Trump says this disruption will provide big benefits for the United States. But will it? Ivo Daalder, a former U.S. ambassador to NATO, and I have a new piece in Foreign Affairs addressing that question. Color us skeptical that Trump’s moves will produce the bonanza he predicts.

The Washington foreign policy establishment has an ingrained belief in its own brilliance and is all too willing to succumb to hubris about the extent of its power, influence, and ability to will the Middle East to its preferences.

He has worked at the U.S. Department of State, on the National Security Council, and as a foreign policy adviser to U.S. Senator John McCain. Today, U.S. President Donald Trump will sweep back into power promising a new American approach to the world.

The unprecedented pause and potential elimination of many U.S. foreign assistance programs, announced in President Trump’s executive order “Reevaluating and Realigning United States Foreign Aid,” has caused shock waves worldwide.

The United States froze virtually all foreign aid on Friday. Marco Rubio, the secretary of state, sent an internal memo days after Donald Trump took office vowing an “America First” policy of tightly restricted assistance overseas.

The president is increasingly threatening other countries with tariffs for issues that have little to do with trade.