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'America First' – Trump outlines his foreign policy plan


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'America First' – Trump outlines his foreign policy plan
By Catherine Hardy | With REUTERS, AP

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"My foreign policy will always put the interests of the American people and American security above all else"

NEW YORK: -- Donald Trump has set out his plan for foreign policy if he becomes the next president of the United States.


The Republican presidential hopeful says he plans to put “America First”.

Trump, who normally speaks off-the-cuff, used an autocue to deliver this speech at a hotel in central Washington.

He will, he says, put “America First”.

“My foreign policy will always put the interests of the American people and American security above all else. Has to be first. has to be. That will be the foundation of every single decision that I will make”

Fresh from a winning sweep of five northeastern primaries, Trump expanded on a foreign policy that has lacked detail and worried experts in both parties.

What did he say about Obama?

Trump delivered a withering critique of Barack Obama’s international record, pledging to “shake the rust off America’s foreign policy”.

The current administration is leaving a legacy of “weakness, confusion and disarray,” he said.

“We went from mistakes in Iraq to Egypt to Libya to President Obama’s line in the sand in Syria. Each of these actions have helped to throw the region into chaos and to give ISIS the space it needs to grow and prosper. Very bad”.

He also criticised Democrat front-runner Hillary Clinton’s handling of the deadly attacks on a US compound in Benghazi in Libya.

He claimed the Democratic president has let China take advantage of the United States and has failed to defeat ISIL militants.

Trump pledged to seek better relations with Russia and China and promised to force US allies to bear more of the financial burden for defence.

What did he say about Russia?

“An easing of tensions with Russia from a position of strength” is possible, according to the Republican front-runner.

Relations between Washington and Moscow are at a particularly low ebb due to a number of issues, including Moscow’s support for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Did he say anything about China?

Yes.

The New York billionaire said he would use US economic leverage to persuade China to rein in North Korea’s nuclear programme.

“China respects strength and by letting them take advantage of us economically, we have lost all their respect,” he said.

What about ISIL?

“Their days are numbered,” Trump said, “I won’t tell then when and I won’t tell them how.”

Despite the anti-muslim tone of his campaign to date, Trump pledged to work closely with US allies in the Middle East to combat extremism.

“Containing the spread of radical Islam must be a major foreign policy goal of the United States and indeed, the world,” he said.

How big an issue is money?

A very big one.

Trump claimed allies of the United States have benefited from the US defence umbrella but have not paid their fair share.

He says he will call separate summits of NATO and Asian allies to discuss a “re-balancing” of the US financial commitment to their defence.

“The countries we defend must pay for the cost of this defence. If not, the US must be prepared to let these countries defend themselves. We have no choice.”



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-- (c) Copyright Euronews 2016-04-28
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China is the biggest holder of US debt owning $1.3 trillion of US treasuries. So, China is America's biggest creditor. And, around 20% of all products one can buy in the US are made in China, both by Chinese and American-owned factories in China.

So, Trump is going to improve relations with China by getting tough on them? Trump is going to tell America's biggest creditor and it's biggest supplier to go pound sand? cheesy.gif Oh, and by the way, he'll get tough on them to control that little fat boy in N. Korea too.

Sounds brilliant.

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"China is the biggest holder of US debt owning $1.3 trillion of US treasuries. China is America's biggest creditor. "

So in theory, if China wanted to cripple the US all they had to do was to make it go bankrupt .....

yeah, sure, you go and rough them up Mr. Trump....

coffee1.gif

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"China is the biggest holder of US debt owning $1.3 trillion of US treasuries. China is America's biggest creditor. "

So in theory, if China wanted to cripple the US all they had to do was to make it go bankrupt .....

yeah, sure, you go and rough them up Mr. Trump....

coffee1.gif

Not quite that easy. Total debit is around 13 trillion, so it's less than a 10th of the total. They're the largest foreign holder of debt.

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“The countries we defend must pay for the cost of this defence. If not, the US must be prepared to let these countries defend themselves. We have no choice.”

I'm curious when Presidential candidates make this type of announcement, are they required to provide analysis from the relevant government department/s on the pros and cons on the impact on the US economy? e.g. security for the global supply chain supporting US trade.

