Trump hinted at speaking to Putin from position of strength – U.S. expert

This opinion was expressed by Adrian Karatnycky, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council and former president of Freedom House, in a comment to a Ukrinform correspondent.

“Overall, his emphasis on the strength of the United States and the ability to use it for the sake of peace is a clear hint at his approach to future talks with Putin,” said the expert. “He wants to do this from a position of strength and does not want to show weakness.”

According to Karatnycky, this emphasis is a “positive direction in the speech” and sets the tone for Trump’s activities as President.

The expert noted that Trump’s messages were primarily aimed at the American electorate. However, in terms of foreign policy, he emphasized the traditional Republican stance: peace through strength and security through the robustness of the American state, economy, and armed forces.

As noted by Karatnycky, Trump stated that he wants to be a peacemaker, although he did not provide any specifics regarding international policy, apart from a vague hint about restoring U.S. influence over the Panama Canal and a promise to rename the Gulf of Mexico to the American Gulf.

The new President emphasized gender issues and the policy of purging America of illegal immigrants, particularly those with criminal records, the Atlantic Council representative observed. These are all themes from his election campaign, “and he wants to demonstrate from day one that he is committed to addressing these problems.”

Furthermore, Trump promised to tackle inflation, “which has already decreased,” noted Karatnycky. He also strongly hinted at restoring energy production in the U.S., oil and gas, to revive America’s industrial power,” the expert added.

As reported, on Monday, January 20, Donald Trump was sworn in as the President of the United States and delivered his inaugural speech.