A roundtable discussion “The Jacksonian Tradition in American Foreign Policy and the Trump Presidency” was held on April 13, 2023, with Tamás Péter Baranyi, Deputy Director of Strategy at the Hungarian Institute of Foreign Affairs and Gábor Csizmazia, Research Fellow at the Eötvös József Research Center for American Studies at the National University of Public Service, as invited experts, and Péter Stepper, Program Manager and Senior Research Fellow at the Hungarian Institute of Foreign Affairs, as moderator. At the event, the invited guests sought to answer the question of whether and in what form Trump’s foreign policy shows signs of the Jacksonian tradition.
At the beginning of the discussion, the theoretical background to the question was examined by both Tamás Baranyi and Gábor Csizmazia. The former pointed out that it is much more useful to compare active politicians and their activities with people who lived in the past than with theories, since no one can be said to be a perfect match for all the details of a given theory.
Turning to the person of Andrew Jackson, Tamás Baranyi stressed that he was the first “Western” born president of the USA, who saw himself as a representative of the small people. This was demonstrated by the fact that he was the first president to use a strategic veto to protect this class. A high degree of isolationism was an important element of his foreign policy, but he maintained, that he was prepared to use force if necessary. Regarding the 7th US President, Gábor Csizmazia added that he was a politician with a double image, as Jackson had contributed greatly to the relocation of the indigenous peoples. This perception was similar in the case of Trump, but the research fellow of NUPS pointed out that the human character of the 7th and 45th US presidents is that they are two people with completely different origins, backgrounds, and lifestyles.
In the next part of the discussion, the experts examined whether, based on Trump’s populism and his struggle with the financier, a Jacksonian foreign policy could really be implemented between 2017 and 2021.
Both research fellows had similar views on Trump’s isolationism. The starting point was that the United States could not let herself to follow this line since the first third of the 20th century, and that, as a consequence, Trump’s foreign policy cannot be clearly placed in this category. However, by demonising free trade and international organisations to some extent, it has managed to appeal to a section of society that can be described as the Jacksonian small people. The conclusion was that, although not in all its elements, but Trump’s foreign policy is to some extent Jacksonian. However, as the Biden administration has taken over much from the previous administration, it is to some extent also typical of them.
The last topic discussed was the European reception of Trump’s foreign policy. It was mentioned that Europe’s relevance had been devalued in the eyes of the United States and that only a few European states had benefited from the Trump approach. Gábor Csizmazia also added that the average European and American – despite being a community of interests and values – disagree on many issues. And the Jacksonian foreign policy reinforces this disagreement, because it is based on the perception of the common American man, whom Europe does not understand.
Photos by Hungarian Institute of International Affairs (HIIA)