Inside the Battle Over Trump s Foreign Policy | The Free Press

There are three hot wars gripping the planet as Donald Trump prepares for his second term: the war in Ukraine, the battle in the Middle East, and an escalating fight in Washington for influence over his national security strategy.

This last war isn t taking place across a border or over Iranian airspace, but mostly on X, where potential appointments and bans are being litigated by comedians and campaigns are being run by surrogates of hopefuls against other hopefuls.

Key protagonists in this early struggle include, on one side, Trump s eldest son, Don Jr.; talk show host Tucker Carlson; billionaire industrialist Elon Musk; and a politically incongruous mix of viral podcasters and politicians. On the other side are several people from Trump s first term, leading Republican lawmakers, and military veterans.

This conflict over the transition claimed its first victims on Saturday when Trump announced on social media that two stalwarts from his first administration former secretary of state Mike Pompeo and ex-ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley won t be serving in his second term. There were at least 25 people who called the president and said: It s got to be Mike Pompeo, a senior Republican official told The Free Press. And none of it mattered.  

The defenestration of Pompeo and Haley, followed by some political muscle-flexing on X by Trump Jr. and Carlson, unnerved a number of Republican leaders and Trump administration veterans involved in the transition. Talking on background to The Free Press Sunday, they said they fear Trump s inner circle is pushing for a national security team that will be reluctant to use U.S. military power to back American allies in Europe, the Middle East, and Asia. 

via www.thefp.com

This is very consequential. They had better get it right.