Introduction
When President Trump won the election in 2016, there was a profound sense of shock and a significant degree of uncertainty about his approach to foreign policy. Many speculated that this era could mark a return to the isolationist tendencies that had characterized U.S. foreign policy prior to World War II. For proponents of this view, Trump’s electoral victory symbolized the closing of a decades-long chapter of active global engagement, particularly through alliances and multilateralism.1 During the campaign, Trump signaled not only increasingly isolationist sentiments but also expressed dissatisfaction with the U.S. alliances and partnerships in various parts of the world. His slogan “America First” became emblematic of this perspective, widely interpreted as a call to prioritize domestic interests over international commitments. For many, it suggested a reversion to the “factory settings” of U.S. foreign policy, where unilateralism and national self-interest would take precedence over cooperative frameworks.2
