Donald Trump’s 2016 Presidential Campaign in the Light of the U.S. Foreign Policy Traditions

Abstract

This paper aims to classify foreign policy attitudes and stances of Donald Trump in his 2016 presidential campaign according to the U.S. foreign policy traditions. In the first part of the paper, we analyze speeches of Donald Trump since the moment he became the Republican Presidential Nominee. The analysis is based on digest reports of Trump’s speeches, published on his official web-site in the period from the Republican National Convention (June 18 – 21) until the Election Day (November 8). We present his main foreign policy messages pointing to foreign policy determinants, instruments and goals towards particular actors (such as China, Mexico or Russia). In the second part of paper we present main ideas of distinctive foreign policy traditions classified by Walter Russell Mead (2001) – Hamiltonian, Wilsonian, Jeffersonian and Jacksonian – and compare them with the most important foreign policy stances of Donald Trump. The main argument of this paper is that Trump’s foreign policy concept incorporates elements of different traditions. His stances mostly reflect the elements of Jacksonian foreign policy tradition. However, due to its overwhelming emphasis on the economic issues, it seems that Trump’s positions are closer to Hamiltonian thought in terms of foreign policy determinants, while some aspects of Jeffersonian thought are also present in Trump’s articulation of foreign policy issues.