Does Trump Have a Strategy? A Conversation With A. Wess Mitchell

Does Trump Have a Strategy? A Conversation With A. Wess Mitchell

From The Foreign Affairs Interview by Foreign Affairs Magazine

May 21, 2026 · 1h 6m

About this episode

A. Wess Mitchell discusses the strategic logic behind Donald Trump's foreign policy during his second term.

Both of Donald Trump’s presidential administrations have prompted sharp debates about the direction of U.S. foreign policy. But how to discern a strategic logic behind Washington’s approach, and whether it’s even possible to do so, have been particularly vexing questions since Trump returned to the White House. A. Wess Mitchell helped shape these debates as assistant secretary of state in Trump’s first term, and he has been uniquely interested in shedding light on them since, including in a number of essays for Foreign Affairs. Dan Kurtz-Phelan spoke to Mitchell on Monday, May 18, about how he understands the strategy driving Trump’s second-term foreign policy, and where, after Trump’s meeting with Xi Jinping and with wars in Iran and Ukraine far from settled, he thinks that strategy should go from here. You can find sources, transcripts, and more episodes of The Foreign Affairs Interview at https://www.foreignaffairs.com/podcasts/foreign-affairs-interview.

People in this episode

Host: Dan Kurtz-Phelan

Guest: A. Wess Mitchell

Topics covered

  • U.S. foreign policy
  • Trump administration
  • international relations
  • foreign strategy
  • China relations
  • Middle East conflicts

Keywords

  • Trump
  • foreign policy
  • A. Wess Mitchell
  • U.S. strategy
  • Xi Jinping
  • Iran
  • Ukraine
  • international relations

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Foreign Affairs

Places: U.S., Iran, Ukraine

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