Note to the GOP Foreign-Policy Elite: Swallow Your Pride and Rally Around Trump

Crispin Rovere

Politics,

Some will never be able to reconcile themselves with Trump as the nominee, but make no mistake, the vast majority will.

Two months ago over 120 of the most accomplished Republican foreign policy experts signed an open letter penned by Professor Eliot Cohen. It was an unfiltered condemnation of Donald Trump and his campaign, and concludes with a pledge:

Therefore, as committed and loyal Republicans, we are unable to support a Party ticket with Mr. Trump at its head. We commit ourselves to working energetically to prevent the election of someone so utterly unfitted to the office.

There are some daunting names on that letter; Washington heavyweights who have shaped world events and whose impressive writings have materially advanced our understanding of strategy, conflict, diplomacy, history, and international affairs.

And yet this intervention, like so many others, failed to impact the primary race. Trump is now the presumptive nominee, and in another six months he could very well be President-elect of the United States. Many of these signatories have a lot to offer a future White House administration. The time has come for these legends to reconcile themselves with the Republican Party and support their nominee.

Reports suggest the Trump camp has extended an olive branch to the aggrieved, with senior Trump adviser Paul Manafort personally appealing to their sense of patriotism to join the campaign. Manafort's success in this regard appears mixed. As soon as Cruz dropped out Cohen published another article calling for a third-party run. Other foreign policy experts continue to denounce Trump and refuse to give their support.