"Your Mission is to Win Our Wars"
By Francis P. Sempa
February 08, 2025
Best Defense
Trump’s broad approach to the world is captured in two phrases that he repeated during the 2024 campaign: “America First” and “Peace Through Strength.”
America First means that our national security interests come first—before “human rights,” before the “rules-based international order,” before allied interests, before combatting climate change, before arms control, before promoting democracy.
Peace Through Strength means formulating and implementing a defense/foreign policy strategy that improves our geopolitical position relative to other great powers to such an extent that our strength will deter attacks on the United States and its security interests.
Trump’s approach is not limited to military power. As George Washington said, the best way to keep the peace is to prepare for war. That was the key to Ronald Reagan’s military build-up in the 1980s, and it worked. Reagan won the Cold War without firing a shot. But the reason he didn’t have to fire a shot was because he invested in military power (a nuclear build-up here and in Europe, a 600-ship navy, strategic defenses), and he exploited the enemy’s economic and political weaknesses and vulnerabilities.
https://www.realcleardefense.com/articles/2025/02/08/your_mission_is_to_win_our_wars_1090110.html
