SACHA PFEIFFER, HOST:
We're now six months into the second Trump administration. And as a candidate, Trump promised to remake America's approach to foreign policy and national security. So we're turning to NPR senior White House correspondent Tamara Keith, who's been following how Trump has done on that front so far. Hi, Tam.
TAMARA KEITH, BYLINE: Hello.
PFEIFFER: So tell us - what have you learned about how he approaches foreign policy?
KEITH: There are a bunch of disparate data points, so I called several foreign policy experts to see if they could help me define the Trump foreign policy doctrine. And I was told again and again that that's just not the way he operates. Bradley Bowman is at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies. He has a military background and previously worked for Republican senators.
BRADLEY BOWMAN: President Trump's approach is consistently unorthodox, assertive, contrarian, unilateral, mercurial and transactional.
KEITH: President Trump campaigned on ending foreign wars. But he ordered bunker-busting bombs to strike Iranian nuclear facilities, which is certainly assertive. He is very focused on deals - peace deals, trade deals, deals for American businesses - though he hasn't sealed as many of those deals as he's promised. And in many cases, it's as much about how he feels about a country's leader as whatever the long-standing U.S. relationship has been.
PFEIFFER: You mention the strikes on Iran. How would you apply that view that you just described to Trump's handling of the war in Ukraine?
KEITH: Yeah, this is one of the foreign wars that he said he could end within 24 hours. Obviously, that didn't happen. And initially, it seemed like he was taking Russia's side. He even publicly fought with Ukrainian President Zelenskyy in the Oval Office back in February, as everyone remembers. But in the past week or so, there's been a pretty dramatic shift. Now the president is mad at Putin for sweet-talking him on the phone and then continuing to bomb civilians in Ukraine. And last week, Trump announced a deal with NATO, where the alliance will buy weapons from American companies and give them to Ukraine. For Trump, this checks a couple of boxes. The U.S. doesn't have to spend anything. American manufacturers get to sell weapons. And in the end, Ukraine gets the defensive weapons they were asking for.
So a journalist asked Trump whether he's on Ukraine's side now.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: No, I'm on nobody's side. I'm the - no.
UNIDENTIFIED JOURNALIST: Why?
TRUMP: I want to - you know the side I'm on? Humanity's side.
KEITH: I'm on nobody's side, could also be read as a larger commentary on his agnostic approach to traditional allies and adversaries. So is this a one-off deal or a long-term U.S. commitment to helping Ukraine? The answer isn't clear.
PFEIFFER: What do you think he's hoping to get from his approach?
KEITH: Wins. He relishes big announcements, and he often changes the definition of success. But by his telling, he and the U.S. always come out ahead. But Heather Conley at the American Enterprise Institute asks, what comes next?
HEATHER CONLEY: It's not the deal. It's the next day. And how do you protect American prosperity and security as these conflicts and these very difficult regional dynamics continue to play out? It's never easy as just the art of one deal.
KEITH: Take Iran. He came in strong, got a ceasefire and has washed his hands of the whole thing. Or the situation with trade. Trump announced so-called reciprocal tariffs. His team said it was all about making deals for the U.S. - 90 deals in 90 days. Those deals have not come quickly. So he's sending letters to countries and setting tariff levels unilaterally, and now he says the letters are the deals. President Trump likes to borrow the Reagan phrase, peace through strength. Conley says what Trump is really doing here is more like strength without commitment.
PFEIFFER: That's NPR's Tamara Keith. Thank you.
KEITH: You're welcome.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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