Here is a full transcript of the speech.
Thank you for the
opportunity to speak to you, and thank you to the Center for National Interest
for honoring me with this invitation. It truly is a great honor. I’d like to
talk today about how to develop a new foreign policy direction for our country,
one that replaces randomness with purpose, ideology with strategy, and chaos
with peace.
TRUMP: It’s time to
shake the rust off America’s foreign policy. It’s time to invite new voices and
new visions into the fold, something we have to do. The direction I will
outline today will also return us to a timeless principle. My foreign policy
will always put the interests of the American people and American security
above all else. It has to be first. Has to be.
That will be the
foundation of every single decision that I will make. America…
(APPLAUSE)
America first will be
the major and overriding theme of my administration. But to chart our path
forward, we must first briefly take a look back. We have a lot to be proud of.
In the 1940s we saved
the world. The greatest generation beat back the Nazis and Japanese
imperialists. Then we saved the world again. This time, from totalitarianism
and communism. The Cold War lasted for decades but, guess what, we won and we
won big. Democrats and Republicans working together got Mr. Gorbachev to heed
the words of President Reagan, our great president, when he said, tear down
this wall.
(APPLAUSE)
History will not
forget what he did. A very special man and president. Unfortunately, after the
Cold War our foreign policy veered badly off course. We failed to develop a new
vision for a new time. In fact, as time went on, our foreign policy began to
make less and less sense. Logic was replaced with foolishness and arrogance,
which led to one foreign policy disaster after another.
They just kept coming
and coming. We went from mistakes in Iraq to Egypt to Libya, to President
Obama’s line in the sand in Syria. Each of these actions have helped to throw
the region into chaos and gave ISIS the space it needs to grow and prosper.
Very bad. It all began with a dangerous idea that we could make western
democracies out of countries that had no experience or interests in becoming a
western democracy.
We tore up what
institutions they had and then were surprised at what we unleashed. Civil war,
religious fanaticism, thousands of Americans and just killed be lives, lives,
lives wasted. Horribly wasted. Many trillions of dollars were lost as a result.
The vacuum was created that ISIS would fill. Iran, too, would rush in and fill
that void much to their really unjust enrichment.
They have benefited
so much, so sadly, for us. Our foreign policy is a complete and total disaster.
No vision. No purpose. No direction. No strategy. Today I want to identify five
main weaknesses in our foreign policy.
First, our resources
are totally over extended. President Obama has weakened our military by
weakening our economy. He’s crippled us with wasteful spending, massive debt,
low growth, a huge trade deficit and open borders. Our manufacturing trade
deficit with the world is now approaching $1 trillion a year.
We’re rebuilding
other countries while weakening our own. Ending the theft of American jobs will
give us resources we need to rebuild our military, which has to happen and
regain our financial independence and strength. I am the only person running
for the presidency who understands this and this is a serious problem.
I’m the only one —
believe me, I know them all, I’m the only one who knows how to fix it.
(APPLAUSE)
Secondly, our allies
are not paying their fair share, and I’ve been talking about this recently a
lot. Our allies must contribute toward their financial, political, and human
costs, have to do it, of our tremendous security burden. But many of them are
simply not doing so.
TRUMP: They look at
the United States as weak and forgiving and feel no obligation to honor their
agreements with us. In NATO, for instance, only 4 of 28 other member countries
besides America, are spending the minimum required 2 percent of GDP on defense.
We have spent trillions of dollars over time on planes, missiles, ships,
equipment, building up our military to provide a strong defense for Europe and
Asia.
The countries we are
defending must pay for the cost of this defense, and if not, the U.S. must be
prepared to let these countries defend themselves. We have no choice.
(APPLAUSE)
The whole world will
be safer if our allies do their part to support our common defense and
security. A Trump administration will lead a free world that is properly armed
and funded, and funded beautifully.
Thirdly, our friends
are beginning to think they can’t depend on us. We’ve had a president who
dislikes our friends and bows to our enemies, something that we’ve never seen
before in the history of our country. He negotiated a disastrous deal with
Iran, and then we watched them ignore its terms even before the ink was dry.
Iran cannot be allowed to have a nuclear weapon, cannot be allowed. Remember
that, cannot be allowed to have a nuclear weapon.
(APPLAUSE)
And under a Trump
administration, will never, ever be allowed to have that nuclear weapon.
