What does Trump's return mean for US foreign policy: 'America first' or 'America last'?

What kind of foreign policy can Americans anticipate during President-elect Donald Trump's second term in the White House?

J. Michael Waller, senior analyst for strategy at the Center for Security Policy, stated in an interview with Planet Chronicle Digital that Trump's "America first foreign policy" approach is in contrast to Biden's "America last" approach.

Mitch McConnell, the Senate Minority Leader, is pushing for the incoming president to boost military spending in order to strengthen the country's "hard power."

The veteran politician is cautioning against an isolationist stance in foreign policy, stating in a Foreign Affairs article that "our answer to four years of weakness should not be four years of isolation."

McConnell advised Trump to construct his foreign policy on the foundation of U.S. leadership, which is hard power. To restore the military's strength, the administration must prioritize a substantial and sustained increase in defense spending, long-term investments in the defense industry, and immediate changes to accelerate the United States' development of new capabilities and enhance allies' and partners' access to them.

Ignoring the United States' global interests and its adversaries' global designs is to pretend that the US can focus on just one threat at a time, that its credibility is divisible, and that it can afford to shrug off faraway chaos as irrelevant, he argued.

"Big Intel" author Waller clarified that an America-first foreign policy does not equate to isolationism.

He pointed out that the United States should define its national interests narrowly, without implying that every global crisis is of utmost importance to our country.

In Foreign Affairs, Waller argued that McConnell was striving to preserve the bipartisan agreement on the United States' current global obligations, which are putting a strain on our resources, without taking a step back to reevaluate our national interests and determine how to allocate our resources more effectively to achieve them.

McConnell did not respond to Planet Chronicle Digital's request for comment.

Trump has appointed Senator Marco Rubio, R-Fla., as secretary of state, a decision that Waller considered to be an excellent choice.

The U.S. is funding a "stalemate war" in the ongoing Ukraine-Russia conflict, according to Rubio.

Trump has called for a ceasefire.

Immediate ceasefire and negotiations should begin, as too many lives are being wasted and families are being destroyed, and if it continues, it could lead to something much bigger and worse, as he stated in a Truth Social post.

Trump has also called for the release of hostages in the Middle East, warning in a post on Truth Social that if they are not released by when he assumes office, "there will be ALL HELL TO PAY in the Middle East, and for those in charge who perpetrated these atrocities against Humanity. Those responsible will be hit harder than anybody has been hit in the long and storied History of the United States of America," he declared.