Not a Time for Isolationism

Dec 13 2024 The New York Times

The First New Foreign Policy Challenge for Trump Just Became Clear

Thomas L. Friedman on Syria.

Memo to the secretary of state-designate, Marco Rubio: You may not realize it yet, but if confirmed, your first big challenge as President Donald Trump’s top diplomat may be to persuade him to abandon all of the isolationist-America-First-not-sure-we-want-to-stay-in-NATO-who-needs-allies-who-cares-about-“shithole”-countries rhetoric that Trump is known for, so you can help with — dare I say it — nation-building in Syria.