(APPLAUSE)
All of this without
even mentioning the humiliation of the United States with Iran’s treatment of
our ten captured sailors — so vividly I remember that day. In negotiation, you
must be willing to walk. The Iran deal, like so many of our worst agreements,
is the result of not being willing to leave the table.
When the other side
knows you’re not going to walk, it becomes absolutely impossible to win — you
just can’t win. At the same time, your friends need to know that you will stick
by the agreements that you have with them. You’ve made that agreement, you have
to stand by it and the world will be a better place. President Obama gutted our
missile defense program and then abandoned our missile defense plans with
Poland and the Czech Republic. He supported the ouster of a friendly regime in
Egypt that had a longstanding peace treaty with Israel, and then helped bring
the Muslim Brotherhood to power in its place.
Israel, our great
friend and the one true democracy in the Middle East has been snubbed and
criticized by an administration that lacks moral clarity. Just a few days ago,
Vice President Biden again criticized Israel, a force for justice and peace,
for acting as an impatient peace area in the region.
President Obama has
not been a friend to Israel. He has treated Iran with tender love and care and
made it a great power. Iran has, indeed, become a great, great power in just a
very short period of time, because of what we’ve done. All of the expense and
all at the expense of Israel, our allies in the region and very importantly,
the United States itself.
We’ve picked fights
with our oldest friends, and now they’re starting to look elsewhere for help.
Remember that. Not good.
Fourth, our rivals no
longer respect us. In fact, they’re just as confused as our allies, but in an
even bigger problem is they don’t take us seriously anymore. The truth is they
don’t respect us. When President Obama landed in Cuba on Air Force One, to
leader was there, nobody, to greet him.
Perhaps an incident
without precedent in the long and prestigious history of Air Force One. Then
amazingly, the same thing happened in Saudi Arabia. It’s called no respect.
Absolutely no respect.
TRUMP: Do you
remember when the president made a long and expensive trip to Copenhagen,
Denmark, to get the Olympics for our country, and after this unprecedented
effort, it was announced that the United States came in fourth — fourth place?
The president of the United States making this trip — unprecedented — comes in
fourth place. He should have known the result before making such an
embarrassing commitment. We were laughed at all over the world, as we have been
many, many times.
The list of
humiliations go on and on and on. President Obama watches helplessly as North
Korea increases its aggression and expands further and further with its nuclear
reach. Our president has allowed China to continue its economic assault on
American jobs and wealth, refusing to enforce trade deals and apply leverage on
China necessary to rein in North Korea. We have the leverage. We have the power
over China, economic power, and people don’t understand it. And with that
economic power, we can rein in and we can get them to do what they have to do
with North Korea, which is totally out of control.
He has even allowed
China to steal government secrets with cyber attacks and engaged in industrial
espionage against the United States and its companies. We’ve let our rivals and
challengers think they can get away with anything, and they do. They do at
will. It always happens. If President Obama’s goal had been to weaken America,
he could not have done a better job.
Finally, America no
longer has a clear understanding of our foreign policy goals. Since the end of
the Cold War and the breakup of the Soviet Union, we’ve lacked a coherent
foreign policy. One day, we’re bombing Libya and getting rid of a dictator to
foster democracy for civilians. The next day, we’re watching the same civilians
suffer while that country falls and absolutely falls apart. Lives lost, massive
moneys lost. The world is a different place.
We’re a humanitarian
nation, but the legacy of the Obama-Clinton interventions will be weakness,
confusion and disarray, a mess. We’ve made the Middle East more unstable and
chaotic than ever before. We left Christians subject to intense persecution and
even genocide.
(APPLAUSE)
We have done nothing
to help the Christians, nothing, and we should always be ashamed for that, for
that lack of action. Our actions in Iraq, Libya and Syria have helped unleash
ISIS, and we’re in a war against radical Islam, but President Obama won’t even
name the enemy, and unless you name the enemy, you will never ever solve the
problem.
(APPLAUSE)
Hillary Clinton also
refuses to say the words radical Islam, even as she pushes for a massive
increase in refugees coming into our country. After Secretary Clinton’s failed
intervention in Libya, Islamic terrorists in Benghazi took down our consulate
and killed our ambassador and three brave Americans. Then, instead of taking
charge that night, Hillary Clinton decided to go home and sleep. Incredible.
Clinton blames it all
on a video, an excuse that was a total lie, proven to be absolutely a total
lie. Our ambassador was murdered and our secretary of state misled the nation.
