International | The Telegram

Why Donald Trump is a globalist

The mystery of an America First president fascinated by foreigners’ disputes

A dove holding a branch with dollar bills instead of leaves.
Illustration: Chloe Cushman
|5 min read

FOR A SELF-STYLED America Firster, President Donald Trump is strikingly keen on solving other countries’ problems. Even as Mr Trump began a business-focused tour of Arab states on May 13th, geopolitical disputes on several continents had a claim on his attention. In the few days before he flew to the Middle East, Mr Trump suggested that he is just the man to end conflicts in Ukraine and in Gaza, halt Iran’s nuclear ambitions and broker a solution to India and Pakistan’s decades-old contest over Kashmir. For good measure, he hailed a 90-day pause of the highest US-China tariffs as great for “unification and peace”. Alas, that promptly set nerves a-jangling in Taiwan, since “peaceful reunification” is China’s euphemism for conquering that democratic island.

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This article appeared in the International section of the print edition under the headline “Donald Trump is a globalist”

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