Krauthammer: Trump Bombing Returns America To Classic Role Of Assuming World Leadership

Charles Krauthammer cites Dr. Stranglove in his <i>Special Report</i> commentary Thursday night on President Trump's decision to drop a 'MOAB' bomb in Afghanistan. Krauthammer said the bombing signals that " we are back to is the traditional American understanding of national interests as a broad definition." Krauthammer, acknowledging he is not an 'American Firster,' said Trump is "winning." The syndicated columnist added he thought it was wrong for Trump to include such language in his inauguration address. "I think this is reassuring that we are returning to the classic American definition where we include our allies and most important we accept world leadership in a way that had not been accepted by Obama and seemed not to be accepted by Trump the candidate," Krauthammer said. <blockquote>BRET BAIER, SPECIAL REPORT: That is one of the things about Washington is that they are so firm, Charles, about 'you said this and know you're doing this.' But presidents evolve. They have more information, they have classified briefings. They have advisors. And everything is not political. Sometimes it comes after advisors are advising. CHARLES KRAUTHAMMER: Look, that is so, but the strike on Syria was not something that is a tweak or a slight deviation from what he ran on. And forget about which he ran on. The inaugural address is a way for a president to address his philosophy, what he believes. The inaugural address, the foreign policy section is radically non-interventionist. It is America First repeated over and over, it talks about how the world has sucked dry or vital bodily juices, to quote Dr. Strangelove. That was not Trump, that was the mad scientist. And that was our allies. BAIER: Thanks for that clarification. KRAUTHAMMER: I know, otherwise I'll get a lot of tweets on it. He is talking about our allies, he's talking about how the world has stripped the middle class of its wealth. And the reason it is a radical departure is because in the inaugural address he defines national interests very narrowly, and here, what we are back to is the traditional American understanding of national interests as a broad definition going all the way back to Harry Truman in which we define our interest as worldwide. Otherwise, what is Syria to us? BAIER: We don't really know what the Trump Doctrine is, yet, but he is winning, isn't he? KRAUTHAMMER: Yes, I welcome this. I'm not an America Firster. I thought it was a mistake to enunciate a doctrine in the inaugural address which is we're coming home. It scared the bee-jeebies out of our allies in NATO when he talked about it being obsolote. In the Middle East, the Gulf Arabs were scared to death. I think this is reassuring that we are returning to the classic American definition where we include our allies and most important we accept world leadership in a way that had not been accepted by Obama and seemed not to be accepted by Trump the candidate.</blockquote>