Trump's "Donro Doctrine" Prioritizes Territorial Control Over Democracy

Key Quotes

"for as long as you and i can remember when presidents went into another country they always had high minded reasons you know oh we need to restore democracy he's threatening his neighbors no one friend or foe should doubt our desire for peace when george h w bush freed kuwait from iraq in 1991 and no one should underestimate our determination to confront aggression when george w bush went into iraq in 2003 they explicitly disavowed any interest in taking iraq's oil we have no ambition in iraq except to remove a threat and restore control of that country to its own people"

Greg Ip explains that historical U.S. foreign policy interventions were framed with idealistic justifications like restoring democracy or confronting aggression. He notes that even in cases like the Iraq War, the U.S. explicitly stated no interest in seizing the country's resources, such as oil. This sets a contrast for the approach discussed later in the podcast.

"in contrast trump has made it clear that a big motivation for carrying out his operation in venezuela is because of a desire for a highly prized commodity oil the oil companies are going to go in they're going to spend money they're going to we're going to take back the oil that frankly we should have taken back a long time ago"

Greg Ip highlights a significant departure in President Trump's foreign policy, specifically regarding the operation in Venezuela. Ip points out that Trump has openly stated a primary motivation is securing oil resources, a stark contrast to previous administrations' disavowal of resource acquisition. This indicates a shift towards tangible economic interests as a driving force.

"in his view american greatness does not flow so much from values such as the promotion of democracy and freedom it flows from more tangible things like military power economic strength and territory and he is making it clear that when you are deciding whether to invade another country those sorts of economic interests including your control of their precious resources those aren't some tertiary factor they are front and center"

Greg Ip describes President Trump's perspective on American greatness, suggesting it is rooted in concrete elements like military might, economic power, and territorial control, rather than abstract values like democracy and freedom. Ip emphasizes that Trump considers economic interests and resource control to be central, not secondary, factors in decisions about foreign intervention.

"so during the cold war period the north star was pushback communism and the united states did a lot of you know unsavory things in the pursuit of pushing back communism we fermented a coup d'état in iran three days of bloody rioting culminating in a military coup from which the one time dictator of iran fled for his life in guatemala the tiny caribbean coffee republic of guatemala suffers its 60th political upheaval in 20 years we pushed out duly elected people like the president of chile because they were too close to the communists and the russians"

Greg Ip details the U.S. foreign policy during the Cold War, identifying the primary objective as countering communism. Ip provides examples of actions taken, including orchestrating a coup in Iran and supporting political upheavals in Guatemala, as well as removing democratically elected leaders perceived as too aligned with communist powers. This illustrates the often ethically complex methods employed during that era.

"so now as you said president trump seems to be pivoting the strategy to more actively pursuing resources so starting with the beginning of his second term can you sort of walk us through where we've seen that play out sure well a very good example would be in the original peace negotiations with ukraine right so the president made it clear upon taking office that he wanted to end that war stop the killing but he also wanted to end it on terms that were very favorable to the united states he stopped giving weapons and so on to ukraine he arranged for european partners to pay for those weapons and he also essentially pressured ukraine into signing an agreement that would give the united states a piece of its mineral wealth in the event of a peace settlement"

Greg Ip explains President Trump's strategic shift towards actively seeking resources, citing the initial peace negotiations with Ukraine as an example. Ip notes that Trump aimed to end the conflict on terms beneficial to the U.S., including arranging for European partners to fund weapons for Ukraine and pressuring Ukraine into an agreement that would grant the U.S. a share of its mineral wealth if a settlement was reached. This demonstrates a transactional approach to foreign policy.

"trump has made it clear we are going back to the great power system of before world war ii where we have spheres of influence and for the us the western hemisphere is its sphere of influence and it is the prerogative of the united states to essentially establish its influence through military or economic means to ensure that its own security and economic needs are taken care of"

Greg Ip interprets President Trump's foreign policy as a return to a pre-World War II "great power system" characterized by spheres of influence. Ip states that Trump views the Western Hemisphere as the U.S. sphere of influence, asserting the prerogative for the U.S. to exert military or economic control to safeguard its security and economic interests. This frames Trump's actions within a historical context of imperial ambition.