For years, my father has been trying to restore an American foreign policy that puts Americans first. Since he began his 2015 campaign and even before, he saw that the foreign policy we had pursued for decades had led us to unnecessary and costly wars, deindustrialized our country, and cost regular Americans their lives, wealth, and freedoms.
Yet for many years my father was essentially alone. In fact, in his first term he was surrounded by many who pretended to agree with him, only to work at cross-purposes behind his back. This is why he has repeatedly said that the biggest lesson for him of his first term was to get the right people to implement his America First foreign policy vision. These are people who actually believe in that foreign policy and have the integrity and strength of character to push it through in the face of the opposition of the failed establishment that has tried to use every tool to frustrate and even jail him.
No one fits this category better than Elbridge Colby. Colby has been described by both friend and foe of the MAGA movement as the leading thinker of an America First foreign policy. My father, when announcing his nomination, rightly described him as a “highly respected advocate for our America First foreign and defense policy.”
What are Colby’s views and why do they fit so well with America First? Well, he starts off in exactly the right place – with the concrete interests of the American people, not abstractions like "the rules based international order" or spreading democracy in the Middle East. In other words, his foreign policy approach actually puts Americans first.
This makes him a realist—a realist for America, like my father and Vice President J.D. Vance. Like a business leader thinking of his shareholders’ interests, Colby approaches foreign policy practically, trying to get the best results for the American people. This makes him sometimes harder line, and sometimes more open to negotiations. But this isn’t inconsistency. His goal, like my father’s, is to try to maximize the strength, wealth, and well-being of the American people while, wherever possible, avoiding war.
In the case of our territorial integrity and protecting America from drugs and an immigration invasion, he is hard line for restoring our border, ensuring our laws are respected, and combating the scourge of fentanyl.
In the case of China, he recognizes how uniquely powerful China is compared to other nations, so he urges us to focus our strength and attention on balancing China in Asia. He argues that we must focus our military—depleted after Biden’s inattention and frittering—on the PRC. But at the same time, he supports my father in his openness to negotiation with Xi Jinping and avoiding poking the dragon in the eye unnecessarily. This seems contradictory to some who are hostage to an ideological approach to foreign policy. But when you consider that the American people would benefit most from a balance of power with China that avoids war, it makes perfect sense.
In the case of Europe, Colby is exactly on the message that Vice President Vance and Secretary of Defense Hegseth gave to the Europeans earlier this month. America, Colby argues, does not have a permanent obligation to subsidize European welfare states, least of all to be hectored by censorious European leaders. Rather, he has consistently argued that the way to save NATO for the future is, as my father has always said, for Europeans to field real armies, not just fake it. And he supports the Administration’s approach to end the tragic war in Ukraine and avoid an unnecessary war with Russia.
In the case of the Middle East, Colby is a stalwart supporter of the U.S.-Israel alliance. He has strongly and consistently supported Israel publicly and privately, especially after the barbaric attacks of October 7th. He is completely in line with my father and his most pro-Israel administration in American history.
Colby is also fully in line with my father on the issue of Iran. Colby has repeatedly said he opposes a nuclear-armed Iran, and fully supports my father’s policy to prevent that. He knows that America must have good options to back up that threat, and believes in providing Israel with the weapons and capabilities it needs to fight its own fights. But just the same Colby is also with my father in wanting to avoid a large Middle East war if at all possible. Like my father, he is not a fanatic, looking for a war; he is practical, tough but looking for a non-military solution if possible. After twenty years of failed wars in the Middle East, isn’t that just common sense?
It is actually shocking that Colby’s nomination is getting any pushback at all. His views are obviously and clearly deeply consistent with my father’s and the overwhelming majority of Americans who supported him and his agenda. Colby is obviously qualified.
The reason he is getting flak is because he is committed to advancing the America First vision and is eminently qualified to do so. In past years, Colby would be stabbed in a political dark alley. But now with the MAGA movement awake and alive to the deep state, we can – and must – fight back.
This is a crucial test. We cannot fail. Colby must be confirmed.
