Ex-ambassador: Trump foreign policy will upend US role as international beacon of freedom

Yahoo

21-03-2025

The Trump administration's foreign policy will upend the United States' position as an international beacon of freedom, former U.S. ambassador to Brazil Elizabeth Bagley said during an appearance this month in Palm Beach.
'We have been leaders of the free world, and now we are not, clearly,' she said in response to a question from the audience at a March 13 breakfast lecture hosted by the Palm Beach Civic Association at the Beach Club.
Bagley, who has held a position in every Democratic administration since President Jimmy Carter's told the audience that since the Cold War, international aid programs have been an essential part of U.S. foreign policy.
Since the administration of John F. Kennedy, the United States Agency for International Development and other programs funded by the U.S government have served to "develop friends through persuasion," Bagley said.
That has helped the U.S. avoid pursuing foreign policy goals through the military, she said during the discussion moderated by Civic Association CEO Michael Pucillo.
Such programs, and U.S. diplomacy are referred to in policy circles as "soft power" that can help the U.S global standing and serve as an invaluable tool to prevent volatile situations from escalating into armed conflict, Bagley said.
She recalled that Jim Mattis, secretary of defense during Trump's first term, said, "if you cut development, then I'm going to need more soldiers."
Since the beginning of Trump's second term on Jan. 20, the administration has cut more than 80% of the programs under USAID and fired thousands of workers and placed others on administrative leave. On March 18, a federal judge for the district of Maryland blocked Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency from firing any more USAID workers or terminating USAID contracts.
On March 10, a federal judge ruled that the Trump Administration is not allowed to freeze funds Congress had already directed to be spent on foreign aid.
Bagley told the audience that America's foreign policy had historically been bipartisan, as it was important for the country to speak to the world 'with one voice.'
Bagley noted the diplomatic work the bipartisan President's Advisory Commission on Public Diplomacy accomplished during her tenure on the board during the President George W. Bush's administration.
She questioned whether bipartisan advisory commissions would continue to exist under the polarized politics of the Trump administration.
Bagley also expressed concern over the current administration's treatment of longtime allies. She noted the administration's hostile rhetoric to Canada, Mexico, Ukraine and the European Union, and its softened stance toward Russia, a historic rival.
She cited the Feb. 24 United Nations General Assembly Meeting, where the U.S. voted against a European-drafted resolution that called for the end of the war in Ukraine.
Because Ukraine did not remove the statement noting Russia's invasion, "we vetoed the resolution,' she said. The countries that voted against the resolution include Russia, China, Iran and North Korea, "all the good guys," she said sarcastically.
During that meeting, U.S. also abstained from voting on its own resolution that called for an end to the fighting in Ukraine, after Europeans led by France successfully amended the resolution to make it clear that Russia was the aggressor.
Bagley also spoke about her time in the Carter administration as the Congressional liaison officer for The Panama Canal Treaties that returned the canal and its surrounding land to Panama, as the ambassador to Portugal under President Bill Clinton's administration, and as the ambassador to Brazil during the President Joe Biden's term.
Diego Diaz Lasa is a journalist at the Palm Beach Daily News, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. You can reach him at [e-mail].
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Daily News: Ex-envoy: Trump foreign policy will upend US role as beacon of freedom