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"China is the biggest holder of US debt owning $1.3 trillion of US treasuries. China is America's biggest creditor. "

So in theory, if China wanted to cripple the US all they had to do was to make it go bankrupt .....

yeah, sure, you go and rough them up Mr. Trump....

coffee1.gif

Not quite that easy. Total debit is around 13 trillion, so it's less than a 10th of the total. They're the largest foreign holder of debt.

I would wager that if China dumped every bit of its US sovereign debt in the space of a month the Bond market wouldn't move even 5%.

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"China is the biggest holder of US debt owning $1.3 trillion of US treasuries. China is America's biggest creditor. "

So in theory, if China wanted to cripple the US all they had to do was to make it go bankrupt .....

yeah, sure, you go and rough them up Mr. Trump....

coffee1.gif

Not quite that easy. Total debit is around 13 trillion, so it's less than a 10th of the total. They're the largest foreign holder of debt.

I would wager that if China dumped every bit of its US sovereign debt in the space of a month the Bond market wouldn't move even 5%.

lol! you think all that debt would be bought at par?

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"China is the biggest holder of US debt owning $1.3 trillion of US treasuries. China is America's biggest creditor. "

So in theory, if China wanted to cripple the US all they had to do was to make it go bankrupt .....

yeah, sure, you go and rough them up Mr. Trump....

coffee1.gif

Not quite that easy. Total debit is around 13 trillion, so it's less than a 10th of the total. They're the largest foreign holder of debt.

I would wager that if China dumped every bit of its US sovereign debt in the space of a month the Bond market wouldn't move even 5%.

lol! you think all that debt would be bought at par?

I never said that. I said that the market value wouldn't change drastically. Par value and market value are not the same thing.

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and you think the market price wouldnt go down more than 5%?? lol

Yeah, that's what I think. This is a post QE world. The Fed bought 4.5 Trillion in assets by punching some keys on a computer. They see their balance sheet as near limitless. There will be other bidders as well. Anywho, ain't gonna happen.

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“The countries we defend must pay for the cost of this defence. If not, the US must be prepared to let these countries defend themselves. We have no choice.”

I'm curious when Presidential candidates make this type of announcement, are they required to provide analysis from the relevant government department/s on the pros and cons on the impact on the US economy? e.g. security for the global supply chain supporting US trade.

Trump is making some ridiculous comments and making campaign promises that he can't possibly keep. But sadly, there are some Americans who buy into his crappola. Luckily, there's not enough of them to make him President.

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“The countries we defend must pay for the cost of this defence. If not, the US must be prepared to let these countries defend themselves. We have no choice.”

I'm curious when Presidential candidates make this type of announcement, are they required to provide analysis from the relevant government department/s on the pros and cons on the impact on the US economy? e.g. security for the global supply chain supporting US trade.

I wonder how he means that!

(Actually, I don't because he is full of <deleted> as usual, but...)

Is it the countries who actually ASK to be defended...or also the ones, the USA DECIDE to "defend"...

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For anyone who actually believes there has ever been a President (Republican or Democrat) that did not put America first in terms of foreign policy is absolutely delusional.

Just like the leaders of every other country in the world. Which is OK!

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the fed is just waiting for the Chinese to dump , so they can print more dollars and retired debt. last year Chinese dumped over 300 billion the fed was happy to accommodate. remember the Saudi's talking about dumping their 750 billion fed was salivating. if the Chinese did dump and end up with the big check what do you think they would buy with it , i will tell you ,U.S. real estate,U.S. companies and anything else outside of the Potemkin country called CHINA . TRUMP is also going for reciprocal immigration policies. that is why 100,000 hong kong Chinese are applying for green cards a year the gate is closing. Trump scares all these economies because they see the end of their free lunch .

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“The countries we defend must pay for the cost of this defence. If not, the US must be prepared to let these countries defend themselves. We have no choice.”

I'm curious when Presidential candidates make this type of announcement, are they required to provide analysis from the relevant government department/s on the pros and cons on the impact on the US economy? e.g. security for the global supply chain supporting US trade.

