Donald J. Trump’s presidency marked a profound departure from U.S. leadership in areas such as trade and diplomacy, as well as an across-the-board toughening of immigration policies.
In his inaugural address, President Donald J. Trump announces an America First approach to foreign policy and trade, which centers on reducing U.S. trade deficits and rebalancing burden sharing within alliances. Trump promises to “unite the civilized world against radical Islamic terrorism” and emphasizes that “it is the right of all nations to put their own interests first.”
January 23, 2017
Trump directs the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative to withdraw the United States from the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a twelve-country, Asia-focused trade agreement the United States had championed under the Barack Obama administration.
January 27, 2017
No Muslim Ban" stands among protesters." width="520" height="347" />
The president signs an executive order banning nationals of six Muslim-majority countries from traveling to the United States for ninety days. The order, later amended to include an additional two countries, also indefinitely freezes refugee intake from Syria. Days later, a federal judge in Washington State blocks part of the order, beginning a series of judicial challenges. That same week, Trump signs two other executive orders concerning immigration. One directs federal funds to the construction of a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, and the other bars so-called sanctuary cities from receiving federal grants.
April 7, 2017
In retaliation for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s use of the chemical weapon sarin in an attack against civilians, Trump authorizes a limited cruise missile strike on the regime-controlled Shayrat Air Base. U.S.-sponsored measures against the regime at the UN Security Council are blocked by Russia, part of a long-running trend.
May 18, 2017
NAFTA in Ottawa." width="520" height="347" />
U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer notifies Congress [PDF] of the White House’s intent to “modernize” the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). The administration seeks to renegotiate the agreement, whose other parties are Canada and Mexico, to address the U.S. trade deficit in goods, eliminate subsidies it sees as unfair, restore manufacturing jobs, and ease intellectual property restrictions.
May 20 – 27, 2017
Trump makes his first trip abroad as president, traveling to Saudi Arabia, Israel, the West Bank, Italy, Vatican City, Belgium, and Italy. He attends a summit in Riyadh with leaders from more than fifty Arab- and Muslim-majority nations, where he delivers a speech calling on the Muslim world to unite against terrorism. In Brussels, Trump addresses North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) heads of state and government, calling on each of them to “finally contribute their fair share” to the alliance. He does not, however, explicitly state his support for NATO’s Article 5 mutual defense clause. In Italy, Trump participates in the Group of Seven (G7) meeting, where the United States joins a joint declaration on fighting protectionism but withholds its support from one reaffirming the Paris climate accord.