And, by the way, she was not awake to take that call at 3 o’clock in the
morning. And now ISIS is making millions and millions of dollars a week selling
Libya oil. And you know what? We don’t blockade, we don’t bomb, we don’t do
anything about it. It’s almost as if our country doesn’t even know what’s
happening, which could be a fact and could be true.
TRUMP: This will all
change when I become president.
To our friends and
allies, I say America is going to be strong again. America is going to be
reliable again. It’s going to be a great and reliable ally again. It’s going to
be a friend again. We’re going to finally have a coherent foreign policy based
upon American interests and the shared interests of our allies.
(APPLAUSE)
We’re getting out of
the nation-building business and instead focusing on creating stability in the
world. Our moments of greatest strength came when politics ended at the water’s
edge. We need a new rational American foreign policy, informed by the best
minds and supported by both parties, and it will be by both parties —
Democrats, Republicans, independents, everybody, as well as by our close
allies.
This is how we won
the Cold War and it’s how we will win our new future struggles, which may be
many, which may be complex, but we will win if I become president.
(APPLAUSE)
First, we need a
long-term plan to halt the spread and reach of radical Islam. Containing the
spread of radical Islam must be a major foreign policy goal of the United
States and indeed the world. Events may require the use of military force, but
it’s also a philosophical struggle, like our long struggle in the Cold War.
In this, we’re going
to be working very closely with our allies in the Muslim world, all of which
are at risk from radical Islamic violence, attacks and everything else. It is a
dangerous world, more dangerous now than it has ever been.
We should work —
thank you.
(APPLAUSE)
We should work
together with any nation in the region that is threatened by the rise of
radical Islam. But this has to be a two-way street. They must also be good to
us. Remember that. They have to be good to us, no longer one way. It’s now
two-way. And remember, us and all we’re doing, they have to appreciate what
we’ve done to them. We’re going to help, but they have to appreciate what we’ve
done for them. The struggle against radical Islam also takes place in our homeland.
There are scores of recent migrants inside our borders charged with terrorism.
For every case known to the public, there are dozens and dozens more. We must
stop importing extremism through senseless immigration policies. We have no
idea where these people are coming from. There’s no documentation. There’s no
paperwork. There’s nothing. We have to be smart. We have to be vigilant.
A pause for
reassessment will help us to prevent the next San Bernardino or frankly, much
worse. All you have to do is look at the World Trade Center and September 11th,
one of the great catastrophes, in my opinion, the single greatest military
catastrophe in the history of our country; worse than Pearl Harbor because you
take a look at what’s happened, and citizens were attacked, as opposed to the
military being attacked — one of the true great catastrophes.
And then there’s
ISIS. I have a simple message for them. Their days are numbered. I won’t tell
them where and I won’t tell them how. We must…
(APPLAUSE)
… we must as a nation
be more unpredictable. We are totally predictable. We tell everything. We’re
sending troops. We tell them. We’re sending something else. We have a news
conference. We have to be unpredictable. And we have to be unpredictable
starting now.
But they’re going to
be gone. ISIS will be gone if I’m elected president. And they’ll be gone
quickly. They will be gone very, very quickly.
(APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: Secondly, we
have to rebuild our military and our economy. The Russians and Chinese have
rapidly expanded their military capability, but look at what’s happened to us.
Our nuclear weapons arsenal, our ultimate deterrent, has been allowed to
atrophy and is desperately in need of modernization and renewal. And it has to
happen immediately. Our active duty armed forces have shrunk from 2 million in
1991 to about 1.3 million today. The Navy has shrunk from over 500 ships to 272
ships during this same period of time. The Air Force is about one-third smaller
than 1991. Pilots flying B-52s in combat missions today. These planes are older
than virtually everybody in this room.
And what are we doing
about this? President Obama has proposed a 2017 defense budget that in real
dollars, cuts nearly 25 percent from what we were spending in 2011. Our
military is depleted and we’re asking our generals and military leaders to
worry about global warming.
We will spend what we
need to rebuild our military. It is the cheapest, single investment we can
make. We will develop, build and purchase the best equipment known to mankind.
Our military dominance must be unquestioned, and I mean unquestioned, by
anybody and everybody.
But we will look for
savings and spend our money wisely. In this time of mounting debt, right now we
have so much debt that nobody even knows how to address the problem. But I do.
No one dollar can be wasted. Not one single dollar can we waste. We’re also
going to have to change our trade, immigration and economic policies to make
our economy strong again. And to put Americans first again.
