Trump’s Chaotic Foreign Policy
David Klion on restrainers, neo-conservatives, and a flaky president.
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Trump’s Chaotic Foreign Policy w/ David Klion / The Time of Monsters with Jeet Heer
There’s an ongoing feud in the Trump administration between restrainers (advocates of a less hawkish foreign policy) and neoconservatives (advocates of militarism on multiple fronts). David Klion wrote about this conflict for the Nation but notes that the ideologies are less important than the fact that Trump is an impulsive bully who often changes his mind. I talked to David about this conflict and the larger incoherence of right-wing foreign policy.
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Donald Trump speaks during an event in the Oval Office of the White House on August 6, 2026, in Washington, DC.
(Alex Wong / Getty Images)There’s an ongoing feud in the Trump administration between restrainers (advocates of a less hawkish foreign policy) and neoconservatives (advocates of militarism on multiple fronts). David Klion wrote about this conflict for the Nation but notes that the ideologies are less important than the fact that Trump is an impulsive bully who often changes his mind. I talked to David about this conflict and the larger incoherence of right-wing foreign policy.
Subscribe to The Nation to support all of our podcasts: thenation.com/subscribe.
The Nation Podcasts
Here's where to find podcasts from The Nation. Political talk without the boring parts, featuring the writers, activists and artists who shape the news, from a progressive perspective.
The Obama Center as a Tomb of Neoliberalism w/ Kate Wagner / The Time of Monsters with Jeet Heer
My Nation colleague Kate Wagner has written a brilliant critical essay on the Obama Center, which just opened in Chicago. I talk to her about how the history of presidential libraries, a now anachronistic form as well as the controversies surrounding the Obama Center’s displacement of public space and the dissatisfying way it memorializes the Obama presidency.
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