Ted Galen Carpenter argues that Donald Trump was never truly committed to overturning America's interventionist foreign policy, and fooled millions of voters who were sick and tired of perpetual war.

“Even before President Donald Trump ordered B-2 bombers to attack Iran’s nuclear sites and plunge the United States into another Middle East war, it should have been apparent that he has never been committed to a foreign policy of realism and restraint. [. . .]

Enthusiastic backers believed his boast that he would promptly bring the war between Ukraine and Russia to an end. Their broader underlying assumption was that the United States would no longer waste American lives and financial resources on armed ideological crusades around the world.”