This will ensure that
our own workers, right here in America, get the jobs and higher pay that will
grow our tax revenues, increase our economic might as a nation, make us strong
financially again. So, so important. We need to think smart about areas where
our technological superiority, and nobody comes close, gives us an edge.
This includes 3D
printing, artificial intelligence and cyber warfare. A great country also takes
care of its warriors. Our commitment to them is absolute, and I mean absolute.
A trump administration will give our servicemen and women the best equipment
and support in the world when they serve and where they serve. And the best
care in the world when they return as veterans and they come back home to
civilian life. Our veterans…
(APPLAUSE)
Our veterans have not
been treated fairly or justly. These are our great people and we must treat
them fairly. We must even treat them really, really well and that will happen
under the Trump administration.
(APPLAUSE)
Finally, we must
develop a foreign policy based on American interests. Businesses do not succeed
when they lose sight of their core interests and neither do countries. Look at
what happened in the 1990s. Our embassies in Kenya and Tanzania — and this was
a horrible time for us — were attacked. and 17 brave sailors were killed on the
USS Cole.
And what did we do?
It seemed we put more effort into adding China into the World Trade
organization, which has been a total disaster for the United States. Frankly,
we spent more time on that than we did in stopping Al Qaida. We even had an
opportunity to take out Osama bin Laden and we didn’t do it
And then we got hit
at the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Again, the worst attack on our
country in its history. Our foreign policy goals must be based on America’s
core national security interests. And the following will be my priorities.
In the Middle East
our goals must be, and I mean must be, to defeat terrorists and promote
regional stability, not radical change. We need to be clear sighted about the
groups that will never be anything other than enemies. And believe me, we have
groups that no matter what you do, they will be the enemy.
TRUMP: We have to be
smart enough to recognize who those groups are, who those people are, and not
help them. And we must only be generous to those that prove they are indeed our
friends.
(APPLAUSE)
We desire to live
peacefully and in friendship with Russia and China. We have serious differences
with these two nations, and must regard them with open eyes, but we are not bound
to be adversaries. We should seek common ground based on shared interests.
Russia, for instance,
has also seen the horror of Islamic terrorism. I believe an easing of tensions,
and improved relations with Russia from a position of strength only is possible,
absolutely possible. Common sense says this cycle, this horrible cycle of
hostility must end and ideally will end soon. Good for both countries.
Some say the Russians
won’t be reasonable. I intend to find out. If we can’t make a deal under my
administration, a deal that’s great — not good, great — for America, but also
good for Russia, then we will quickly walk from the table. It’s as simple as
that. We’re going to find out.
Fixing our relations
with China is another important step — and really toward creating an even more
prosperous period of time. China respects strength and by letting them take
advantage of us economically, which they are doing like never before, we have
lost all of their respect.
We have a massive
trade deficit with China, a deficit that we have to find a way quickly, and I
mean quickly, to balance. A strong and smart America is an America that will
find a better friend in China, better than we have right now. Look at what
China is doing in the South China Sea. They’re not supposed to be doing it.
No respect for this
country or this president. We can both benefit or we can both go our separate
ways. If need be, that’s what’s going to have to happen.
After I’m elected
president, I will also call for a summit with our NATO allies and a separate
summit with our Asian allies. In these summits, we will not only discuss a
rebalancing of financial commitments, but take a fresh look at how we can adopt
new strategies for tackling our common challenges. For instance, we will
discuss how we can upgrade NATO’s outdated mission and structure, grown out of
the Cold War to confront our shared challenges, including migration and Islamic
terrorism.
(APPLAUSE)
I will not hesitate
to deploy military force when there is no alternative. But if America fights,
it must only fight to win.
(APPLAUSE)
I will never sent our
finest into battle unless necessary, and I mean absolutely necessary, and will
only do so if we have a plan for victory with a capital V.
(APPLAUSE)
Our goal is peace and
prosperity, not war and destruction. The best way to achieve those goals is
through a disciplined, deliberate and consistent foreign policy. With President
Obama and Secretary Clinton we’ve had the exact opposite — a reckless,
rudderless and aimless foreign policy, one that has blazed the path of
destruction in its wake.
After losing
thousands of lives and spending trillions of dollars, we are in far worst shape
in the Middle East than ever, ever before. I challenge anyone to explain the
strategic foreign policy vision of Obama/Clinton. It has been a complete and
total disaster.
I will also be
prepared to deploy America’s economic resources. Financial leverage and
sanctions can be very, very persuasive, but we need to use them selectively and
with total determination.
