America Alone – Part 2

Over the past week, we have seen significant changes to American foreign policy under the guise of America First, or claiming to do what is best for America. As I mentioned in the post I am re-sharing here, 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐞 𝐩𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐀𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐚 𝐅𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭, 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐀𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐚 𝐀𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐞.

In the weeks that have followed that post, we have seen considerably more moves that threaten the status of America as a cooperative partner for our allies. Just this week we have seen:

• Donald Trump has again threatened tariffs on our allies, implementing some and rescinding others. Even the tariffs that get cancelled create chaos and uncertainty, driving away partners who prefer stability. 𝐈𝐧 𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐥𝐲, 𝐂𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐝𝐚 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐬𝐨 𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐮𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐟𝐟𝐬, 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐡𝐮𝐫𝐭 𝐟𝐚𝐫𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐲, 𝐚𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐰𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐀𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐄𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐨𝐦𝐲. 𝐌𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐧𝐮𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐮𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐨𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐮𝐩𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐚𝐥 𝐨𝐟 𝐀𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐝𝐞.

• In addition to military aid, Donald Trump has stopped intelligence sharing with Ukraine, giving a major boost to one of the biggest American adversaries internationally, Vladimir Putin’s Russia. 𝐈𝐧 𝐚𝐝𝐝𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐭 𝐧𝐮𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐬𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐨𝐧 𝐑𝐮𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐚. 𝐎𝐧 𝐭𝐨𝐩 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭, 𝐃𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐝 𝐓𝐫𝐮𝐦𝐩 𝐢𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐝𝐥𝐲 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐞𝐠𝐚𝐥 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐔𝐤𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐚𝐧𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐟𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐯𝐢𝐨𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐔𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬. 𝐈𝐧 𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐥𝐲, 𝐰𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐬 – 𝐄𝐮𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐔.𝐊. 𝐛𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐧 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐮𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐠𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐔𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬.

• Donald Trump has threatened the use of the military on Mexico’s Cartels which would invade the sovereignty of a major trade partner. 𝐖𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐈 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐔𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐧𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐌𝐞𝐱𝐢𝐜𝐨 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐩 𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐥 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐬, 𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐦𝐚𝐣𝐨𝐫 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐧𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐧 𝐌𝐞𝐱𝐢𝐜𝐨 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐛𝐞 𝐭𝐨𝐥𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝.

• Donald Trump has made major cuts to USAID, even ignoring several court orders to restore some of that aid, which helps fund health and food assistance programs around the world. As this aid is given primarily by funding American companies and farmers to provide that aid, this will significantly harm the American economy. 𝐈𝐧 𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐥𝐲, 𝐰𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐫𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐬𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝. 𝐈𝐧 𝐚𝐝𝐝𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐬𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭, 𝐰𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐡 𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐬 𝐟𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐞𝐫, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐬 𝐰𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐡 𝐨𝐟 𝐚 𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐜, 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐬𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰𝐬 𝐧𝐨 𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬.

As Representative Zach Nunn said (before Trump became President):

“Standing up to Russia is in America’s best interest because an unchecked autocrat in Russia today empowers the Chinese Communist Party in Taiwan or state-sponsors of terrorism in Iran against Israel. Because we live in an ever-increasingly connected world, 𝐀𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐚 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐬 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐮𝐩 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐬 𝐚𝐛𝐫𝐨𝐚𝐝.” I agree Zach, so please stand up for our national interests abroad.

Please join me in reaching out to your members of Congress to stand up for American interests and encourage Senators Grassley and Ernst, along with Representative Nunn to remember their past comments and stand up against this President and demand he 𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐩 𝐛𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐀𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐚 𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐞.

Again, here are the Des Moines office phone numbers of my congressional representation, please reach out to yours.

𝐂𝐡𝐮𝐜𝐤 𝐆𝐫𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐥𝐞𝐲 – (𝟓𝟏𝟓) 𝟐𝟖𝟖-𝟏𝟏𝟒𝟓

𝐉𝐨𝐧𝐢 𝐄𝐫𝐧𝐬𝐭 – (𝟓𝟏𝟓) 𝟐𝟖𝟒-𝟒𝟓𝟕𝟒

𝐙𝐚𝐜𝐡 𝐍𝐮𝐧𝐧 – (𝟓𝟏𝟓) 𝟒𝟎𝟎-𝟖𝟏𝟖𝟎

Thank you for reading.