100 days of Trump. A foreign policy to “make America great again” . From “mother of all bombs” to possible “major conflict” in Asia

The first 100 days of a President’s term, the time at which his power and influence are historically considered be their greatest, are often perceived as a sign of a President’s success and future trajectory while in office. As President Donald Trump approaches this milestone (April 29), EvoNews is looking  at some of the key aspects of his first 100 days – President Trump’s role as Chief Executive and the the way he is shaping the United State’s foreign policy.

President Donald Trump, who campaigned on an “America first” platform, did not shy away from using the power of his office to act on the world stage. Trump’s 100 days in office offer a complex and unpredictable view on foreign policy.

Critics have described this policy as one of a global isolationist, partly because he proposed that the US reduces its commitments abroad and even criticized NATO, an alliance he once called “obsolete.”

Other key initiatives on foreign policy were: the withdrawal from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), the launch of 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles against the Syrian regime of Bashar al-Assad in retaliation for a deadly chemical weapons attack on civilians,

Also, the Trump administration dropped the “mother of all bombs” or MOAB – a massive bomb weighing nearly 22,000 pounds — on a cave complex in Afghanistan to eliminate Islamic State fighters, while the ongoing tensions with North Korea keep escalating with  Trump warning that a “major, major conflict” between the United States and North Korea was possible.

So far, the new president hasn’t pulled the US out of the Paris climate agreement, reversed  Barack Obama’s opening to Cuba, renegotiate Obama’s nuclear deal with Iran, or moved the US embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, all promises made during the campaign rail.

Foreign policy analysts notice there are two elements that define President Trump’s first 100 days in the Oval Office: constant challenge of the political norms and an unpredictability that could be valuable due to its strategic ambiguity.

Here are the top foreign policy moments Donald Trump’s first 100 days if office.

Syria Strike and the Middle East

Donald Trump’s approval of a strike against a Syrian air base this month, he first direct assault on the Assad regime in six years of civil, was perhaps the most dramatic foreign policy action of Trump’s first 100 days.

In the past, Trump’s messages on Twitter strongly advised former President Barack Obama against bombing Syria, and even during the campaign Trump said a vote for Hillary Clinton is a vote for action in Syria.

“We should not be focusing on Syria,” Trump told Reuters in October. “You’re going to end up in World War III over Syria if we listen to Hillary Clinton.”

Nevertheless, after the Syrian regime of Bashar al-Assad reportedly attacked the town of Khan Sheikhoun with sarin gas, Trump ordered 59 Tomahawk strikes on the air base where Assad’s planes are said to have taken off. The president also increased the number of US troops in Syria and made fighting ISIS a top priority of his administration.

“Our nation faces serious and growing threats — and many of them stem from problems that have been unaddressed for far too long,”  Trump  explained.

“I now have responsibility, and I will have that responsibility and carry it very proudly,” he said at a Rose Garden press conference with Jordan’s King Abdullah.

Moreover,  the US president has left the door open to more strikes against Assad for further violations of international laws and norms. The Trump administration insisted the missile strike in Syria was not meant as a significant policy shift away from its primary focus of defeating ISIS, and that it was consistent with the president’s priority of acting in America’s interest first.

Beyond Syria, Trump has moved to tighten relations with traditional Middle East allies such as Egypt and Saudi Arabia, overlooking human rights issues in those countries to partner with them in the fight against terrorism. He has also congratulated Turkey’s Tayyip Erdogan on winning a referendum expanding his authority, challenging democratic rules.

Regarding the 2015 Iran nuclear agreement, which Trump criticised heavily during the campaign, no major change has yet taken place. However, the Trump administration has become more critical of Tehran and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson  said the pact “only delays their goal of becoming a nuclear state.”

Part of the fight against ISIS, Donald Trump signed a revised executive order banning citizens from six Muslim-majority nations ( Syria, Iraq, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen) from travelling to the United States. The so-called Muslim travel ban was blocked in court, so he revised it, but the revised version was blocked as well.

High-stakes diplomacy with China and tensions with North Korea

During his campaign trail, candidate Trump has critized China constantly, citing the the communist country for “its economic assault on American jobs and wealth.” The president also called out Beijing for being “grand champions at manipulation of currency”.

But since he is in office, Trump has nuanced his tone and held a two-day summit at his private club Mar-a-Lago with Chinese President Xi Jinping. After meeting with Chinese official, Trump explained his reversal on China as a currency manipulator in a tweet on April 16: “Why would I call China a currency manipulator when they are working with us on the North Korean problem.”

The officials also discussed about a possible trade deal and a stronger cooperation on the North Korea issue.

Tensions between the US and North Korea have been increasing steadily. North Korea has been pursuing a nuclear missile capable of reaching the continental United States for years.

Trump, like former president Obama, has aimed to pressure China, North Korea’s powerful neighbour, to use its economic leverage over the Kim Jong Un regime.

North Korea, meanwhile, has responded to the Trump administration’s calls for more aggressive action with tough rhetoric of its own. The country’s foreign ministry recently released a statement saying “such intimidation and blackmail can never frighten” North Korea.

On a trip to Japan, South Korea and China, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said that all options are on the table and that the time for “strategic patience” is over. During the UN Security Council, Tillerson warned that failure to curb North Korea’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs could lead to ‘catastrophic consequences.

