LEILA FADEL, HOST:
In a few minutes, we'll hear what a career diplomat thinks about President Trump's approach to foreign policy in his first year. Before we do that, though, we look at the facts. The president recently ordered a blockade on all oil tankers into and out of Venezuela that are on U.S. sanctions lists - a dramatic escalation of his pressure campaign against the government of President Nicolas Maduro. It's just one of the latest examples of Trump's aggressive use of power in the region and around the world as he seeks to reshape the global order to U.S. preferences, or at least his own preferences.
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PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: I've restored American strength, settled eight wars in 10 months, destroyed the Iran nuclear threat and ended the war in Gaza, bringing, for the first time in 3,000 years, peace to the Middle East.
FADEL: Now, that's a lot of exaggeration, but it has been a busy year on the foreign policy front, and here to talk about this is NPR White House correspondent Franco Ordoñez. Hi, Franco.
FRANCO ORDOÑEZ, BYLINE: Hey, Leila.
FADEL: Trump campaigned in this idea of ending forever wars, America First, and he's seen as more transactional, having a limited view of when the U.S. needs to engage globally. But in his second term, there's been a lot of focus overseas, right?
ORDOÑEZ: Yeah. I mean, since taking office, he's used tariffs as a weapon against allies, declared war on drug cartels, secured the release of hostages in Gaza, and also cozied up to Russian president Vladimir Putin. He's painted European partners as weak and disdains alliances. Stewart Patrick, who served in the George W. Bush State Department and is now at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, he told me that Trump has taken aim at the post-Cold War order of economic institutions and alliances and basically redefined it through an America First lens.
STEWART PATRICK: The way I have sometimes described is on the eve of America's 250th anniversary, Trump has launched a second American Revolution. He's declared independence from the world that the United States created.
ORDOÑEZ: Now, the White House told me that Trump's acting on his promises to advance American interests, delivering fair-trade deals, pushing allies to increase their defense spending, killing narco terrorists - that's their words - while ending global conflicts around the world to make the world safer.
FADEL: At the same time, you see in his moves and his statements how Trump really seems to be wanting to divide the world between major powers.
ORDOÑEZ: Yeah. I mean, he really does see the world through spheres of influence. I mean, Trump's even cited the Monroe Doctrine in saying that he wants to reassert U.S. dominance in the Western Hemisphere. And that's a big break from past administrations that's prioritized other regions while also confronting the big powers like Russia and China. Trump's instead sought to curry favor with Russia, as we've reported, in a bid to try to end the war in Ukraine.
FADEL: Is this where his actions in Venezuela play a role - not only the oil tankers, but these deadly and very controversial drug boat strikes?
ORDOÑEZ: Yeah. I mean, and also on immigration and the military buildup in the Caribbean, also the controversial $20 billion bailout of Argentina, Trump's made very clear that he wants the U.S. to be the most influential power in the hemisphere and not China or Russia.
FADEL: But isn't China already playing a big role in the hemisphere?
ORDOÑEZ: Yeah. I mean, very much so. Benjamin Gedan, who handled the South America portfolio in the Obama White House, told me that Beijing has been eating America's lunch for decades, and they do this through trade and investment, trying to be an appealing partner.
BENJAMIN GEDAN: Latin America has a lot of problems right now, and the United States really could help. But the policy prescription right now is just bad medicine. It's bringing a military-first approach to a region that needs investment, it needs trade and it needs help for its law enforcement agencies to be able to fight organized crime. None of those are tasks for an aircraft carrier.
ORDOÑEZ: Now, Gedan says the U.S. could instead be building bridges, working to be a partner of choice and not the partner who is feared, which it is now.
FADEL: That's White House correspondent Franco Ordoñez. Thank you, Franco.
ORDOÑEZ: Thank you, Leila. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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