Donald Trump would place his key loyalists in crucial positions within the Pentagon and CIA if he were to become President, according to current and former aides.
By placing his allies in key positions, it would allow him more freedom than to enact his policies without much resistance.
The US’s reliance on China for trade would likely be stamped out, according to the 20 aides and diplomats.
Huge changes to the US’s stance on the Ukraine war could also occur if Trump’s allies occupied key positions in the government.
By placing his allies in key positions, it would allow him more freedom than to enact his policies without much resistance
ReutersDuring his one-term presidency, Trump often struggled to impose his policies on the US national security establishment and he frequently criticised senior officials who tried to curb some of his more extreme plans.
Former Defence Secretary Mark Esper said that twice he objected to the 45th President’s suggestion of using missiles to strike drug cartels in Mexico.
Robert O'Brien, Trump's fourth and final national security adviser, said: “President Trump came to realize that personnel is policy.
“At the outset of his administration, there were a lot of people that were interested in implementing their own policies, not the president's policies.”
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With more allies in key positions, Trump would be able to advance his foreign policy priorities at a much faster rate.
A key proposal of the former President in his current campaign is to deploy special forces to eliminate the Mexican cartels.
The 20 aides also said that Trump would quickly cut back defence aid to Europe and reduce trade and economic relations with China.
O’Brien said a key policy of Trump’s that he would bring in if he came to power would be imposing trade tariffs on NATO countries who did not spend at least 2 per cent of the GDP on defence.
Ahead of the presidential elections next year, Trump now has a group of supporters who have significant foreign policy expertise, according to several advisers to the 45th president.
Robert O'Brien, Trump's fourth and final national security adviser, said Trump would impose trade tariffs on NATO countries who did not spend at least 2 per cent of the GDP on defence
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Ahead of the presidential elections next year, Trump now has a group of supporters who have significant foreign policy expertise, according to several advisers to the 45th president.
If Trump wins the election, he will be a more emboldened and knowledgeable President, according to current and former aides.
The likely Republican candidate has not made clear what his foreign policy would look like, aside from generic claims like ending the war in a single day.
Michael Mulroy, the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defence for the Middle East under Trump, said the former president would likely assign individuals who followed his isolationist brand of foreign policy.
“I think it will be based primarily on loyalty to President Trump,” Mulroy said.
“A firm belief in the kind of foreign policy that he believes in, which is much more focused on the United States, much less on a kind of globalist (policy).”