President Trumpâs effort to refocus national security policy on China is being resisted by government bureaucrats and by some within his own administration, Republican Sen. Josh Hawley said on Monday.
âI think the president has had trouble finding allies within his own administration that will actually carry out his point of view on this,â Hawley told reporters after delivering a speech on foreign policy at the Center for a New American Security.
âSo I think that, you know, he has constantly found himself resisted by various elements of the bureaucracy and sometimes members of his own staff in actually carrying out what he wants to do.â
Trump himself has voiced concerns about the issue since his earliest days in office. Most recently, on Oct. 23, he tweeted: âIt would be great if people within the Trump Administration, all well-meaning and good (I hope!), could stop hiring Never Trumpers, who are worse than the Do Nothing Democrats. Nothing good will ever come from them!â
It would be really great if the people within the Trump Administration, all well-meaning and good (I hope!), could stop hiring Never Trumpers, who are worse than the Do Nothing Democrats. Nothing good will ever come from them!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 23, 2019
In terms of national security goals, the administration in 2017 and 2018, respectively, published its National Security Strategy and National Defense Strategy to refocus on great power competition with rivals like China and Russia.
âWeâve got to be very focused on pursuing these interests. And our forever wars with massive troop presence, ground troop presence in the Middle East, in service of no particular end, they have got to end,â Hawley said on Monday. âAnd I think thatâs as right today as it was in 2017 and 2018.â
Hawley’s comments followed a speech wherein he argued that the United States needs to focus on the threat posed by China in the Pacific region.
The Missouri senatorâs arguments corresponded with some ideas Trump has proposed, including protecting middle-class workers from Chinese trade practices and pushing European allies to invest more in their own security. Hawley lambasted Germany specifically for failing to meet NATO military spending expectations while cozying up to Chinese Communist Party-influenced companies like Huawei and pursuing energy projects with Russia.
âItâs a disaster,â Hawley told the Washington Examiner. âGermany is not headed in a direction that is good for European security. They are going to have to do much more.â
There is a generational gap in foreign policy thinking on Capitol Hill, said Hawley, 39. He criticized an older generation of Republicans and Democrats as suffering from a âCold War hangoverâ and for believing the era of great power competition is over.
âIt turns out that the balance of power is back. It turns out we are not the only powerful country in the world, nor do we need to be,â Hawley said. âWe just need to make sure that no hegemon, no imperial power, comes to dominate any other region of the globe.â
