President Donald Trump’s first four years as head of state were nothing short of controversial, especially when it came to domestic policy. Regardless, his foreign policy has been one of peace that will outlast his time in office and set a great legacy for the presidents to come. 

Although many disagree with Trump’s views on climate change, immigration and his response to the Covid-19 pandemic, there is no denying that his foreign policy will have lasting effects of peace. Trump’s major achievement in foreign policy is Israel: He moved the U.S. embassy to the capital of Israel, Jerusalem, leading other countries to do the same, thus recognizing the ancient capital of the Jewish people as the modern one too. Recently, his last peace deal between the United Arab Emirates and Israel is the first major recognition of Israel by a Middle Eastern country since Jordan in 1994. In this treaty, the two countries normalize relations by sending ambassadors and opening trade. This treaty depicts a change in the Middle East because more Sunni countries will follow the UAE’s examples in normalizing ties with Israel, solidifying the country’s stance as a recognized nation by its neighbors in the region.

The major treaty, known as the Abraham Accords, is the pinnacle of his foreign policy during his first term: one that has been full of “America first.” This means not only caring for the United States, but caring for like-minded countries and opposing tyrannies like Iran and China who continue to seek destruction and oppress their citizens. Still, some are trying to undermine his policies, like former Vice President Joe Biden. Biden talked in a fundraiser about Trump’s policies on Israel and how he pulled out of the Iran deal created by the Obama administration, which said that Iran would be able to continue limited Uranium creation, but that it would be checked by the United States.

“Trump’s put Israel in danger by tearing up the Iran nuclear deal and replaced it with nothing. He’s allowed Israel’s foes to take residence in Syria, a dangerous power vacuum has formed,” Biden said.

These claims are not viable though, and in itself they are hypocritical since the Obama administration’s Iran nuclear deal allowed Iran to continue its policy of terror by permitting the country to develop uranium, and did nothing to stop the Persian state from supporting terror groups throughout the middle east like Hezbollah in Lebanon.

By not siding with the Iranian regime and instead viewing it as the threat that it is, Trump has allowed for the development of a Sunni state coalition against the Shi’ite terrorist state, and with the recent Abraham Accords, Israel is likely to join these countries in fighting the menace of Iran. 

When it comes to Asia, Trump’s harsh actions against China demonstrated to the world that the American ideals of democracy would not fade in the face of communism, even when it would bring capitalist enrichment. China has exerted unchecked control in Hong Kong, and throughout the country, Uighur Muslims are being oppressed. President Trump’s response against China was to place harsh sanctions and not allow the country to exert control in the South China Sea, a crucial military location in the region that Obama had implicitly allowed for China to control. 

Trump has also signed every anti-Chinese human rights violation legislation that has crossed his desk: Uighurs, Tibet, Hong Kong and Taiwan’s democracy are some of the times that he has made crucial demands to China when it comes to human rights. For example, during the 2019 pro-democracy Hong Kong Protests, he signed the Human Rights and Democracy Act, which allows for an annual review to inspect whether Hong Kong has enough autonomy to justify its special trade status with the U.S., which normally leaves it out of the China-United States trade war.

When it comes to North Korea, Trump’s 2017 anti-Kim Jong Un rhetoric led the Asian state to develop stronger ties with both South Korea and the United States, taking substantial steps to denuclearize the region. This made way for North Korea to send a committee to the South Korean Olympics and initiate the first meetings in South Korea of the two leaders since the Korean War of the 1950s. Now, the future looks brighter with a Korean peninsula clean of nuclear armaments and peace between the two countries and the United States. 

Regarding the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) which was created during the Cold War in order for democratic countries to have an alliance against the communist Soviet Union, and which is now used to protect each other from threats like China and Iran, President Trump called out many countries for not sending enough money for armament used to defend NATO countries like they agreed to. This led to an increase in NATO spending of $100 billion more with most affiliated countries of the organization sending the money for safeguard, showing that Trump and the United States still are the leaders of the free world. 

President Trump has been a controversial figure in the United States throughout his presidency, but by instating a “democracy first” foreign policy, he is allowing for peace to spread over the world. Trump has demonstrated that with his leadership and renewed faith in the United States being an example to the other nations, the world will be a safer and democratic place. 

As he said in his 2017 State of the Union address: “America is once again ready to lead.”