Hearing Wrap Up: Trump Administration is Restoring U.S. Global Leadership by Undoing Weak and Ineffective Foreign Policy of the Biden Administration

WASHINGTON—The Subcommittee on Military and Foreign Affairs held a hearing titled, “Emerging Global Threats: Putting America’s National Security First.” Subcommittee members discussed how the Trump Administration is actively restoring America’s standing on the global stage after four years of weak and ineffective foreign policy perpetrated by the Biden Administration. Subcommittee members also highlighted how combining soft and hard power will lead to greater peace around the world and keep our adversaries at bay.

Key Takeaways:

The Trump Administration is currently undoing four years of weak and ineffective foreign policy which has weakened America’s standing in the international community and emboldened our adversaries. President Trump’s return to wielding hard and soft power together is the path towards restoring that standing.

• Dr. Meaghan Mobbs— Director of the Center for American Safety and Security—testified that it is imperative for the U.S. to deploy soft and hard power to deter aggression and defend our interests abroad: “The world is rapidly changing, and the United States finds itself in a global competition against near-peer adversaries, chief among them, China and Russia. These authoritarian regimes are waging a relentless campaign to expand their influence, undermine Western institutions, and reshape the global order to suit their authoritarian models. They understand that power is not only measured in tanks, ships, and missiles but also in influence and perception. If we are to prevail in this competition, the United States must effectively deploy both hard power and soft power. Hard power—our military capabilities—requires political will and material strength to deter aggression and defend our interests.”

Initiatives already underway within the Trump Administration are signaling to China, Russia, and our adversaries that America is back atop the international food chain via peace through strength.

• Brent Sadler—Senior Research Fellow and Retired U.S. Navy Captain—already noted the difference in approach between the Biden Administration and Trump Administration with respect to the CCP: “…it is worth noting again that deterrence of China will rest on a credible military, backed by a resilient wartime economy. Already a month into the Trump administration it is clear that a break from the recent past in fast underway.”
• Dr. Jacob Olidort—Director of the Center for American Security at the America First Policy Institute—highlighted the return of the America First leadership of the Trump Administration: “An America First foreign policy agenda does not mean America alone. It means a projection of strength that brings peace and stability to our allies while ensuring our adversaries stay in check. This is the way to protect Americans and advance our interests abroad.”

Member Highlights:

Subcommittee on Military and Foreign Affairs Chairman William Timmons (R-S.C.) discussed the difference in approach from the Biden Administration to the Trump Administration regarding the release of U.S. hostages held by Hamas.

Rep. Timmons: “Dr. Olidort, can you outline the differences between the Trump and Biden Administration’s approach to releasing U.S. hostages?” Dr. Olidort: “Thank you for the question. In my view, President Trump inherited a bad negotiating hand in this process…for one thing, we never should have been a neutral broker. We are a party to these negotiations, we have American hostages there and we should have never taken this passive approach. That’s just on the framing of it and there are about a dozen nations that were represented amongst the hostages, on other words there are a lot of opportunities to reframe and reshape how those negotiations should take place. I think the more important issue is the withholding of assistance to Israel…that had a corrosive effect by showing a big gap between our the U.S. and our partner. Those things hand in hand were problematic.”

Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.) broke down how the Trump Administration can prepare for future attacks from Russia and China.

Rep. Biggs: “The weakness on the world stage emboldened our geopolitical rivals, China and Russia continue to attack U.S. critical infrastructure with few consequences. What can thew Trump Administration do to hold China and Russia accountable for these attacks?”

Mr. Sadler: “This is the challenge of this new cold war that we are in. First, we have to be willing to use all tools that are available to us for an instate strategic end and too often we’ve operated in cylinders of excellence. The economics kind of on their own, the military kind of on their own, and the diplomatic off on their own. We need to bring that together and bring all those forces to bare. In the last 24 hours there was a Chinese vessel yet again caught severing undersea cables to Taiwan, that vessel is being boarded right now…I would say we are moving out of gray zone of comfort we have had for the last 20 years to a more real and more conventional confrontation. We have to be ready for these types of incidents.”

Rep. Eli Crane (R-Ariz.) emphasized how no advances were made by adversaries in recent history due to the power projected by the Trump Administration.

Rep. Crane: “Who was the President when Russia invaded Georgia? Bush. Who was the President when Russia invaded Crimea? Obama. Who was the President when Russia invaded Ukraine? Biden. I seem to be missing President Trump’s name from that list. I do think that peace through strength works.”

Rep. John McGuire (R-Va.) highlighted the missteps of the Biden Administration in its’ approach towards hard and soft power which has left Americans less safe.

Rep. McGuire: “Dr. Mobbs, you talked about hard and soft power, I’d like to ask you how would you describe the Biden Administration’s foreign policy, did that help or hurt our hard and soft power over the last four years?”

Dr. Mobbs: “I would argue they relied overly on soft power, but in my view a perversion of soft power. It was a focus on these progressive projects that actually didn’t promote the necessary influence where we needed to. As a result, you had ineffective foreign policy because there was an over reliance on soft power. Smart power is a successful integration of both.”

Rep. McGuire: “So you believe these policies weakened us, the American people?”

Dr. Mobbs: “I do believe that yes.”