Victor Davis Hanson: Trump’s Jacksonian Foreign Policy (With a Twist)

The Daily Signal

Government, Daily News, News, Politics

4.6 • 1.2K Ratings

🗓️ 6 January 2026

⏱️ 7 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Almost one year into his second term one thing is clear: President Donald Trump is neither an interventionist, nation-builder or an isolationist. Instead, Trump has seemingly adopted the foreign policy of President Andrew Jackson, guided by principles like “No better friend, no worse enemy.” However, Trump’s Jacksonian approach to the world stage comes with a slight twist, a “vise,” so to say, argues Victor Davis Hanson on today’s edition of “Victor Davis Hanson: In a Few Words”: “If Maduro cannot put embargoed oil on sanctioned tankers and get to Cuba, then Cuba's going to have no ability to distill gasoline, nor will it have energy. And that's exactly what is happening. The Cuban economy is in a Trump vise. Are we going to bomb Cuba? No. Are we going to have a Bay of Pigs standoff or invasion? No. Are we going to have a Cuban Missile Crisis with China? No. We're going to have a Trump vise. And it's going to squeeze.” 00:00 Introduction to Trump's Foreign Policy 00:49 The Vise Policy Explained 01:57 Case Study: Iran and Venezuela 04:37 Impact on Cuba and the Monroe Doctrine 05:46 Conclusion and Final Thoughts 👉 The Daily Signal cannot continue to tell stories, like this one, without the support of our viewers: http://dailysignal.com/donate 👉Don’t miss out on Victor’s latest short videos by subscribing to The Daily Signal today. You’ll be notified every time a new piece of content drops: ⁠https://www.youtube.com/dailysignal?sub_confirmation=1⁠ Also on Spotify: https://megaphone.link/THEDAILYSIGNAL9753340027 👉Want more VDH? Watch Victor’s weekly, hour-long podcast, “Victor Davis Hanson: In His Own Words,” now! Subscribe to his YouTube channel, and enable notifications: https://www.youtube.com/@victordavishanson7273?sub_confirmation=1 👉More exclusive content is available on Victor’s website: https://victorhanson.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Welcome to a world of infinite worlds, a world of adventure, possibility and happily ever afters.
0:07.0	It's all waiting for you at Walt Disney World Resort in Florida.
0:11.0	Book selected 2026 packages by the 31st of March and get up to 25% off 14-day tickets and Disney hotels.
0:19.0	Offer available in most school holidays, including summer.
0:22.8	Book now at Disneypackages.co.uk. Selected 2026 arrivals in Disney resorts, conditions and
0:29.0	exclusions apply. I've characterized as Walter Russell Meade most famously that Trump's foreign
0:34.3	policy is neither interventionist, surely not nation-building, nor is it isolationist,
0:39.4	as the left accuses. It was something called Jacksonian. That is, no better friend, no worse enemy,
0:45.1	don't tread on me. I think there's a quirk to Jacksonianism, a subset, and I would call the Trump
0:50.7	foreign policy, the vice policy, V-I-S-E, like a vice that you clamp down on something.
0:57.0	By that I mean, rather than intervene or even use kinetic force, he has another alternative.
1:04.0	When he sees a renegade country, we're going to have a Trump vice, and it's going to squeeze.
1:22.1	Hello, this is Victor Davis Hansen for the Daily Signal.
1:31.0	In the past, I've characterized as Walter Russell Meade most famously that Trump's foreign policy is neither interventionist, surely not nation building, nor is it isolationist as the left accuses.
1:37.0	It was something called Jacksonian.
1:39.8	That is, no better friend, no worse enemy, don't tread on me.
1:43.9	At various times, if people took advantage of the United States' desire to live in peace,
1:49.9	and they started to push their luck, then we would hit them overwhelmingly.
1:53.4	Sort of what we saw with the two Americans who were tragically killed in Syria,
1:58.0	then there was an overwhelming retaliation.
2:01.6	But I think there's a quirk to Jacksonianism, a subset, and I would call the Trump foreign
2:08.6	policy, the vice policy, V-I-S-E, like a vice that you clamp down on something.
	...

Transcript will be available on the free plan in 15 days. Upgrade to see the full transcript now.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from The Daily Signal, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of The Daily Signal and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.