Now that wouldn't be much fun now, would it?

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I don't know who wrote that crap for him, but you could see he was struggling to stick to the script.

I bet he'll have forgotten everything he read off that autocue by tomorrow.

biggrin.png

Question is how soon until he publicly contradicts himself.

But wait....are we still in the image projection phase?

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There is no doubt that this would represent a major shift in US policy in a number of key areas. I agree much that he said is electioneering nonsense. However, staying with current policies is madness. As has been said, doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result is the definition of insanity

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and you think the market price wouldnt go down more than 5%?? lol

Yeah, that's what I think. This is a post QE world. The Fed bought 4.5 Trillion in assets by punching some keys on a computer. They see their balance sheet as near limitless. There will be other bidders as well. Anywho, ain't gonna happen.

Not sure I understand the comments back and forth here.

USA debt is principally in the form of treasury bonds that pay a stated interest rate.

If someone wants to sell their bonds at a discount, ie., for quick capital, it does not affect the payout of the bond nor its face (par) value from the perspective of the USA. Bonds are essentially debt contracts.

Where USA debt is affected is in future bond yield issues and default of bond payments. But bond payments generally cannot default as per the USA 14th Amendment of the Constitution: "the validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law…shall not be questioned.” The remedy to meeting bond obligations when insufficient funds are available is typically to cut entitlement programs such as social security and Medicare, tax deductions and reduce operating costs.

With regard to future bond yields, it is the perception of the health of the nation's economy that will determine what the market will pay for bond interest.

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Trump's put “America First” contradicts his "Make America Great Again."

When pressed to identify when America was great previously, Trump pointed to the Republican administration of President Eisenhower (1953-1961).

The main foreign policy of Esienhower was to contain the USSR during the Cold War. This necessitated extensive foreign aid, grants, debt forgiveness and military mobilization to enhance foreign nations, ability to withstand the Soviet economic and military threats. Exactly the opposite of Trump's current policy.

Trump is a businessman and basically wants to run the country like the CEO and majority shareholder of a corporation. His return on investment is solely money.

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There will not be any Trump foreign policy:

“Registration among Hispanic voters is skyrocketing in a presidential election cycle dominated by Donald Trump and loud GOP cries to close the border,” The Hill reports.

“Arturo Vargas, executive director of the National Association of Elected and Appointed Officials, projects 13.1 million Hispanics will vote nationwide in 2016, compared to 11.2 million in 2012 and 9.7 million in 2008.”

In 2012 President Obama got 72% of the Hispanic vote. This year the Democratic party nominee will approach 80% (or exceed it) with 75% virtually guaranteed. Only older Cuban Americans vote predominantly right wing and Republican yet they are a half-million at the most.

So Donald Trump has built a wall already and it is around his maximum number of voters, which won't be anywhere near enough in respect of any minority group and also women across the board.

US foreign policy will continue to be an institutional foreign policy, not the foreign policy paradigm of one single individual wildman radical strongman who knows less about it than most people reading this post.

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There will not be any Trump foreign policy:

“Registration among Hispanic voters is skyrocketing in a presidential election cycle dominated by Donald Trump and loud GOP cries to close the border,” The Hill reports.

“Arturo Vargas, executive director of the National Association of Elected and Appointed Officials, projects 13.1 million Hispanics will vote nationwide in 2016, compared to 11.2 million in 2012 and 9.7 million in 2008.”

In 2012 President Obama got 72% of the Hispanic vote. This year the Democratic party nominee will approach 80% (or exceed it) with 75% virtually guaranteed. Only older Cuban Americans vote predominantly right wing and Republican yet they are a half-million at the most.

So Donald Trump has built a wall already and it is around his maximum number of voters, which won't be anywhere near enough in respect of any minority group and also women across the board.

US foreign policy will continue to be an institutional foreign policy, not the foreign policy paradigm of one single individual wildman radical strongman who knows less about it than most people reading this post.

Publicus, STOP making yourself look ridiculous.

