Has Trump forgotten the Big Stick Ideology?

2018-04-11T10:38:25-04:00

"Speak Softly and Carry a Big Stick!" A famous quote by a the great President Teddy Roosevelt describing his style of foreign policy as "the exercise of intelligent forethought and of decisive action sufficiently far in advance of any likely crisis." Basically....be cool , calm and collected, but be ready to raise hell if needed.

President Trump has been big on bluster, talks a big game and makes many loud and bold statements, but it usually slow to act and when he does it usually isn't a whole lot! Face it, it took him a year to finally admit that Russia meddled in our election and take any action against them. He did want to pull us out of Syria even though it would have caused a major power vacuum (something Obama wanted to do in Iraq, but was called a traitor for it by some), that is until the Syrian government launched a chemical attack against a portion of it's civilian population! Now he wants a missile strike, and tweets it to the world..............

Basically, I am accusing Trump of talking loudly and carrying a small stick. He talks too much and takes too little action. We have seen him make a decision then talk to someone then make a different decision then talk to someone else and then make yet another decision, then goes off and makes a totally different decision. The man is indecisive and soft. Don't get your panties in a bunch, I though Obama was soft as well on most things.

I think General Mattis said it best........"Be polite be professional, but have a plan to kill everybody you meet!" I am paraphrasing of course, but it lines up directly with the big stick ideology. This is something Trump has failed to do, causing many problems for himself and our country.

Response by PO2 Peter Klein made Apr 11 at 2018 12:29 PM

2018-04-11T12:29:50-04:00

trump is incapable of intelligent forethought on anything. His narcissism always gets in the way.

Response by LTC Private RallyPoint Member made Apr 11 at 2018 12:34 PM

2018-04-11T12:34:26-04:00

Cpl Tom Surdi- I'd like to offer an opposing viewpoint. When we learned to develop an operation plan against an enemy we used multiple dimensional problem sets upon the enemy. Meaning we did not simply plan a frontal assault. Instead we would present to the enemy numerous problems to overcome at a critical moment, ground frontal assault, CAS deep strike, Army rotary aircraft attacks, cyber strike, signals jamming, etc. Could it be possible that the current POTUS has an end state in mind and he forms the narrative gradually moving into the right political direction? It appears that North Korea is considering options on its nukes. China is considering tariff options as well or the limit on American goods. I am not inside the POTUS cabinet so i don't know. I do know that numerous leading indicators are blinking. The US is exporting oil, and a lot of it. Job numbers are increasing which effects the economy. Long term market indicators look positive for investments, etc. So, I do agree with the quote but I see it more as a tactic than an ideology. For too long we have had Political Leaders that just talk. I think now we are seeing action.

Response by Cpl Jeff N. made Apr 11 at 2018 1:27 PM

2018-04-11T13:27:39-04:00

That is some selective memory you are working on there Tom.

You can speak softly and carry a big stick, speak softly and carry no stick, speak loudly and carry no stick or, as Trump does, speak loudly and carry a large stick. Trump's strategy seems to be to let them know, in no uncertain terms, that he will do something(not specifically). Most of the time he follow through on it.

He did hit Syria already once with cruise missiles. He did put boots on the ground in Syria as well. His predecessor did nothing but speak softly and carry no stick. ISIS has been decimated in northern Iraq and Syria. I guess in your world view that is bluster and talk only. He is the one that made the bold step (with Mattis) to put boots on the ground in Syria but you act like it never happened.

He has spoken loudly on North Korea and they are coming to the table or so it appears. We have had 25 years of nothing getting done in NK including 8 years of "strategic patience" as practiced by Obama (as well as Bush and Clinton). Strategic patience means do nothing. No talk, no stick, nothing.

China was whacked on trade and they are now coming around. That took a week or two to get them to see the light. When you have a trade "partner" running up a $500 billion trade deficit and they are stealing hundreds of billions in intellectual property you need to do something. Trump did. Obama did not, neither did Bush. They just let them run the score up on us.

Trump has Canada and Mexico at the table on NAFTA and they know they need to deal. TPP was shit canned (he did that too) and we will get better deals going one on one.

We pushed through the largest tax reduction since Reagan as well.

I am unsure where you are getting your news. Mattis is advising Trump on matters of defense and offensive operations. I don't think we could get a better SecDef. I am not seeing all of this harm you think is being done. Trump has people off balance because he intends to put them off balance. You might recall Mattis' nickname is Chaos too.

Response by CMSgt Private RallyPoint Member made Apr 11 at 2018 3:27 PM

2018-04-11T15:27:19-04:00

And what was Obama's policy? Resets and unenforceable lines in the sand? And Trump is soft? Please. The true test is when Trump hands the reins over to the next president what will the world look like? Was it better or worse than when he took over? Trump inherited some major problems from Obama. Yes, Obama inherited a struggling economy from Bush but I wouldn't say the economy flourished under Obama and Obama's foreign policy was a disaster. At least Trump seems to be getting results which are more than can be said of the last several presidents. Repost this in seven years, then we can talk.

Response by SGT Joseph Gunderson made Apr 11 at 2018 7:13 PM

2018-04-11T19:13:35-04:00

I think that Trump actually does one better. He speaks loudly and carries a big stick. We have already seen that his being outspoken has managed to have positive effects on foreign powers in many areas. I will say that it does not always work this way, but it has more often than not. In addition, if the loud talk doesn't do the trick, we are still the most powerful nation on the face of the planet. So, the way that I see it, is either contend with the words and change your conduct or tempt the man and be prepared for the very real consequences of going to war with America. FYI, the second choice has not worked out well for a single adversary in the history of the world.

Response by 1stSgt Nelson Kerr made Apr 11 at 2018 8:13 PM

2018-04-11T20:13:20-04:00

The Big stick was only used on small nations we wanted to rob, so I think perhaps we should be quiet about that internationally. it brings m back memories we want to be forgotten.

But,The idea of acting instead of imbecilic babbling is one that Trump and all USA presidents should learn