Trump prioritizes commerce over shared values in foreign policy gamble
National Post, 22 May 2025
It is the great Trump gamble, that leading with commerce will achieve what shared cultural values backed by military alliances cannot
President Donald Trump’s preferred communications strategy — of which he has been a master for decades — is the omnipresent, ceaseless commentary on himself and his projects. So when he delivers instead a major foreign policy address, rather than observations on the passing scene from the Oval Office, it bears attention. He did so last week in Saudi Arabia. It was a remarkable contrast to the major foreign policy address he gave early in his first term.
In July 2017 he addressed the “People of Poland” in Warsaw, calling it a “profound honour to stand in this city, by this monument to the Warsaw Uprising,” saluting the presence of the hero of Solidarnosc, Lech Walesa.
Last week he was in Riyadh, addressing the Saudi-U.S. Investment Forum and heaping affectionate laudationsupon the crown prince.
“I like him a lot,” Trump said of Mohammed bin Salman, seated in the front row, flanked by Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk. “I like him too much. That’s why we give so much, you know? Too much. I like you too much.”
In Warsaw eight years ago, Trump spoke of shared civilizational values. In Riyadh, he spoke of commerce, beautiful commerce, and a promise not to let values get in the way.
“Polish heroes and American patriots fought side by side in our War of Independence and in many wars that followed,” said Trump in 2017. “Our soldiers still serve together today in Afghanistan and Iraq, combatting the enemies of all civilization. For America’s part, we have never given up on freedom and independence as the right and destiny of the Polish people, and we never, ever will.”
Today, would there be confidence that, should Russia attack Poland, that Trump would take the Polish side? Might he not, as he is in neighbouring Ukraine, be in favour of a deal, no matter the terms?
The Warsaw address was soaring speech, perhaps the best he has ever given. As it moved toward a conclusion, he sounded Reaganesque, having specifically praised the statue of Ronald Reagan that stands in Warsaw.
“Our own fight for the West does not begin on the battlefield — it begins with our minds, our wills, and our souls,” Trump said in 2017. “Our freedom, our civilization, and our survival depend on these bonds of history, culture, and memory. And today as ever, Poland is in our heart, and its people are in that fight. Just as Poland could not be broken, I declare today for the world to hear that the West will never, ever be broken. Our values will prevail. Our people will thrive. And our civilization will triumph.”
The Warsaw address, deservedly so, received a rapturous response from the people of Poland.
In Riyadh it was different. President Trump was not in an historic square marked by monuments of the fallen; he was in a shimmering palace of commerce and trade, addressing the petro-billionaires of the Gulf and the tech-billionaires travelling with him from home.
After reminding the crown prince that “we won all seven swing states” — an odd boast in a country without elections — Trump praised the “gleaming marvels” of Saudi real estate development, “majestic skyscrapers, the towers that I see.”
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