was rampant. While the Russians focused on expanding the BRICS alliance (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa), reducing the world’s reliance on the West and the U.S., the resumption of the formerly symbiotic dynamic between the U.S. and former USSR resumed. A relationship where the two powers race for higher levels of nationalism, and global influence.

Almost immediately after assuming office, Trump’s administration began negotiations with Russian officials in Saudi Arabia, excluding the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. The U.S. also halted aid, and is requesting a reimbursement of the billions given to Ukraine by Joe Biden’s government over the past three years. Americans opposing U.S. membership in NATO has increased, particularly those whose focus is on taxes and federal government spending. Trump calls Ukraine “Europe’s problem,” and has already made comments expecting repayment for the money given to Zelensky. The proposal of exchanging weapons for rare, valuable minerals has also been proposed by Trump.

The freezing of U.S. aid and the negotiations between U.S. and Russian officials on ending the war in Ukraine is just the dawn of American isolationism. The Trump administration is also expected to withdraw from the UN Human Rights Council, a move Republican predecessor George H.W. Bush might have approved. Bush famously defied the international order by refusing to wait for a UN Security Council Resolution before invading Iraq in 2003.

The focus on foreign policy and globalization, characteristic of Democrats, discouraged national unity in the U.S., where internal division was rampant.

Although Trump and his supporters disapprove of the federal government funding foreign wars, and internal government spending is being heavily scrutinized under a bureau headed by eccentric billionaire Elon Musk, they have no such qualms when it comes to providing aid to Israel. Among the trump cards in Donald's pocket when it comes to mixing and matching his foreign policy priorities are the evangelical elements of his government and his personal views. Zionism is perfectly aligned with the ideological beliefs of the average white anglo-saxon protestant (WASP), the typical Trump supporter. The evangelical approach to politics of Trump and his typical supporters may lead them to view assistance of Israel as biblically ordained. Evangelicals believe the Israeli state is the fulfillment of biblical prophecy, and an essential prerequisite for the second coming of Christ. Furthermore, when it comes to the Middle East, the U.S. has rescinded the line separating the national security interests of Israel and America to the point where they’ve morphed into a singular interest. Israeli and American regional interests are inseparable, and to ensure the U.S. maintains its regional influence, bolstering Israel has become a matter of American foreign policy. Anything that threatens Israeli national security is treated as a threat to American national security, damning the Palestinians and undermining the cause of comprehensive peace. Lobbying by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) is also influential in determining Washington’s policies towards Israel.

The concept of U.S. sovereignty is so vague and stretched that every matter or incident around the globe, be it in the Seychelle Islands, is viewed as a matter related to U.S. national security. This international-national security, which has justified a foreign policy of globalization and interventionism unseen before, has damaged their reputation. Today, when the U.S. government discusses its national and international security interests, there is an automatic military connotation to their words, reducing the credibility the U.S. once held. How can the U.S. claim to be a mediator in any conflict when Washington globalists have made it seem as though every global matter was a threat to their national security?

Among the trump cards in Donald's pocket when it comes to mixing and matching his foreign policy priorities are the evangelical elements of his government and his personal views.

In his farewell address, George Washington called for “as little political connection as possible” with the outside world. In 1917, Woodrow Wilson’s Immigration Act banned ‘undesirable’ immigrants. The label encompassed individuals of low literacy rate, professional skills, as well as specific races and nationalities. This does not differ greatly from Trump’s own stance on immigration who commented, in 2018, “Why are we having all these people from shithole countries come here?” to the Washington Post.

Americans should remember that the U.S. was populated by the migration of various ethnic European groups, an influx of African slaves, and the surviving population of native Americans. Constitutionally, it was founded on liberal ideals that imply anyone can be American, making globalization the intrinsic approach towards foreign policy. The U.S. routinely shifts between behaving like an empire, and a nation-state. However, the U.S. never was, or can ever conceivably be, a nation-state, as it is antithetical to the bedrock of Americanism on which the country was founded. The WASP approved evangelical nationalism emerging under Trump has the White House conducting its affairs as a biblical counterpart of wilayat al-fakih. Traditional Evangelical conservatism has made a comeback in D.C., in parallel to Orthodoxy and its influence on the Kremlin.

How can the U.S. claim to be a mediator in any conflict when Washington globalists have made it seem as though every global matter was a threat to their national security?

Policies relating to immigration have already been implemented, displaying the rigorous policy of the Trump administration. Refugee admissions have been halted, a state of emergency has been declared at the Mexican border, and an increase in deportation are just some of the new government’s priorities. Tariffs on Mexican, Chinese, and Canadian exports into the U.S. is also a measure in Trump's bid to energize his Americanist base at home, thereby rendering himself the face of true Americanism, similarly to how Vladimir Putin is the face of Russia.