TRUMP: Our power will
be used if others do not play by the rules. In other words, if they do not
treat us fairly. Our friends and enemies must know that if I draw a line in the
sand, I will enforce that line in the sand. Believe me.
(APPLAUSE)
However, unlike other
candidates for the presidency, war and aggression will not be my first
instinct. You cannot have a foreign policy without diplomacy. A superpower
understands that caution and restraint are really truly signs of strength.
Although not in government service, I was totally against the war in Iraq, very
proudly, saying for many years that it would destabilize the Middle East.
Sadly, I was correct, and the biggest beneficiary has been has been Iran, who
is systematically taking over Iraq and gaining access to their very rich oil
reserves, something it has wanted to do for decades.
And now, to top it
off, we have ISIS. My goal is to establish a foreign policy that will endure
for several generations. That’s why I also look and have to look for talented
experts with approaches and practical ideas, rather than surrounding myself
with those who have perfect resumes but very little to brag about except
responsibility for a long history of failed policies and continued losses at
war. We have to look to new people.
(APPLAUSE)
We have to look to
new people because many of the old people frankly don’t know what they’re
doing, even though they may look awfully good writing in the New York Times or
being watched on television.
Finally, I will work
with our allies to reinvigorate Western values and institutions. Instead of
trying to spread universal values that not everybody shares or wants, we should
understand that strengthening and promoting Western civilization and its
accomplishments will do more to inspire positive reforms around the world than
military interventions.
(APPLAUSE)
These are my goals as
president. I will seek a foreign policy that all Americans, whatever their
party, can support, so important, and which our friends and allies will respect
and totally welcome. The world must know that we do not go abroad in search of
enemies, that we are always happy when old enemies become friends and when old
friends become allies, that’s what we want. We want them to be our allies.
We want the world to
be — we want to bring peace to the world. Too much destruction out there, too
many destructive weapons. The power of weaponry is the single biggest problem
that we have today in the world.
To achieve these
goals, Americans must have confidence in their country and its leadership.
Again, many Americans must wonder why we our politicians seem more interested
in defending the borders of foreign countries than in defending their own.
Americans…
(APPLAUSE)
Americans must know
that we’re putting the American people first again on trade.
(APPLAUSE)
So true. On trade, on
immigration, on foreign policy. The jobs, incomes and security of the American
worker will always be my first priority.
(APPLAUSE)
No country has ever
prospered that failed to put its own interests first. Both our friends and our
enemies put their countries above ours and we, while being fair to them, must
start doing the same. We will no longer surrender this country or its people to
the false song of globalism. The nation-state remains the true foundation for
happiness and harmony. I am skeptical of international unions that tie us up and
bring America down and will never enter…
(APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: And under my
administration, we will never enter America into any agreement that reduces our
ability to control our own affairs.
(APPLAUSE)
NAFTA, as an example,
has been a total disaster for the United States and has emptied our states —
literally emptied our states of our manufacturing and our jobs. And I’ve just
gotten to see it. I’ve toured Pennsylvania. I’ve toured New York. I’ve toured
so many of the states. They have been cleaned out. Their manufacturing is gone.
Never again, only the
reverse — and I have to say this strongly — never again; only the reverse will
happen. We will keep our jobs and bring in new ones. There will be consequences
for the companies that leave the United States only to exploit it later. They
fire the people. They take advantage of the United States. There will be
consequences for those companies. Never again.
Under a Trump
administration, no American citizen will ever again feel that their needs come
second to the citizens of a foreign country.
(APPLAUSE)
I will view as
president the world through the clear lens of American interests. I will be
America’s greatest defender and most loyal champion. We will not apologize for
becoming successful again, but will instead embrace the unique heritage that
makes us who we are.
The world is most
peaceful and most prosperous when America is strongest. America will continue
and continue forever to play the role of peacemaker. We will always help save
lives and indeed humanity itself, but to play the role, we must make America
strong again.
(APPLAUSE)
And always — always,
always, we must make, and we have to look at it from every angle, and we have
no choice, we must make America respected again. We must make America truly
wealthy again. And we must — we have to and we will make America great again.
And if we do that — and if we do that, perhaps this century can be the most
peaceful and prosperous the world has ever, ever known. Thank you very much,
everybody. I appreciate it. Thank you.
(APPLAUSE)
Thank you very much.
(APPLAUSE)
Thank you.
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