When Donald Trump was first elected president, foreign policy seemed like the zone of greatest danger, the place where a political novice promising to remake the world order was most likely to blunder into true catastrophe.

Instead, Trump’s first-term foreign policy was broadly successful, with more stability, fewer dramatic stumbles and more breakthroughs than his domestic policy efforts. And it was much more successful than the rolling crises and debacles of the Joe Biden presidency, a contrast that was one of the underrated cases for Trump’s restoration.

President Donald Trump prepares to board Air Force One at Maryland on Sunday as he heads to the Middle East. Credit: AP

Now, with the provisional deal to end the war in the Gaza Strip, the pattern of Trump 1.0 is reasserting itself. As a domestic leader, the president is powerful but unpopular, with a scant legislative agenda and an increasingly vendetta-driven public image. But on the world stage, he is currently much more successful (allowing, yes, for strong scepticism about the administration’s China strategy).

If peace in Ukraine remains elusive, Trump has induced Europe to bear more of the burden without yielding to the Russians, as many critics feared. The Iranian nuclear program and terror networks have been........

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