Is this Trump crisis different?

When it comes to Trump and foreign policy, ours is a false sense of security

President Trump.
(Image credit: Illustrated | BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP/Getty Images, Strawberry Blossom/iStock, Vagengeym_Elena_iStock)

The Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbling almost 500 points hardly feels like much cause for concern anymore. After so much trade antagonism, it's difficult to get worked up about President Trump's tariff threats against China or the Chinese delegation threatening to pull out of negotiations. Haven't we done this before and stocks have only continued to rise?

Likewise, after so much foreign policy alarmism and belligerence, it seems hardly noteworthy that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo unexpectedly canceled a trip to Germany to saber rattle against Iran in Baghdad or the U.S. military rushed an aircraft carrier and B-52 bombers to the Persian Gulf. We survived Trump tweeting about the size of his nuclear button already; he wouldn't actually start a conflict with Iran, right?

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David Faris

David Faris is an associate professor of political science at Roosevelt University and the author of It's Time to Fight Dirty: How Democrats Can Build a Lasting Majority in American Politics. He is a frequent contributor to Informed Comment, and his work has appeared in the Chicago Sun-Times, The Christian Science Monitor, and Indy Week.