The foreign policy of the second Trump administration is an example of a realist "America First" foreign policy. It has been described as imperialist, expansionist, and interventionist in respect to the Americas and Middle East, but also isolationist in respect to Europe and Africa.Attributed to multiple sources: Trump has used the expansive version of the Monroe Doctrine, that Donald Trump himself called the "Donroe Doctrine." His foreign policy has been compared to the policy of former president William McKinley. Trump's deputy chief of staff, Stephen Miller, explained their policy saying: "We're a superpower. And under President Trump, we are going to conduct ourselves as a superpower."
The foreign policy of the Trump administration has been described as breaking the post-1945 rules-based liberal international order and as an abandonment of multilateralism. It involved dismantling or withdrawing support for both domestic and international institutions working to strengthen the American soft power, and favoring instead hard power. The moves were described as undermining American global leadership and creating a power vacuum for Russia and China. Trump's relations with U.S. allies have been transactional and spanned from indifference to animosity, while he has sought friendly relationships with some U.S. adversaries. The actions saw large drops in global public opinion of the US.
Trump initiated trade wars with Canada and Mexico continued the ongoing trade war with China. He has repeatedly expressed his wish to annex Canada, Greenland, and the Panama Canal. He has taken a pro-Israel stance and increased support for Israel in the Gaza war. In response to the Gaza war, he proposed taking over the Gaza Strip, forcibly relocating its people to other Arab countries such as Jordan and Egypt, and turning it into a special economic zone. In Latin America, Trump authorized a series of strikes on alleged drug traffickers, the legality of which is widely disputed under both U.S. and international law, and subsequently ordered a military operation to capture Nicolás Maduro, the disputed president of Venezuela. Following the raid, Venezuela has been described as a de facto puppet state of the U.S. In 2026, he launched a major war on Iran with Israel with the stated goal of regime change which lead to the assassination of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. Trump has sought realignment with Russian president Vladimir Putin, a longtime US adversary. To end the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Trump's administration offered concessions to Russia; it also said that Ukraine was partly responsible for the invasion. These moves have been criticized by most US allies and by many international institutions.
Appointments
Second Trump administration Foreign Policy PersonnelVice PresidentJD Vance(2025–present)White House Chief of StaffSusie Wiles(2025–present)Secretary of State Lisa D. Kenna(Acting, 2025)Marco Rubio(2025–present)Secretary of Defense Robert G. Salesses(Acting, 2025)Pete Hegseth(2025–present)Ambassador to the United NationsDorothy Shea(Acting, 2025) Mike Waltz(2025–present)Director of National Intelligence Stacey Dixon(Acting, 2025) Lora Shiao(2025)Tulsi Gabbard(2025–2026)Director of the Central Intelligence Agency Maura Burns(Acting, 2025) Tom Sylvester(Acting, 2025)John Ratcliffe(2025–present)Assistant to the President for National Security AffairsMike Waltz(2025)Marco Rubio(2025–present)Deputy National Security AdvisorAlex Wong(Acting, 2025)Andy Baker/Robert Gabriel Jr.(2025–present)Trade RepresentativeJuan Millán(Acting, 2025)Jamieson Greer(2025–present)
Analysis
Trump's U.S. foreign policy was described by The New York Times as ignoring protocol and shunning experts in favor of personal loyalty and "common sense and hard-nosed savvy". Trump's longtime friend and New York real estate developer, Steven Witkoff, was appointed as a special envoy. Witkoff stated his inexperience was an asset that gave him fresh eyes on world conflicts, and Trump's allies derided career diplomatic, military and intelligence officers who they claimed lacked the boldness and savvy of private-sector businessmen. The newspaper described Trump as interpreting flattery from world leaders as an indication of their willingness to compromise their national interests.
Trump favored harsh tactics with allies and adversaries to achieve his foreign policy goals, favoring hard power and dispensing with traditional American diplomatic tools. The administration expressed general opposition to international cooperation on areas such as the environment, global health, and economics, viewing such cooperation as against the national interest; it sought to reduce or end certain foreign aid, and to change relationships and policies accordingly.Tremblay-Boire, Joannie, As Trump tries to slash US foreign aid, here are 3 common myths many Americans mistakenly believe about it, The Conversation, February 5, 2025 His administration dismantled or withdrew support from domestic and international organizations dedicated to advancing American soft power. Trump's decision to rename the United States Department of Defense to the "Department of War" was evidenced as indicative of the administration's stance on diplomacy and playing into foreign propaganda describing America as an aggressive power. Foreign policy experts described the moves to shutter USAID, Voice of America, and other organizations promoting American influence as diminishing America's global influence and creating a void that was filled by China and Russia. His administration saw large drops in global public opinion of the United States. Polling showed large swings of global public opinion preferring China as the world's leading power, with it viewed as a stabilizing presence rather than America. American tariff threats against treaty allies raised doubts about U.S. commitments to its partners, and were described as potentially pushing nations to align closer to China.
