Trump 2.0: Former admin officials and experts lay out America First foreign policy expectations

An "America First" foreign policy includes focusing on deterrence and building up U.S. military strength while developing a new approach to the Russia-Ukraine war and learning from mistakes made by President Joe Biden, according to foreign policy experts and former Trump administration officials.

In the new book "An America First Approach to U.S. National Security," more than a dozen experts and former officials describe their foreign policy recommendations that may be implemented if former President Donald Trump is re-elected this fall.

"We hope this will be a guide to help a possible new administration in 2025 and future US presidents implement America first policies to keep our nation safe and free and I'm hoping this book serves as an intellectual framework to keep these policies far into the future," Fred Fleitz, vice chair of the America First Policy Institute and Center for American Security told Just the News. 

The America First Policy Institute, which published the book, stresses that it is a non-profit that is unaffiliated with Trump's campaign and that the advice in the book could be used by any presidential administration.

One of the highlights of the book is a chapter focusing on ending the war in Ukraine, which Fleitz lays out alongside Lt. Gen. (Ret.) Keith Kellogg, Trump's former acting national security advisor. 

The chapter focuses largely on why the war started, with Fleitz and Kellogg stating: "We believe the most important way the America First approach to national security could have affected the Ukraine War was to prevent it."

Russian President Vladimir Putin expanded his country's borders under George W. Bush, Barack Obama and Joe Biden, but he did not do so under Trump, which the authors attribute to the 45th president's strength. The authors also state that "Biden’s foreign policy incompetence led to critical U.S. policy errors that needlessly antagonized Putin and emboldened him to order Russian troops to invade Ukraine."

While the authors expressed concern that Biden may make the war in Ukraine worse, they proposed ending the war by urging a cease-fire and settlement wherein the U.S. would continue to arm Ukraine in exchange for requiring the country to participate in peace talks with Russia. To convince Putin to join the peace talks, the U.S. should pledge to keep Ukraine out of NATO for an extended period of time and offer to lift sanctions on the Kremlin after a peace deal is reached. 

Another highlight includes a chapter written by Rep. Michael Waltz, R-Fla., a current U.S. Army officer. He wrote about the implications of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the importance of listening to what the general population thinks, and the the changing nature of warfare, such as the rise in unmanned aerial vehicles.

Trump had a "revolutionary approach to national security," Fleitz told the "John Solomon Reports" podcast last week.

"A lot of people think that the American first approach to security is isolationism or America alone. And that's not true. It means working with our allies," Fleitz also said. 

Additional contributors to the book include former acting Homeland Security Deputy Secretary Chad Wolf, former State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus and former State Department Deputy Special Envoy to Combat Antisemitism Ellie Cohanim. 

Follow Madeleine Hubbard on X or Instagram.