There was much to drive the professional Left a bit crazy in President Trump’s first speech to a joint session of Congress. 

As to style: He was firm but not adversarial, visionary but specific, confident but not overbearing. His tone was calm, his remarks well written, and his demeanor presidential. 

His critics were hoping for something very different — the irritable “tweeter” who embellishes and lashes out. Their disappointment must be the stuff of which Icelandic sagas are retold on cold nights.

As to substance: So many things must have gotten under the skin of American liberals. To list them would be little more than a reiteration of the entire speech, in part because so much of what Mr. Trump said — about workers, jobs, the principles of a transformed healthcare system, fair trade, and many other things — echo the general good judgment of the majority of the American people.

Foreign Policy Reset

With respect to foreign policy, the President said some things conservatives should find especially gratifying.

“Our foreign policy calls for a direct, robust and meaningful engagement with the world,” he declared. “It is American leadership based on vital security interests that we share with our allies across the globe.”

Let’s parse that a bit. 

• “Direct,” as opposed to diplomacy so nuanced that we end up negotiating against our own interests.
• “Robust,” as in not feeling oddly compelled to apologize for real or perceived errors to anyone who will listen; robust as in confident in the principles of human dignity and liberty, robust as in a military of unparalleled strength.
• “Meaningful engagement” as opposed to the dilettantish mincing that for too long has passed for genuine diplomacy.

And then, “vital security interests that we share with our allies across the globe.” Translation: We won’t do everything for everyone but will act in concert with our allies when important matters are at stake.

Imagine that: A country (ours) engaging with its friends when their essential mutual interests call upon them to take a stand. Not endless engagement all over the global map, but when and where it truly counts.

America will no longer bear a disproportionate share of whatever international burdens must be borne.

Continuing, the President said, “We expect our partners, whether in NATO, in the Middle East, or the Pacific, to take a direct and meaningful role in both strategic and military operations, and pay their fair share of the cost. We will respect historic institutions, but we will also respect the sovereign rights of nations.”

Meaning: America will no longer bear a disproportionate share of whatever international burdens must be borne. And those “sovereign rights?” He was talking, in part, at least, about us — about America’s right not to be the world’s policeman or military banker.

He was also talking about a retreat from the disastrous course of “nation building” in countries that decidedly do not wish to be recast along the lines of representative self-governance or democratic pluralism. No more Iraqs or Afghanistans, to put it very simply.

Representing America, Not the World

And then this: “My job is not to represent the world. My job is to represent the United States of America.”

To most Americans, this is a perfectly obvious and wholly legitimate approach to American international engagement. Yet to avowed internationalists, the “I’m a citizen of the world”-types, it was shocking. Their respect for borders and distinct national identities is at best limited, and the President’s clear, declarative statement must have been a virtual call to arms.

The world is complex. America’s interests are many and varied. From virtually silent drone strikes to cyber warfare, the requirements of effective military action are changing dramatically as the decades unfold.

A sound foreign policy is one in which our friends know they can rely on us, our adversaries respect us, and our enemies fear us.

But we are a distinct and unique nation, not the world’s fall guy or international mop-up caretaker. Our national security and critical interests are the foundation of foreign policy, or should be. It sounds like Donald Trump understands this.

A sound foreign policy is one in which our friends know they can rely on us, our adversaries respect us, and our enemies fear us. It is not based on a rather pathetic desire to be liked or a recurrent internalization of our critics’ attacks on our character and conduct.

Globalists argue that the world is too borderless, interconnected, and fluid to let national concerns override the overarching interests of humanity. What’s not said is that in the “one world” catechism, those overarching interests are superintended by a handful of elitists who see themselves as bearers of spectacular and unusual wisdom. After all, the United Nations has been such a success, right? That’s why there have been no wars, genocides, famines, revolutions, or riots since about 1950. Oh, wait …

A New Sheriff — And New Friendships?

Finally, there was a grace note at the end of the President’s comments on America’s role in the world:

America is willing to find new friends, and to forge new partnerships, where shared interests align. We want harmony and stability, not war and conflict. We want peace, wherever peace can be found. America is friends today with former enemies. Some of our closest allies, decades ago, fought on the opposite side of these World Wars. This history should give us all faith in the possibilities for a better world.

To whom and what was he referring — Russia? Was the inference that we should not abandon the hope of a new relationship with the former Soviet Union, despite the authoritarian murderer Vladimir Putin’s leadership of it? Is Mr. Trump urging us to look past Putin to a potentially freer and more democratic Russia?

One thing is certain, America doesn’t need more enemies. If they arise because of our unbending commitment to our essential interests or faithfulness to our international commitments, so be it. But needless antagonism is just that — unnecessary. If that’s what Mr. Trump was saying, more power to him.

There is a new sheriff in town. An American sheriff. He burnished his star quite well Tuesday evening.