Donald Trump is headed toward the Republican Party's presidential nomination. He's among the most pugnacious of candidates. Many of his political battles could reduce his chance of getting elected president. But his fight with foreign policy professionals might help. Given the disastrous course of U.S. foreign policy in recent years, there's little public support for more military adventurism in the Middle East.
Trump clearly is out-of-step with the neoconservatives and militaristic nationalists who dominated the Republican Party of late.
One of Trump's most important pledges addressed personnel, not policy. He declared: "My goal is to establish a foreign policy that will endure for several generations. That's why I also look and have to look for talented experts with approaches and practical ideas, rather than surrounding myself with those who have perfect resumes but very little to brag about except responsibility for a long history of failed policies and continued losses at war. We have to look for new people."