During the 2016 election campaigns, candidate Donald Trump always said that it was necessary for the United States to priorities on its foreign policy. According to Trump, the U.S different priorities were not well articulated to benefit the country. Trump promised the American people that he would work to change the foreign policy to help America improve its political and economic position. Two years down the line after President Trump took over the Office, he is still facing challenges in some foreign policy strategies that he had promised would be his priority. U.S relation with Mexico, North Korea Nuclear weapons, Syria and Islamic state and China and trade are some of the leading foreign policy strategies that have posed a significant challenge to Trump's administration.
U.S relation with Mexico: According to President Trump Mexico has become toxic to the U.S economy over the years despite other administrations not acknowledging the fact. He said that Mexico was benefiting from the American trade more than the U.S was, the U.S was receiving a large number of immigrants from Mexico and the issue of drug lords who had held the Mexican government hostage over the years. Trump’s concern on trade was that American companies like Ford Motor Co. Mondelez International and Carrier Corporation had moved their operations to Mexico. The impact of the move was decreased export for the U.S, the decline in job opportunities for American people and increased exports. Trump vowed to impose a tariff ranging from 15% to 30% to companies that moved their operations to Mexico. Trump planned to stop the significant number of immigrants from Mexico who were seeking asylum in the U.S. He said that his administration would improve immigration policy to restrict the influx in the number of immigrants. The president and his administration have tried several strategies to curb the immigration including building a wall on the Mexican border. However, the policy is yet to make a significant impact as they are not well articulated and not everybody supports the administration in its move, especially majority in American Congress. The strategies are facing financial problems thus becoming hard to implement.
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North Korea nuclear weapons: As Trump took over the presidency from his predecessor, he vowed to prevent North Korea from acquiring nuclear muscles which would pose a significant threat to the United States. The initial plan of president Trump was to use China economic leverage over North Korea to help and slow down nuclear ambitions. The plan, however, failed. China was unwilling to pose any economic sanctions on North Korea. Trump was quoted saying that N. Korea was going to face ‘Fire and furry’ if they did not stop manufacturing and testing their nuclear weapons. However, Pyongyang was unwavering under such threat, and therefore, white house was forced to settle for a diplomatic strategy as Military action would be catastrophic. In June 2017, President Trump met with N. Korea president Kim Jong-un on neutral ground. The only thing that came out of that meeting was an exchange of letters between the two presidents. After that N. Korea continued to make nuclear weapons and testing them which pose a significant threat to the United States and other countries all over the world.
Islamic state in Syria and Iraq: Islamic state has taken root in three countries. President Trump was straightforward in his plan for an Islamic state as he said that the American soldiers were going to remain on the ground until the Islamic state was defeated. However, the plan has become more complex as other countries like China and Russia have been involved in Syria war now. It is, therefore, hard for the U.S administration to take stringent policy strategies as there is fear of crossing other countries. The U.S is working on a diplomatic and military strategy to wipe out militia groups from Syria. Two years down the line the militants are still forming in large groups and growing strong. The Islamic state is reinventing itself and potentially becoming a terror movement that is crippling governance in Iraq and Syria. In recent times, President Trump has been noted saying that they have won the war against ISIS while other members of his administration contradict him by saying that the war on ISIS is far from over. The plan was to withdraw the American military from these regions by December 2018, but the plan is being reviewed as reports of increased activities by Islamic State militants.
China and trade: One of the biggest scares to America is the growth of China and its growth in trade capabilities. China has increased its external expenditure by providing aid to countries in Africa, Latin America, and Asia which increase its diplomatic muscles in these countries. China has increased its trade in Africa and Latin America and it a threat to American trade. China has also increased tariffs on American produced products thus decreasing the market for American products. As a way of retaliating, President Trump suggested that he would impose tariffs on Goods that originate from China. It is two years now, and China is still making significant steps in growing its economy and increasing economic sanctions through trade tariffs against the U.S while there is little that is being done. American scholars believe that Trump's tariffs on Chinese products will hurt the U.S economy.
