Today is the anniversary of the first annual presidential address delivered by George Washington, and his advice about the means of preserving peace is good context for understanding the Trump administration‘s current policy in facing down hostile powers.
On Jan. 8, 1790, Washington pointed out in his annual address, precursor to the modern State of the Union address, that of “the many interesting objects which will engage your attention that of providing for the common defense will merit particular regard. To be prepared for war is one of the most effectual means of preserving peace.” How true that is — and it’s the policy now of the Trump administration too.
Washington followed the above wise observation with the famous statement: “A free people ought not only to be armed, but disciplined; to which end a uniform and well-digested plan is requisite; and their safety and interest require that they should promote such manufactories as tend to render them independent of others for essential, particularly military, supplies.”
This quote is often and rightly used to support Second Amendment rights, but the whole passage also clearly applies to foreign policy. A nation must be prepared for war to preserve peace because there will always be dictatorships that are looking out for any weakness before striking.
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This is why Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine under the Biden administration, why America’s worst enemies including the regimes of Iran and China openly made economic and military alliances against America, and why petty dictators like Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro grew accustomed to blowharding about American impotence. Joe Biden had dementia and his handlers were unpatriotic, self-serving, feckless fools. Weakness invites danger.
The Afghanistan withdrawal debacle and regular anti-Israel rhetoric from the Biden administration signaled to Islamic terrorists that the American government wouldn’t act decisively against them, even if American citizens were the victims of jihad (as in Israel).
Omer Shem Tov, an Israeli hostage survivor of Hamas captivity, recalled at America Fest in December how Trump pressured Hamas to release the hostages. Tov said that his treatment at the hands of his abusive and bestial captors, who enjoyed torturing hostages, improved after Trump’s election. “[Hamas] were terrified of him,” Tov declared.
This is the lesson of Washington put into practice in a modern context. Biden couldn’t even pull out of Afghanistan without getting more than a dozen Americans murdered and leaving countless Americans and allies stranded. Trump captured a foreign dictator in one night without a single U.S. casualty. Biden babbled about peace but invited war and jihad. Trump knows that to have peace, sometimes a show of strength is necessary.
The “Father of our Country” was right 235 years ago, and his advice is just as accurate today. Fortunately, we now again have a president who understands that a free people ought to be armed and that to be prepared for war is one of the most effectual means of preserving peace.