“The threat of a nuclear attack on Seoul, or Tokyo, is real, and it’s only a matter of time before North Korea develops the capability to strike the U.S. mainland,” Tillerson added.

So far, the Trump administration is pursuing diplomatic and economic options, although the US president said ”a major, major conflict” with North Korea was possible over its nuclear and ballistic missile programs.

However, political relationships with China are not going to be easy given the latest event. When South Korea agreed to U.S. deployment of the THAAD anti-missile system, for example, China responded by putting restrictions on some South Korean companies operating in China and threatening other economic measures.

The Russia Connection and stance on NATO

For months now, the Trump administration has been questioned about its ties between his advisers and the Russian government. The FBI and two congressional committees are investigating Russian hacking and influence operations against the U.S. electoral system and political campaigns, sanctions against Russia over Ukraine are still in place.

The scandal over Russia’s meddling in the U.S. Election is considered by analysts a threat to the Trump agenda and the Trump presidency. Michael Flynn and Paul Manafort, were Trump’s national security adviser and campaign manager. Both have a history of ties to Russia, and both are reportedly under FBI investigation. Attorney General Jeff Sessions was also forced recuse himself from his department’s Russia investigation after misleading Congress about his own contacts with Russia.

Meanwhile, Donald Trump is no longer praising Russian President Vladimir Putin, whose deployment of nuke-ready missiles has raised serious concern within NATO. Back in December, Trump had complimented Putin as “very smart” for not rushing to retaliate after the Obama administration issued new sanctions against Russia.

US troops are still stationed in Eastern Europe and the Baltic states, and Trump has explicitly signed off on implementing an Obama vow to deploy 900 new US troops to Poland.

The relationship with Russia were further complicated by the situation in places like Syria, where Russian President Vladimir Putin has labelled as terrorists and even targeted American-backed rebels. Tensions appeared to increase after Rex Tillerson’s meeting in Moscow with Putin and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

As Russia refused to no longer support Assad in Syria, Trump has proceeded more cautiously with his campaign promise to improve relations with Moscow. The US president even referred to relations with Russia as being at an “all-time low.”

Donald Trump has revised contrarian views he expressed in the campaign against institutions such as NATO and the European Union.

Candidate  Trump stated during the campaign that U.S. taxpayers are paying more than they should for protecting the defense of other nations, including NATO countries.

“The countries we are defending must pay for the cost of this defense — and, if not, the U.S. must be prepared to let these countries defend themselves.”, warned Trump.

Yet Trump changed his position NATO after meeting with the alliance’s secretary-general, Jens Stoltenberg. Speaking after the meeting, Trump said NATO was now “taking care of terror” so it was “no longer obsolete.”

Donald Trump has also described the European Union as “wonderful” and said he is “totally in favour of it”.

“The EU, I’m totally in favour of it. I think it’s wonderful, if they’re happy. If they’re happy – I’m in favour of it,” stated Trump.

However, in  the past  the president praised Britain as “smart” for pursuing Brexit and predicting in the past that  other member states would leave the Union.

“You look at the European Union and it’s Germany. Basically a vehicle for Germany. That’s why I thought the UK was so smart in getting out, ” he explained.

Meanwhile, leaders of the European Union have also raised their concerns regarding his election as president of the United States, with Martin Schulz, the former president of the European Parliament, describing his victory as a “very difficult moment” for the continent.

NAFTA and the Mexico Wall

One of the key promises of Trump’s presidential campaign was to build a wall with Mexico and send a powerful message that undocumented immigrants are no longer welcome in the United States. So far, the President Trump has failed to persuade Mexico to pay for his border wall, as well as the Congress.

Trump also formally pulled the U.S. out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal—although Congress hadn’t ratified it, and wasn’t going to ratify it—and began the process of trying to renegotiate NAFTA, although that could be as difficult as replacing Obamacare, warn political experts. Trump repeatedly described the trade deal as being the “worst” ever, blaming it on encouraging American companies to move factories south of the border. 

Later, Trump said in a statement that he had “pleasant and productive” calls with the leaders of Mexico and Canada.

“It is my privilege to bring NAFTA up to date through renegotiation,” he said. “It is an honor to deal with both President Peña Nieto and Prime Minister Trudeau, and I believe that the end result will make all three countries stronger and better.”

Emphasis on military expenses and the fight against terrorism

The most apparent change in U.S. foreign policy has to do with the way president Donald Trump has has increased defence spending, the pledged to to rebuild the U.S. Military and making a priority the fight against terrorist groups around the world.

Trump’s budget proposal seeks to increase defense spending by $54 billion, while other the budgets for climate change or culture have been significantly slashed.

The administration granted new capabilities to commanders in Yemen and Somalia, allowing them to conduct more airstrikes without individual White House approval. Trump has also returned strike authority to battlefield commanders in Iraq and Syria. Thus, the military dropped one of the world’s largest nonnuclear bombs on an ISIS cave complex in Afghanistan.

In its fight against terrorism, the Trump administration has also targeted what it sees as the world’s leading sponsor of terrorism, Iran, criticising its support for terrorists in Syria, Yemen and Iraq,a s well as their missile test and continued pursuit of a nuclear bomb.