Trump Makes Case for Foreign Policy    02/25 06:08

   President Donald Trump's State of the Union address tilted heavily on 
domestic issues, but he also made the case for his foreign policy efforts to 
Americans who are increasingly uneasy about his priorities.

   WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Donald Trump's State of the Union address 
tilted heavily on domestic issues, but he also made the case for his foreign 
policy efforts to Americans who are increasingly uneasy about his priorities.

   The president cheered brokering a fragile ceasefire deal in Gaza and his 
team's bringing home hostages taken by Hamas militants, capturing autocratic 
leader Nicols Maduro in Venezuela and pressing fellow NATO members to increase 
defense spending among his biggest wins. He also warned Iran anew as he builds 
up U.S. forces in the region and weighs whether to carry out new military 
action against Tehran.

   At a moment when polls show the American public increasingly concerned about 
the economy, Trump's assignment Tuesday evening also was to cut through 
thickening skepticism that he's staying true to his "America First" philosophy 
after a year in which his focus was often far from home. It's a wariness shared 
by some who once counted themselves among Trump's closest allies.

   But Trump attempted to make the case that he's taking the right approach 
balancing domestic policy concerns while using America's military might when 
needed.

   "As president, I will make peace wherever I can, but I will never hesitate 
to confront threats to America wherever we must," Trump said.

   Sixty-one percent of U.S. adults said they disapprove of how Trump is 
handling foreign policy, while 56% say Trump has "gone too far" in using the 
U.S. military to intervene in other countries, according to surveys from The 
Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research conducted earlier this 
month and in January.

   Here are a few moments where Trump sought to explain his foreign policy 
approach 13 months into his second term:

   Why he is talking about attacking Iran again

   Trump explained to Americans why he's pondering military action, just eight 
months after he claimed that U.S. strikes had "obliterated" three critical 
Iranian nuclear facilities and left "the bully of the Middle East" with no 
choice but to make peace.

   "We wiped it out and they want to start all over again. And they're at this 
moment again pursuing their sinister ambitions," Trump said. "We are in 
negotiations with them. They want to make a deal, but we haven't heard those 
secret words: We will never have a nuclear weapon."

   Earlier Tuesday, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi wrote on X: "Our 
fundamental convictions are crystal clear: Iran will under no circumstances 
ever develop a nuclear weapon."

   Trump envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner are scheduled to meet again 
Thursday in Geneva with Iranian officials.

   But the pathway to a deal seems murky as the authoritarian clerics who rule 
Iran say they will only discuss the nuclear issue. The U.S. and Israel also 
want to address Iran's ballistic missile program and its support for regional 
armed proxies, including Hezbollah, Hamas and the Houthis.

   Trump struggles to end the war in Ukraine

   Tuesday also marked the four-year anniversary of Russia's invasion of 
Ukraine.

   On the campaign trail, Trump boasted that he would be able to end the war in 
one day, but he has struggled to fulfill his pledge.

   He made scant mention of the war in his record-setting 108-minute speech.

   "The killing and slaughter between Russia and Ukraine, where 25,000 soldiers 
are dying each and every month," Trump said, reiterating that he's working to 
end the war.

   Russian and Ukrainian officials are negotiating in U.S.-mediated talks but 
are at loggerheads over key issues, including Russian demands that Kyiv concede 
Ukrainian territory still in its control and who will get the Zaporizhzhia 
nuclear power plant, the biggest in Europe.

   Trump appears eager for a peace deal before the U.S. midterm elections 
despite the challenges. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says the White 
House has set a June deadline for the war's end and will likely pressure both 
sides to meet it.

   Another victory lap on Maduro and focus on Western Hemisphere

   Trump again celebrated last month's capture of the Venezuelan leader in an 
audacious military operation, saying the U.S. "just received from our new 
friend and partner, Venezuela, more than 80 million barrels of oil." The Trump 
administration had previously said it was orchestrating the effort to sell a 
total of about 30 to 50 million barrels of Venezuelan oil that had been 
stranded by a partial blockade imposed by the administration.

   Trump paid tribute to a helicopter pilot who was wounded in the operation 
but still managed to carry out the mission and paused to award him the 
Congressional Medal of Honor.

   He also introduced a former political prisoner, Enrique Mrquez, who was 
freed by the Venezuelan government last month following the U.S. operation. He 
was a presidential candidate in the 2024 election and a former member of the 
National Electoral Council.

   "This was an absolutely colossal victory for the security of the United 
States," Trump boasted.

   Trump's action against Maduro, coupled with an increasingly aggressive 
posture in the Western Hemisphere aimed at eliminating drug trafficking and 
illegal migration, are a concern for many in the region -- although they also 
have won support from some smaller countries.

   Trump has likened the strategy to the Monroe Doctrine, with its rejection of 
outside influences and assertion of U.S. primacy throughout what the 
administration considers to be "America's backyard."

   U.S. forces, under Trump's orders, have carried out dozens of military 
strikes on alleged drug-running vessels in the Caribbean, seized sanctioned oil 
tankers and tightened the embargo of Cuba as part of what the president is 
referring to as the "Donroe Doctrine."

   "We're also restoring American security and dominance in the Western 
Hemisphere, acting to secure our national interests and defend our country from 
violence, drugs, terrorism and foreign interference," Trump said.

   Tariff strategy following Supreme Court ruling

   The president ahead of the address ridiculed the six justices, including two 
conservatives he appointed in his first term, who last week struck down his use 
of a 1977 legal authority he had cited for most of the tariff hikes he imposed 
over the past year on friends and foes alike.

   In his speech, he took a more measured tone, calling the decision "an 
unfortunate ruling from the United States Supreme Court."

   Trump on Monday threatened countries around the world to abide by any tariff 
deals they have already agreed to.

   Any country that wants to "play games" with the Supreme Court decision, 
Trump posted on social media, will be met with "a much higher Tariff, and 
worse, than that which they just recently agreed to."

   "The good news is almost all countries and corporations want to keep the 
deal that they already made," Trump said Tuesday. He added, "The legal power 
that I as president have to make a new deal could be far worse for them and 
therefore they will continue to work along the same successful path we had 
negotiated before the Supreme Court's unfortunate involvement."