It’s time to put an end to debates about whether U.S. President Donald Trump is some sort of foreign-policy realist or “restrainer.” Admittedly, his mercurial approach to policymaking and his penchant for saying one thing and doing the opposite make his views hard to pin down, especially when he flip-flops from one extreme to another for no apparent reason (see under: Ukraine). Although some of his statements and actions might appear to be compatible with the label, a realist/restrainer he is not.

I raise this issue because labels matter, and who gets associated with different approaches or schools of thought can affect how different ideas and policy proposals are received. And to be fair, Trump has sometimes sounded like a proponent of restraint, as in his criticisms of “forever wars,” his distrust of the foreign-policy establishment, his desire to get wealthy U.S. allies to do more to defend themselves, and his obvious disinterest in defending liberal values abroad. (Here he is unusually consistent, as he is equally hostile to those pesky liberal values like freedom of speech and the rule of law in the United States, too.) If you looked at the style and not the substance, in short, you might conclude that Trump is a card-carrying member of the realist/restraint community.

It’s time to put an end to debates about whether U.S. President Donald Trump is some sort of foreign-policy realist or “restrainer.” Admittedly, his mercurial approach to policymaking and his penchant for saying one thing and doing the opposite make his views hard to pin down, especially when he flip-flops from one extreme to another for no apparent reason (see under: Ukraine). Although some of his statements and actions might appear to be compatible with the label, a realist/restrainer he is not.

I raise this issue because labels matter, and who gets associated with different approaches or schools of thought can affect how different ideas and policy proposals are received. And to be fair, Trump has sometimes sounded like a proponent of restraint, as in his criticisms of “forever wars,” his distrust of the foreign-policy establishment, his desire to get wealthy U.S. allies to do more to defend themselves, and his obvious disinterest in defending liberal values abroad. (Here he is unusually consistent, as he is equally hostile to those pesky liberal values like freedom of speech and the rule of law in the United States, too.) If you looked at the style and not the substance, in short, you might conclude that Trump is a card-carrying member of the realist/restraint community.

The other reason we’re having this discussion is that labeling Trump a realist/restrainer is sometimes used to score political........

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