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Just dropped · Trial Balloon · Ep. 195

Shake Up

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Trial Balloon · Ep. 195: Shake Up

Trump’s Foreign Policy Gambits Are Reshaping the World

January 15, 2026 · 10:39 am ET · Leave a Comment

Time: “Breathtaking bluntness defined Trump’s foreign policy in his first year back in the White House… The sprawl of activity, unmatched by any modern American President, is the Trump Doctrine in action: American power as a lever deployed at will, subject to change at his whim, concentrated not in institutions but in the person of the President.”

“Trump’s frenetic diplomacy—if diplomacy is even the word—has transformed U.S. foreign policy into a ­solo act, casting aside a foreign policy establishment that one predecessor dubbed ‘the blob.’”

“But one element of an establishment is stability. Career diplomats and lawmakers interviewed for this story describe a narrowing circle of influence around the Oval Office, with advisers selected for loyalty rather than expertise.”

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Taegan Goddard

Taegan Goddard

Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire -- which for more than two decades has been one of the nation's most influential political news sites.

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