There was a time when American foreign policy came dressed in moral rhetoric. Democracy, human rights, and international order were the standard justifications, even when interventions were driven by power politics. Trump’s foreign policy rips off this mask. It is openly transactional. In Riyadh, Doha, and Abu Dhabi, he did not speak of liberty or reform. He spoke the language of deals.

The doctrine, such as it is, prioritises economic gain and immediate strategic alignment over any notion of value-based diplomacy. In doing so, it ends decades of moral posturing. America no longer sermonises about what others should be; it simply asks what they can offer. One exception would be Trump’s recent antics during his meeting with South African President. He played videos alleging white ‘genocide’ in South Africa.

To that extent, there is a certain brutal honesty in this approach. Unlike past presidents who cloaked oil deals in the language of freedom or sold arms while decrying authoritarianism, Trump makes no such claims. His is a stripped-down realism, what Gerard Baker aptly calls “mater-realism", that foregrounds national interest over idealism. From a purely realist perspective, it is coherent. Foreign policy, as Morgenthau would argue, is not about morality but about power and survival. Trump’s doctrine takes that logic to its extreme: if an autocrat can deliver contracts, align on a geopolitical axis, or support a U.S. agenda, they are welcome, no questions asked.

But this pragmatism veers dangerously into ethical abdication. Consider the “gift" from Qatar, a Boeing 747 handed over to the Pentagon. While framed as a........

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