President Trump: no isolationist

How people don't seem to understand President Trump as they think he is an isolationist but I don't see him like that.

It is not because a leader wants jobs for his own people that that means he wants to close the borders (unless the Mexican border to stop that more drugs can enter the USA). He wants that e.g. cars are made by Americans, sold in the USA and if possible abroad so Americans have jobs. One can disagree with his decision to invest more in fossil fuels instead of renewables but it will (temporarily) provide jobs to people while the rest of the world can decide to do it differently, i.e. invest in renewables. But already during the presidential campaign he indicated he may intervene in the world if necessary while his interest in fossil fuels may be to provide fuel for the army. Indeed, it is not because a president wants jobs for his own people that that means he doesn't want to look outwards as he has strong opinions about North Korea, Iran, Cuba, China, the EU ... .

And thus now president Trump ordered to bomb Syria although on a minor scale. People ask why as he seems to be a friend of Russia. Yes, he says he wants good relations with Russia and warned Russia in advance of the attack. Still, he also said he can no longer watch that innocent children and adults die during Assad's latest gas attack and thus he decided it is finally time to start to deal with a mass murderer who not only kills his own people but also destabilises the region and always supported terrorism. In addition, Iran, a country president Trump dislikes, supports Syria and this can't be. And thus the friendship with Russia may be less important than stopping bad presidents. Still, Russia may pretend to disagree with the attack but may want to send a warning to Assad he can't act against Russia's interest while Russia will continue its attack against Syrians to support Assad as it did before while claiming to fight Isis something president Trump agrees should be done and thus we may expect more refugees. If only president Obama and his allies had acted when he said that a red line would be crossed if Assad would use again chemical weapons against its people, Russia was not yet involved and the situation may have been much less complicated. But they allowed the removal of the chemical weapons (although now it seems some remained) while allowed Assad to continue to use other weapons and finally get help from Russia.

That's why Trump also warns Europe: pay your full contributions to the NATO and help in your own defence or don't count on us. And he is right. Because if war comes, as Europe invested too little in its defence in the past and today although sold weapons to others, it will have to send humans with old equipment while the USA will be able to send (manned and unmanned) the latest technologies while intelligence information can be used to hit the right targets. Indeed, every country should invest sufficient resources to have the best equipment to secure its safety and that of others and not merely rely on others. Further, it is not sufficient to accept refugees when the result is a destabilisation of countries so the wrong parties gain power, also the sources of a refugee crisis needs to be tackled and that is a dictator and his ally Isis who bring terror in their country. Further, if the U.N. doesn't want to impose its own rules that countries can't use chemical weapons and wants to negotiate with a mass murderer, then one day some leaders will act when they can no longer accept the slaughter of innocent people while others will act for their own agenda. Because, as long as Assad remains, the region will continue to be unstable because few will accept Assad after the murders of so many of his own people although I understand that his removal will not solve the crisis immediately as we have seen in Iraq as other players are involved such as Isis.

And Europe? It may probably continue to try to close its borders and criticise those who help the refugees who try to escape war. Europe may even try to reach a deal with Assad and other regimes so it can send back the refugees and thus in effect support Russia's solution, certainly if parties become more extreme in order to prevent extreme right gains power as people no longer want more refugees. Still, even when the refugee crisis may stop, EU countries are now already starting to quarrel internally as they are angry one country want to leave what some seem to consider as the country "EU".

Mr Trump, so much cleverer than many think and the reason why he became so wealthy but now also seems to be able to unite both Democrats and Republicans, something president Obama never achieved in his 8 years in power although he looses the support of old allies. Indeed, throughout history, the USA never hesitated (such as during WWI and II) to sacrifice its own soldiers to liberate others and spread democracy while Europe but also most other countries only fought when they saw an opportunity to gain influence at the expense of others. That's why, although the USA made mistakes, I still prefer them than a country like Russia that was mainly supported by extreme left when Stalin was in power and now by extreme right since Putin is president.