In September 2025, Pentagon leadership unveiled a draft of the National Defense Strategy which, in a change from prior strategy, prioritized domestic and regional missions rather than combating Russia and China. The moves shifted America's focus to the Western Hemisphere, and Trump's special envoy for Latin America Mauricio Claver-Carone explicitly said their overarching goal was to reassert American dominance over the Americas, with a particular focus on Latin America. Some foreign policy analysts, including international relations scholar Monica Toft believed the moves expressed a desire to divide the world into "spheres of influence" between America, Russia, and China, and top American officials, including US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth later explained the strategy in those terms. The moves saw America issue a large-scale naval deployment in the Caribbean and military strikes against alleged drug boats. Experts speaking to Reuters and the BBC described the deployment as gunboat diplomacy. Trump declared multiple drug gangs as foreign terrorist organizations which was disputed as gangs are often motivated by money and not political ideology (which motivates Terrorism) with the designation seen as a way to gain support for the use of military force and for claims that the US was under invasion by immigrants.Multiple sources:
Multiple sources:
Trump signed "to designate Antifa as a domestic terrorist organization". To build on the order and support NSPM-7 the administration designated Antifa Ost and three other groups "as Specially Designated Global Terrorists and intends to designate all four groups as Foreign Terrorist Organizations".
The final draft of the 2025 National Security Strategy described envisioning a narrower role for America than prior administrations, including during Trump's first term, largely abandoning mention of protecting democracy or freedom to instead focus on reducing migration and pursuing business deals such as encouraging countries to make no-bid contracts with American corporations. It also called to "reassert and enforce the Monroe Doctrine to restore American pre-eminence in the Western Hemisphere". Several pages depicted Europe as a victim of "civilizational erasure", said the US would cultivate "resistance" to Europe's mainstream leaders, and accused their governments of "tramp[ling] on basic principles of democracy to suppress opposition". The final draft called upon European nations to take "primary responsibility" for their own defense, accused the EU of stifling "political liberty", and warned that some NATO members risked becoming "majority non-European" and called upon the US to ally with "patriotic European parties", which was viewed as a euphemism for European far-right political parties.
Scott Anderson compared Trump's regime change ambitions to President Eisenhower. Trump's foreign policy has also been compared to the foreign policy of the George W. Bush administration.
Edward Wong wrote that Trump's policy was "a resurrection of the mission of empire", "an embrace, and even a celebration, of Western imperial histories".
Africa
The Trump administration's Africa policy was characterized by a significant drawdown of U.S. military and diplomatic engagement with the continent. The administration proposed reorganizing U.S. military combatant commands in a manner that would effectively downgrade AFRICOM, folding Africa's oversight into a broader command structure alongside the Americas. The cuts to USAID and the proposed military restructuring were seen by analysts as creating strategic voids that rival powers, particularly Russia and China, could exploit.
Central Africa
Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda
Secretary of State Marco Rubio condemned the Rwandan–backed Goma offensive in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, affirming that the U.S. supports the Congolese sovereignty in a phone call with DRC President Félix Tshisekedi. Rubio called for an immediate ceasefire on January 28, 2025, after a phone conversation with Rwanda president Paul Kagame, and for all parties to respect sovereign territorial integrity.
In late June 2025, Rubio and the Qatari government helped broker a peace agreement between the DRC and Rwanda in an effort to end fighting in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. DRC President Tshisekedi and Rwandan president Kagame signed the peace agreement at the White House on June 27. As part of the agreement, Rwandan forces would withdraw within 90 days and the Rwandan and DRC governments would launch a regional economic integration framework within 90 days. The peace agreement also called for respecting territorial integrity and the disarmament of all non-state actors including the Rwandan-backed March 23 Movement and the Hutu-dominated Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR). In addition, the peace agreement included provisions for US investment in the DRC's mineral sector. The Congo River Alliance and M23 did not participate in the White House peace agreement, preferring to wait the outcome of Qatari-brokered peace talks in Doha. On June 20, President Trump expressed support for the DRC-Rwandan peace talks, stating on Truth Social that: "This is a Great Day for Africa and, quite frankly, a Great Day for the World!..." By contrast, Congolese human rights activist and Nobel laureate Denis Mukwege and former DRC President Joseph Kabila criticised the peace agreement as disadvantageous to Congolese interests.
In early March 2026, the United States sanctioned the Rwandan Defence Force and four of its senior commanders on the grounds they had perpetuated the conflict in the DRC. In response, the Rwandan government denounced the sanctions as unfair and based on misinformation.
In April 2026, the Democratic Republic of Congo agreed to accept third-country deportees from the United States, with the first batch of 15 deportees arriving on 19 April.
North Africa Sudan