YOU have been banging the anti-Chinese drum for ages, and yes, Trump IS going to hurt China IF he is elected. Trump is going to reduce the amount of Chinese goods entering into America, and this will hurt China. But, it will also hurt America, because Americans will be paying higher prices at WALMART due to taxes on Chinese goods entering America.

YOUR problem is, is that you hate Trump and love Hillary Clinton, but it is Trump and NOT Hillary Clinton who is going to hurt China. Hillary Clinton will continue the same policy that Barak Obama and George Bush have done during the last sixteen years. Actually. Hillary will continue the policy her husband Bill did, between 1992 and 2000. Basically, Hillary will continue the same policy that has been going on for TWENTY FOUR years. A policy that benefits China (by allowing China to export a mountain of cheap goods) AND America (cheap goods at Walmart).

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There will not be any Trump foreign policy:

“Registration among Hispanic voters is skyrocketing in a presidential election cycle dominated by Donald Trump and loud GOP cries to close the border,” The Hill reports.

“Arturo Vargas, executive director of the National Association of Elected and Appointed Officials, projects 13.1 million Hispanics will vote nationwide in 2016, compared to 11.2 million in 2012 and 9.7 million in 2008.”

In 2012 President Obama got 72% of the Hispanic vote. This year the Democratic party nominee will approach 80% (or exceed it) with 75% virtually guaranteed. Only older Cuban Americans vote predominantly right wing and Republican yet they are a half-million at the most.

So Donald Trump has built a wall already and it is around his maximum number of voters, which won't be anywhere near enough in respect of any minority group and also women across the board.

US foreign policy will continue to be an institutional foreign policy, not the foreign policy paradigm of one single individual wildman radical strongman who knows less about it than most people reading this post.

Publicus, STOP making yourself look ridiculous.

YOU have been banging the anti-Chinese drum for ages, and yes, Trump IS going to hurt China IF he is elected. Trump is going to reduce the amount of Chinese goods entering into America, and this will hurt China. But, it will also hurt America, because Americans will be paying higher prices at WALMART due to taxes on Chinese goods entering America.

YOUR problem is, is that you hate Trump and love Hillary Clinton, but it is Trump and NOT Hillary Clinton who is going to hurt China. Hillary Clinton will continue the same policy that Barak Obama and George Bush have done during the last sixteen years. Actually. Hillary will continue the policy her husband Bill did, between 1992 and 2000. Basically, Hillary will continue the same policy that has been going on for TWENTY FOUR years. A policy that benefits China (by allowing China to export a mountain of cheap goods) AND America (cheap goods at Walmart).

I told my friends living in USA if Trump becomes President , make a beeline to Walmart and do some extreme coupon shopping and stock the garage up with everything for 4 years including toys ...the days of reality is back

Love then to see those middle class families who supported Trump and chanted his name if they feel the same way after their weekly groceries bill shoot up 200-400% for everything non food based

Good thing is maybe we won't have Christmas lights everywhere though around the Neighbourhood and wasting all that electricity :) when the fairy lights cost more than $1but they will have the all important Trump endorsed tag ..."Made in the USA"

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There will not be any Trump foreign policy:

“Registration among Hispanic voters is skyrocketing in a presidential election cycle dominated by Donald Trump and loud GOP cries to close the border,” The Hill reports.

“Arturo Vargas, executive director of the National Association of Elected and Appointed Officials, projects 13.1 million Hispanics will vote nationwide in 2016, compared to 11.2 million in 2012 and 9.7 million in 2008.”

In 2012 President Obama got 72% of the Hispanic vote. This year the Democratic party nominee will approach 80% (or exceed it) with 75% virtually guaranteed. Only older Cuban Americans vote predominantly right wing and Republican yet they are a half-million at the most.

So Donald Trump has built a wall already and it is around his maximum number of voters, which won't be anywhere near enough in respect of any minority group and also women across the board.

US foreign policy will continue to be an institutional foreign policy, not the foreign policy paradigm of one single individual wildman radical strongman who knows less about it than most people reading this post.

Publicus, STOP making yourself look ridiculous.

