Trump declares ‘America First’ policy a success after Asia trip

WASHINGTON — United States President Donald Trump said on Wednesday (Nov 15) that nearly 10 months of his “America First” foreign policy had restored strength and respect to the United States on the world stage after years of what he called failed leadership under his predecessors.

Hours after returning home from a 12-day, five-country excursion to Asia with few concrete achievements, Mr Trump made no significant announcements in a speech that he had hyped on Twitter as “a major statement” to be delivered upon his return.

Mr Trump nonetheless declared the trip a resounding success, saying that he had made real progress by uniting the world against North Korea and insisting on reciprocal trade from Asian nations.

“America’s renewed confidence and standing in the world has never been stronger than it is right now,” he said. “This is exactly what the world saw: a strong, proud and confident America.”

The speech also provided a made-for-Twitter moment in which a clearly parched president interrupted his broadcast to reach for a bottle of water, struggling until an aide told him where to look.

Announced with little notice and delivered midafternoon from the Diplomatic Room of the White House, the president’s speech was designed to be what his critics have never offered him: a sweeping and positive assessment of his own performance as the nation’s commander in chief and top diplomat.

By recounting his travels and detailing the just completed Asia trip, Mr Trump sought to make the case that the US was once again playing a leading role in the world.

“My fellow citizens, America is back, and the future has never looked brighter,” he said.

Critics say Mr Trump has abandoned the US’ status as a global superpower by retreating from trade agreements and backing out of the Paris climate accord.

The president’s political rivals accuse him of straining relationships with allies in Nato (the North Atlantic Treaty Organization) and elsewhere while embracing hardline leaders, including President Vladimir Putin of Russia.

“He is so easily played by foreign leaders, so transparently susceptible to flattery,” said Mr Eliot Cohen, one of Mr Trump’s harshest critics and a former adviser to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

“It clearly has undermined the reputation of the United States, the credibility of the United States.”

Casting the Asia trip as the culmination of a year of accomplishments, Mr Trump noted his efforts in the spring, during a trip to Saudi Arabia, to rally Arab and Muslim nations to fight financing of terrorism.

He claimed that his tough talk with Nato allies has led those longtime partners to increase their commitments to the common defence of the alliance.

“To each of these places, I have carried our vision for a better — a vision for something stronger and sovereign — so important — sovereign and independent nations, rooted in their histories, confident in their destinies, and cooperating together to advance their security, prosperity and the noble cause of peace,” Mr Trump said.

In talking about his foreign policy achievements, Mr Trump has often bragged about the personal relationships he has forged with his counterparts in China, the Middle East and elsewhere.

In Wednesday’s speech, Mr Trump hoped to highlight what his advisers said were three successes from his just-concluded trip to South Korea, Japan, China, Vietnam and the Philippines: attempts to unite opposition to North Korea’s nuclear ambitions; to strengthen economic alliances; and to insist on fair trade.

Mr John Negroponte, who served as deputy secretary of state under President George W Bush, said Mr Trump should get credit, both for developing relationships with his counterparts and for effectively delivering a tough message toward North Korea.

“I thought he handled that very well, with friend and adversary alike,” Mr Negroponte, who also served as the director of national intelligence, said after the speech.

Critics of Trump’s foreign policy have hammered the president for his use of childish names for Kim Jong-un, the North Korean leader. They say Mr Trump has deepened the possibility of a nuclear crisis, not reduced tensions.

And some say Mr Trump’s retreat from the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement has robbed the US of influence in the region.

In fact, Mr Trump ended his Asia trip without appearing to conclude any of the one-on-one trade deals with individual nations that he often has said would be the hallmark of his administration.

“The big question mark remains: Does he have an economic strategy toward the East Asian region?” Mr Negroponte said. “You withdraw from the TPP and say ‘America First.’ I notice no one is getting in line to make unilateral deals.”

In his remarks, Mr Trump mentioned the World Trade Organization (WTO) and asserted that the 21 leaders he met with during summit meetings in Asia “recognised the need to address unfair trade practices, and acknowledged that the WTO is in strong need of reform.”

In fact, many of the other leaders at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit meeting endorsed WTO and made progress on finalising the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement without the participation of the US.

Mr Trump did make a point of saying that “no one owns the ocean,” a reference to the long-running and tense dispute in East Asia about China’s efforts to control access to the South China Sea.

“Freedom of navigation and overflight are critical to the security and prosperity of all nations,” he said.

But Mr Trump did not single out China for criticism, continuing a pattern of soft-pedaling on a dispute that could annoy US allies.

Despite that, Mr Trump hoped his speech would galvanise public opinion behind the idea that his leadership on foreign policy was restoring a new sense of optimism about the US around the world.

“A president is entitled to proclaim a sunny day while everyone else is huddling under their umbrellas,” said Mr Philip Zelikow, who served as a diplomat and foreign policy adviser in several Republican administrations.

Meanwhile, China on Thursday (Nov 16) reiterated its call for an agreement between North Korea and the US under which the North would gain concessions if it freezes its nuclear weapons programme, apparently contradicting Mr Trump's earlier comments.

Foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang Geng said China's position has not changed and the “freeze-for-freeze” initiative, under which the US and South Korea would suspend large-scale military exercises in return, remained a “first step”.

“We believe that the freeze-for-freeze initiative is the most viable and reasonable plan against the current backdrop, which cannot only alleviate the current tensions, but also addresses the most urgent security concerns of all sides,” Mr Geng told reporters at a regular briefing.

Such an agreement would “create opportunities and conditions for the resumption of peace talks, and find breakthroughs to get out of this stalemate,” Mr Geng said. 

America has long dismissed the proposal, saying North Korea must unilaterally cease its programme before negotiations can begin. On Wednesday, Mr Trump told reporters that China had agreed with the US on that point during his 12-day trip through Asia that included a state visit to China, where he was hosted by President Xi Jinping.

“President Xi recognises that a nuclear North Korea is a grave threat to China, and we agreed that we would not accept a so-called freeze for freeze agreement, like those that have consistently failed in the past,” Mr Trump said.

China and Russia have proposed the agreement, also known as “dual suspension”, as a way to restart long-stalled negotiations. AGENCIES