Trump, in a Rebuke of the GOP Status Quo, Wants To Engage, Not Isolate, America’s Rivals

The president sees Putin and Xi as dealmakers, like him, according to pundits of the ‘realist’ school of foreign policy.

Andrew Harnik/Getty Images
President Trump and Vice President Vance meet with President Zelensky in the Oval Office. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent were also in attendance. Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

A transactional kind of foreign policy is coming to define the grand strategy of the Trump presidency, as Washington moves to engage rivals at Moscow and Beijing not as adversaries, but potential collaborators or cooperators, deserving of a seat at the negotiating table.

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