Uncle Sam is getting pushed around by the rest of the world, and we aren’t going to take it anymore. That is the gist of President Trump’s “America First” doctrine. But let’s cut No. 45 some slack. He is not the first to chop away at the made-in-the-USA global order designed by Harry S. Truman 70 years ago. Pride of place must go to No. 44, Barack Obama.
What, that exemplar of internationalist virtue? True, President Obama did not trumpet “America First.” His standard shibboleth was “It’s time for a little nation-building at home,” echoing George McGovern’s “Come home, America!” from 1972. Let’s lay down the burden and mend crumbling bridges and failing schools, Mr. Obama suggested. Cut to Mr. Trump, who wants to invest $1 trillion in the domestic infrastructure.
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