Eric Swalwell: Trump’s Policies of Isolationism Will Put Our Adversaries and Terrorist Groups in a Better Position to Hit Us

Steele: “You know, the other aspect of this, I mean, you mentioned Donald Trump and how he will look at this, whether he’s just going to stay more fixed on the personal as opposed to the more expansive part of the responsibilities of being president. He said, in a response to the Syrian news on Truth Social, ‘In any event, Syria is a mess, but it is not our friend, and the United States should have nothing to do with it. This is not our fight. Let it play out. Do not get involved.’ This isolationist ideology that has re-emerged within the Republican Party stands in exact opposite of where Reagan looked at the world and saw the Russians for who they were and what they were, and realized the Americans had a role to play. President-Elect Trump is basically saying, ‘Let the Russians handle this in the Middle East. Let them figure it out. The Chinese, if you’re available, you can help, too.’ How do members on the Intelligence Committee, Senate and House, on Foreign Affairs, Senate and House, look at this? Do you suspect that there’s going to be a complete abdication of any involvement by the United States government in what happens next in this region?”
Swalwell: “That’s what Donald Trump is telegraphing and it’s concerning, because his focus and his muscle is going to be turned inward. Now, I have received the message and I agree with the American people that the primary resources of the United States need to be spent here. We need security at the border, absolutely, we need security at our own border. Once you get that, you can address the workforce crisis issues with immigration. People want to see their costs come down, they want to know what are we doing to increase their pathways to better jobs so they can dream bigger, do better. That has to be our focus. But that does not mean we are not engaging in this region and understanding where threats could emerge. But I just fear that this guy, who has a long enemy list and is putting unqualified people to come in and carry out that enemies list for him, will take his eye off the ball internationally and leave countries who don’t like us and terrorist groups that don’t like us in a better position to hit us or take advantage of us. And that’s not leadership.”