Donald Trump the peace president

Donald Trump's State of the Union speech got mixed reviews in the British press. It did show that his second year in office was short on achievements other than winning the Judge Kavanaugh tussle. Pat Buchanan says it also reveals a winning strategy for the President in the election next year (so soon!) based on opposing abortion and socialism. 

If he succeeds in doing something about illegal immigration so much the better for him and everyone else. If he does not then his failure should win him votes. Unless electors ask why he did he not build his wall, or whatever it will be, when his party controlled both houses of Congress. 

They might. They are not fools. 

 I was pleased by these words in the speech:

“as a candidate for president, I loudly pledged a new approach…. Great nations do not fight endless wars.”

This did not get warm applause because it was not welcomed by congressmen of either party. The Democrats are now suddenly the war party again and the Republicans and defence establishment are still wedded to playing a big role in the Middle East.

But it looks as though Mr Trump is sticking to his guns, or rather taking his guns away. An article called Trump’s Eyeball-to-Eyeball’ Orders to the Generals on Syria in American Conservative by Mark Perry cheered me up. If it is right, the Americans are leaving Syria.


Mr Trump's foreign policy looks chaotic but I hope and think it is more consistent than it appears. He is right about the Chinese threat and that Russia is not a threat to the West. I wish he didn't think Iran a threat, when she obviously is NOT, but I also think that a deal has been made whereby America Syria leaves to Russia to solve with guarantees to Israel that Iran will not threaten Israeli security from Syrian territory.

Mr Trump reminds me of Enoch Powell and his discussion about values with Margaret Thatcher at the Conservative Philosophy Group, as described by John Casey.

'Edward Norman (then Dean of Peterhouse) had attempted to mount a Christian argument for nuclear weapons. The discussion moved on to ‘Western values’. Mrs Thatcher said (in effect) that Norman had shown that the Bomb was necessary for the defence of our values. Powell: ‘No, we do not fight for values. I would fight for this country even if it had a communist government.’ Thatcher (it was just before the Argentinian invasion of the Falklands): ‘Nonsense, Enoch. If I send British troops abroad, it will be to defend our values.’ ‘No, Prime Minister, values exist in a transcendental realm, beyond space and time. They can neither be fought for, nor destroyed.’ Mrs Thatcher looked utterly baffled. She had just been presented with the difference between Toryism and American Republicanism. (Mr Blair would have been equally baffled.)'

An article by Dominic Green in CapX gave the speech a goodish review. He said:

'The Democrats looked petty, divided and distant from ordinary Americans, and that made Trump, who is also petty, divisive and distant, sound thoughtful, moderate and reasonable. If he is able to pull off this unlikely act, and joke his way into an impersonation of a witty statesman, it’s because the Democrats are determined to keep feeding him the lines. And he is nothing if not a comedian. To paraphrase Sammy Davis, Jnr., it’s Trump’s world. We just live in it.'

The closing words of the speech seem to me to be very good. I wish he hadn't spoken of equality as a good thing but he is trying to win votes so I forgive him. Anyway Americans are obliged to believe in equality, and to pursue happiness, by law.

When American soldiers set out beneath the dark skies over the English Channel in the early hours of D-Day, 1944, they were just young men of 18 and 19, hurtling on fragile landing craft toward the most momentous battle in the history of war.

They did not know if they would survive the hour. They did not know if they would grow old. But they knew that America had to prevail. Their cause was this nation, and generations yet unborn. Why did they do it? They did it for America — they did it for us. Everything that has come since — our triumph over communism, our giant leaps of science and discovery, our unrivalled progress toward equality and justice — all of it is possible thanks to the blood and tears and courage and vision of the Americans who came before.

Think of this Capitol — think of this very chamber, where lawmakers before you voted to end slavery, to build the railroads and the highways, to defeat fascism, to secure civil rights, to face down an evil empire. Here tonight, we have legislators from across this magnificent republic. You have come from the rocky shores of Maine and the volcanic peaks of Hawaii, from the snowy woods of Wisconsin and the red deserts of Arizona, from the green farms of Kentucky and the golden beaches of California. Together, we represent the most extraordinary nation in all of history.

What will we do with this moment? How will we be remembered? I ask the men and women of this Congress, look at the opportunities before us. Our most thrilling achievements are still ahead.

Our most exciting journeys still await. Our biggest victories are still to come. We have not yet begun to dream. We must choose whether we are defined by our differences — or whether we dare to transcend them. We must choose whether we will squander our inheritance — or whether we will proudly declare that we are Americans. We do the incredible. We defy the impossible. We conquer the unknown. This is the time to reignite the American imagination. This is the time to search for the tallest summit, and set our sights on the brightest star.

This is the time to rekindle the bonds of love and loyalty and memory that link us together as citizens, as neighbours, as patriots. This is our future — our fate — and our choice to make. I am asking you to choose greatness. No matter the trials we face, no matter the challenges to come, we must go forward together. We must keep America first in our hearts. We must keep freedom alive in our souls. And we must always keep faith in America’s destiny — that one nation, under God, must be the hope and the promise and the light and the glory among all the nations of the world! Thank you. God bless you, God bless America. Thank you very much.