Return of the Neocons—Trump Appoints Staunch Supporters of America’s Forever Wars to Serve in His Cabinet
Going into the November 5th election, I predicted if the Democrats didn’t cheat, President-Elect Donald J. Trump would win 31 states with 312 votes and win the popular vote by 3% and the GOP would hold the House and pick up the Senate and that is exactly what happened. Trump’s election as the 47th President of the United States has given hope to tens of millions of Americans that his new administration will act to end Biden’s proxy wars with Russia and Iran and will steer clear of an all-out war with the PRC when they blockade China likely sometime early next year perhaps in January around Inauguration Day. Millions of non-Americans abroad likely felt the same sense of relief from Trump’s landslide victory that proved democracy works and the American people still have a choice on who they want to serve as their President.
I have never been more excited about a Republican presidential ticket in my life. Trump now has a mandate from 75 million Americans to fulfill his pledge to end Biden’s proxy war in Ukraine in the first several days of his presidency. He also has a mandate to make peace with China and avoid the outbreak of World War Three over Taiwan and to end our proxy war with Iran in the Middle East while restoring prosperity and freedom to Americans here at home in the interests of healing and uniting our great country. President-Elect Trump recently stated “I am not going to start wars, I am going to stop wars.” That statement is the very definition of a Reaganite policy of policy of peace through strength that enabled us to win the Cold War against the Soviet Union. A similar policy may enable the US to win our Cold War against the People’s Republic of China.
In addition to pledging to end America’s foreign wars, Trump won by pledging to put America First, implement broad revenue-based tariffs of ten to twenty percent on foreign goods—essentially a variation of former House Speaker Paul Ryan’s Border Adjustment Tax which he proposed six years ago, deporting 25 million illegal immigrants and driving down food, fuel and housing prices to make life more affordable for working class and middle-class American citizens. Trump was rewarded with record-breaking support from blacks, Latinos and young adults under thirty years of age.
President-Elect Trump has already begun announcing many of his senior Cabinet member picks, some of them more controversial than others. He announced he has chosen neocon Rep. Mike Waltz (R-FL), a US Army Reserve Colonel, to serve as his National Security Advisor. Waltz served as a Green Beret and served as a counterterrorism adviser to Vice President Dick Cheney (who notably endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris for President) and later opposed withdrawing large numbers of troops from Afghanistan without strict conditions. LTC Darin Gaub (USA Ret.) wrote that “Waltz is well known as a hawkish figure and NEOCON who is more likely to continue to advocate for and push for forever wars than for ending them. If appointed, it remains to be seen how his push for continued conflict will mesh with Trump’s goal of ending it.” However, on the bright side, Waltz is well-informed on the existential threat of super EMP attacked having been briefed by members of the Task Force on National Security which I help lead.
Trump also announced he will nominate Sen. Marco Rubio to serve as his Secretary of State. RFK Jr. reportedly expressed strong opposition to Trump appointing Rubio as Secretary of State while Elon Musk, Charlie Kirk and Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL) cautioned fellow MAGA supporters from believing Trump had chosen Rubio until Trump had officially confirmed the pick. According to Politico, this nomination has provoked major backlash from Trump’s MAGA supporters. Politico reported: “Conservative comedian Dave Smith said Tuesday that Rubio is “a disaster.” “Might as well give Liz Cheney the State Department,” Smith wrote. “Awful sign.” “Rubio? Was Hillary unavailable?” wrote another far-right influencer. Other MAGA acolytes recirculated old Trump Twitter posts about Rubio, including during the 2016 primary, when Trump called him a “perfect little puppet” for the late donor Sheldon Adelson, as well as a “total lightweight” and “overrated politician.”
Glenn Greenwald, a Trump aligned anti-war activist criticized the picks, posting on X: “Trump’s last 3 appointees – Elise Stefanik, Mike Waltz (sic), and Rubio – are war hawks fully aligned with the worst prongs of bipartisan DC consensus.” It seems clear they are not aligned with Trump’s stated America First foreign policy priorities. Unfortunately, Trump’s ‘superhawk’ neocon warmonger Republican establishment picks for Secretary of State with Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) and National Security Advisor with Rep. Michael Waltz (R-FL), could serve to prolong the war in Ukraine indefinitely as they will likely push Trump to demand harsher peace terms for Russia that Putin will never accept.
Before the 2024 presidential election when I was asked during dozens of interviews how I thought Trump’s election would change US foreign policy towards Russia and China, I expressed confidence that Trump would steer clear of wars with both nuclear superpowers so long as Trump didn’t make the same mistake he made during his first term by appointing neocon warmongers and former Iraq war cheerleaders who worked to sabotage all his attempts to end America’s foreign wars in Iraq, Syria and especially Afghanistan. I had hoped that Trump would appoint America First conservatives like Vivek Ramaswamy to his Cabinet. However, it seems he is making the same mistakes in doing so he made during his previous term failing to appoint any America First conservatives/foreign policy restrainers to his incoming administration.
A week ago, I wrote: “I am concerned about the number of neocon imperialist warmongers that are being considered for Trump cabinet positions. Also, he is reportedly being advised by the neocon “America First Policy Institute” think tank on who to pick. We may see a lot of Deep Staters in his second term cabinet. The good news is that if he makes VP Elect JD Vance, his main national security policy advisor, he will make the right decision every time.”
Trump’s neocon Cabinet picks have left his supporters concerned given that there are multiple Trump MAGA supporters on Trump’s transition team. One would think would be strongly advising Trump against some of his counterproductive Cabinet choices who don’t align with his foreign policy views and who could work to sabotage Trump’s America First foreign and national security agenda from within the senior ranks of the administration as well as from Congress with both Houses set to be led by neoconservatives. If Trump’s America First agenda were to be sabotaged by his Deep State Cabinet members and Deep State US Senate Majority Leader, Democrats could take back both houses of Congress in 2026 and then Trump may end up having a failed presidency.
Earlier this year, a host of retired generals and neocons acolytes reportedly briefed Trump at Mar-a-Lago and persuaded Trump to drop his opposition to the Biden-Johnson $61 billion monstrosity. Now, this same neocon cabal that misled Trump to abandon his opposition to further Ukraine aid may be helping to hand-pick his Cabinet officials who will be in charge of determining US foreign policy and national security policy. Suspending aid to Ukraine is absolutely necessary to pressure Zelensky to agree to negotiate an end to the war with Russia so Johnson’s decision to support the Biden Ukraine foreign aid boondoggle has only served to prolong the war several months longer than necessary leading to the deaths of tens of thousands more Ukrainian soldiers. The question is will the neocon cabinet officials Trump is surrounding himself with succeed in convincing him to drop his opposition to forever wars being fought in opposition to US national security interests?
Trump’s choices for Cabinet seem to prioritize loyalty but some of them also seem calibrated to ensure easy bipartisan US Senate confirmation with multiple Democrats voting to support them given Democrats support a hawkish foreign policy particularly with regards to Russia showing he is not overly concerned with picking Cabinet officials who are ideologically aligned with his laudable America First foreign policy agenda. Far-left Democrat members of Congress are also beginning to express support for Trump’s neocon Cabinet picks with whom they align ideologically in terms of supporting America’s failed policy of liberal hegemony. The Hill reports that Democratic Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman said he would vote to confirm his colleague Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) as secretary of State if selected by President-elect Trump.
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