Donald Trump, the Defense Budget and National Security

Dov S. Zakheim

National Security, United States

From battleships to boots on the ground in Syria, what does the candidate have in mind for the U.S. military?

When it comes to national security, Donald Trump cannot be pigeonholed. He is neither a neocon, nor a true realist, nor a liberal interventionist. Nor, for that matter, is he a neo-isolationist. In fact, he seems to combine elements of all of the foregoing, and to be driven primarily by reflexive gut instinct rather than by a carefully thought-out set of policies. As he has himself acknowledged, "I watch the shows" to obtain national security advice. And why should he? He claims to have had more training at the (middle and high school level) New York Military Academy  "than a lot of guys that go into the military." Similarly, he has no supporting team of national security experts; after all, such a team would have to draw heavily upon the very Washington/Boston/New York crowd that Trump professes to despise.

With nothing but his gut to go on, Trump's Syria policy is not unattractive: He would "bomb the shit out of ISIS," have American boots on the ground in Syria, refuse to train rebels "we can’t control,” live with Assad because "his replacement would be worse" and work out a modus vivendi with Putin (who has reciprocated by endorsing his candidacy), which would include Russian bombing of ISIS. His reluctance to engage America in every humanitarian crisis will appeal to realist Republicans. His rejection of the Iran deal, on the grounds that Tehran cannot be trusted to adhere to its provisions, reflects the consensus among mainstream Republicans and seems vindicated by recent Iranian missile violations. And his Nixonian refusal to telegraphing his future policy moves stands in stark contrast to President Obama's counterproductive timetables for withdrawing forces from Iraq and Afghanistan.