WASHINGTON—United States President-elect Donald Trump has once again promised a different US foreign policy approach under his leadership.
“Our foreign policy needs a new direction,” Trump said at a Friday thank you rally in Orlando, Florida, stressing that “instead of rebuilding foreign nations it’s time to rebuild our own nation.” The president-elect emphasized that US “interventions” abroad must stop.
“A Trump administration will focus on vital national security interests,” he told the Orlando crowd.
During the 2016 presidential campaign, Trump advocated for a more isolationist foreign policy than that of President Barack Obama and recent administrations.
Trump’s inauguration will take place on January 20.
Trump made the foreign policy pronouncement as outgoing President Obama warned his successor against provoking a “very significant” response from China by reaching out to Taiwan.
Trump has broken with four decades of US diplomacy by suggesting Washington’s “One China” stance may be reviewed and by accepting a call from Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen.
Beijing regards self-governing Taiwan as part of its sovereign territory and has already expressed anger at Trump’s move.
Tension between the world’s two greatest powers is running high, as was underlined Thursday when Chinese sailors seized an unmanned US naval probe in the South China Sea.
Obama, who leaves office on January 20 to make way for Trump, has taken a cautious stance with the Asian giant and urged the president-elect to proceed with care.
“The idea of One China is at the heart of their conception as a nation,” he told reporters at an end of year news conference at the White House.
“And so if you are going to upend this understanding, you have to have thought through what the consequences are, because the Chinese will not treat that the way they’ll treat some other issues.
“This goes to the core of how they see themselves, and their reaction on this issue could end up being very significant.” Sputnik
