Here’s who should be in Donald Trump’s foreign policy team

One of Donald Trump’s slogans during the campaign was ‘drain the swamp’.  As I’ve said previously, in order to drain the swamp that is Washington politics, Trump will need to conduct a great purge of the deep state from the State Department to the Pentagon, to the CIA,  the US ambassadorial corps and perhaps even the FBI.

Those who are inadequate, disloyal, stupid, lethargic or inconsistent must be sent on their ways and those who are guilty of worse must publicly stand trial, trials to be overseen by special prosecutors. Anything less will be a failure to fully drain the swamp. The scoundrels within the American Deep State are just as dangerous to America and the world as were the traitorous politicians, oligarchs and foreign agents who brought Russia to her knees in the 1990s. Trump would be wise to speak with his more experienced colleague President Putin about how to rid a vast country of corruption at the top.

But what about the people President Trump should surround himself with? On the whole, Trump is less in need of ‘big ideas men and women’ than he is in need of effective managers. A man like Trump who is teaming with ideas and charisma, ought to have an effective, competent and ultimately quiet team around him who are capable of executing the monumental tasks he shall present them with.

An exception to this is foreign policy. Trump must have foreign policy assistants who are deeply intelligent, are not afraid to offer controversial opinions and who are proud to stand by their record. In this respect, I can think of no better individual than Patrick J. Buchanan.

At 78, Buchanan is no spring chicken, but he still possess an intelligence that is rare in contemporary American foreign policy thinking. Like Trump he is anti-war, his mantra is peace through strength. He has been correct about the disastrous effects of the wars conducted by the likes of Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama. His support of Trump throughout the electoral process was unshakeable.

Should any neo-cons worm their way into a Trump administration, someone like Buchanan could easily run rings around them in every sense. I  would not mind seeing Buchanan as Secretary of State, even if his age prohibits him from serving a full term in the position, at least he could perhaps mentor his successor. President Trump is welcome to contact me via The Duran should he wish.

Many will also mention Ron Paul as a possible Trump ally in foreign policy. As a free trading libertarian, Ron Paul has been critical of many of Trump’s domestic and economic policies. Lately however, Paul has shown interest in Trump’s foreign policies. As one of the leading anti-war figures in America, Paul ought to reach some sort of détente with Trump, as on foreign policy they have far more in common than that which separates them in other areas.

In 1980 when Ronald Reagan became President, many said that Barry Goldwater had finally won his election, 16 years too late. In many ways Trump’s victory represents a victory for Buchanan who stood on policies similar to Trump’s during the presidential elections of 1992, 1996 and 2000. Each time he lost, but his ideas have been vindicated by Trump’s resounding victory.

Trump needs not only to drain the swamp, he needs to choose his friends wisely. In other words, he needs to find his version of Sergei Lavrov.