YOU have been banging the anti-Chinese drum for ages, and yes, Trump IS going to hurt China IF he is elected. Trump is going to reduce the amount of Chinese goods entering into America, and this will hurt China. But, it will also hurt America, because Americans will be paying higher prices at WALMART due to taxes on Chinese goods entering America.

YOUR problem is, is that you hate Trump and love Hillary Clinton, but it is Trump and NOT Hillary Clinton who is going to hurt China. Hillary Clinton will continue the same policy that Barak Obama and George Bush have done during the last sixteen years. Actually. Hillary will continue the policy her husband Bill did, between 1992 and 2000. Basically, Hillary will continue the same policy that has been going on for TWENTY FOUR years. A policy that benefits China (by allowing China to export a mountain of cheap goods) AND America (cheap goods at Walmart).

I told my friends living in USA if Trump becomes President , make a beeline to Walmart and do some extreme coupon shopping and stock the garage up with everything for 4 years including toys ...the days of reality is back

Love then to see those middle class families who supported Trump and chanted his name if they feel the same way after their weekly groceries bill shoot up 200-400% for everything non food based

Good thing is maybe we won't have Christmas lights everywhere though around the Neighbourhood and wasting all that electricity smile.png when the fairy lights cost more than $1but they will have the all important Trump endorsed tag ..."Made in the USA"

Not only will prices jump up x%, but it's a fairy tale to think that American industries will sell off and abandon decades of investment in infrastructure and global planning for supply chains to run back to the US to install factories in a labor market that has priced itself way, way out of contention for basic industries. There is no tax incentive or other plan that makes that work.

Trumpsters love to believe in fairy tales and Santa Claus Trump. Though, to be honest, ol Donald is getting pretty beefy around the middle and could play Santa at the FAO Schwartz Christmas toy sale, but as you correctly state, there will be no toys on the shelves to give to the poor little devils...and Toys "R" Us, the owner, has already closed that NYC flagship store and will be soon heading for chapter 11 bankruptcy under the Donald.

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1. The US doesn't "owe China money." China buys USD in the form of US treasuries so that it can engage in international trade. The USD is the official unit of international trade and NO one will accept Chinese currency for payment of goods or services.

2. If China wanted to sell its USD treasuries it would be out of the trade biz the next day and it is a trade economy - exports.

3. The US Fed can't just "print money" as that is illegal under US law. The Fed sells bonds to raise more money and thus there is the national debt. There would be no debt if they just "printed money" when they need it.

4. There is a liquid global market for US treasuries which outstrips supply. Thus the ability to sell them at little or no interest. They are considered a safe place to park money.

5. IF THE US WANTED TO HURT CHINA it would refuse to sell it treasuries and starve it for USD and crash its import/export biz. That's part of what sanctions are sometimes as happened to Russia.

6. The US is the largest buyer of Chinese exports and any slowdown there would hurt China badly and not the other way around. You can't afford to lose your best customer.

I don't know where some people get their ill-informed NOTIONS but they seem to pass them around like a bottle of warm cheap beer.

Source: I was an international banker for a large US bank for much of my career.

Cheers.

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1. The US doesn't "owe China money." China buys USD in the form of US treasuries so that it can engage in international trade. The USD is the official unit of international trade and NO one will accept Chinese currency for payment of goods or services.

2. If China wanted to sell its USD treasuries it would be out of the trade biz the next day and it is a trade economy - exports.

3. The US Fed can't just "print money" as that is illegal under US law. The Fed sells bonds to raise more money and thus there is the national debt. There would be no debt if they just "printed money" when they need it.

4. There is a liquid global market for US treasuries which outstrips supply. Thus the ability to sell them at little or no interest. They are considered a safe place to park money.

5. IF THE US WANTED TO HURT CHINA it would refuse to sell it treasuries and starve it for USD and crash its import/export biz. That's part of what sanctions are sometimes as happened to Russia.

6. The US is the largest buyer of Chinese exports and any slowdown there would hurt China badly and not the other way around. You can't afford to lose your best customer.

I don't know where some people get their ill-informed NOTIONS but they seem to pass them around like a bottle of warm cheap beer.

Source: I was an international banker for a large US bank for much of my career.

Cheers.

what does america use to pay for chinese goods?

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