The author and political figure regarded by many as the father of the modern populist-nationalist brand of conservatism feels that with Steve Bannon's departure from the White House, the maintenance of a non-interventionist foreign policy is up to President Donald Trump alone.
"Whether we get deeper into the wars in Ukraine, Syria, Afghanistan, and potentially Korea and the Persian Gulf is all up to Trump now," said Pat Buchanan, nationally syndicated columnist and best-selling author.
Buchanan, a White House aide to three Republican presidents and himself a three-time presidential candidate, made his feelings known to Newsmax as the president was prepared to announce a new U.S. policy in Afghanistan.
Trump, in Buchanan's words, "knows that he ran and won on his promise to the American people to reduce U.S. involvemnt in Middle East wars and resist the Russophobia of the 'War Party' [Buchanan's phrase for 'establishment' Republicans] and work out a rapprochement with Russia."
The longtime conservative activist sought the Republican nomination for president in 1992 and '96 on a platform that many called a "prequel" to Trump's own manifesto in the 2016 campaign: rejection of multilateral agreements with foreign countries, renegotiation of several major foreign trade agreements, a hard-line against illegal immigration, and a "non-interventionist" foreign policy based on U.S. interests.
In 2000, Buchanan bolted the Republican Party to run as the candidate of the small Reform Party (which, interestingly, Trump considered joining and then rejected).
Although political enemies have denounced Buchanan's foreign policy views as "isolationist," the pundit-politician insists they are out of an honorable Republican tradition.
"Ending old wars and staying out of new ones is the legacy of Eisenhower, Nixon, and Reagan," he said. "The two longest wars in our history, Iraq, and Afghanistan, are the legacy of George W. Bush."
John Gizzi is chief political columnist and White House correspondent for Newsmax. For more of his reports, Go Here Now.
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