Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., has reaffirmed his admiration of President Donald Trump, but he cautioned that there remains a strong contingent of imbedded Washington neocons actively working to undermine the president's agenda.
Speaking to Breitbart last week for a piece published on Wednesday, Paul offered high praise for Trump's recent remarks in the Middle East when he declared that the era of the United States being engaged in nation-building is over.
"I thought his remarks, particularly towards neocons and the nation-building stuff, were nothing short of remarkable, really. That's the kind of thing that someone like myself has sort of wished for a long time, for someone to say, We're not into nation-building and we're not going to be getting involved in every war. Frankly, I think he's doing a great job on the foreign policy front, getting them to invest over here, and having good relations is a good idea," Paul said.
While Paul has openly criticized Trump's "big, beautiful bill," he aligns with the president on most foreign policy issues. Despite praise from outlets such as The Wall Street Journal, Paul lambasted Sen. Lindsay Graham's recently proposed bill as "maybe one of the worst pieces of legislation ever to come forward," using it as a prime example of how established GOP politicians such as the South Carolina senator work against the president.
"He's saying to Russia if they don't do what we tell them on Ukraine that he'll put a 500% tariff on anybody that buys oil and gas from Russia. That's not a payable tariff. Nobody pays a 500% tariff. It essentially means you quit trading with those people. … So I think some of these things going on in Congress are attempts to undermine President Trump and things I continue to try to stop because I think it ties President Trump's hands in the field of diplomacy."
Paul warned that many of the establishment Republicans have tried to work their way into the president's inner circle, adding, "And they have tried to infiltrate the administration, frankly, as well."
The senator said that Trump has won the support of American middle-class workers, which is far more valuable than that of the fossilized GOP power structure.
"I think Trump always instinctively got this. It wasn't that Trump came around to this. I don't think Trump is a sort of doctrinaire libertarian, but he's a sort of instinctual believer that we shouldn't be involved in more war unless we have to.
"So I think he has a good combination of putting up and presenting strength while at the same time being willing to negotiate on the other hand. I think it's something much different than any other president that we've had — and to a great benefit for the country."
James Morley III ✉
James Morley III is a writer with more than two decades of experience in entertainment, travel, technology, and science and nature.
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