A dangerous faction of Trumps cabinet pushes for an American retreat

Vice President JD Vance is a principled isolationist voice, but his principles reflect poorly on his judgment.According to a Signal discussion that accidentally included Atlantic editor Jeffrey Goldberg, the VP pushed back hard on his boss’s plan to strike the Houthis — Iranian-backed Yemeni terrorists who have been wreaking havoc by attacking ships and disrupting trade in the Red Sea — earlier this month.After the operation in question, Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell announced, “U.S.Central Command forces initiated a series of operations consisting of precision strikes against Iran-backed Houthi targets across Yemen to restore freedom of navigation and re-establish American deterrence.”“Houthi terrorists have launched missiles and one-way attack drones at U.S.

warships over 170 times and at commercial vessels 145 times since 2003,” added Parnell.All this was lost on Vance, whose chief concerns were nonexistent domestic political considerations and punishing the United States’ European allies.“I think we are making a mistake,” Vance told his colleagues.“I am not sure the president is aware how inconsistent this is with his message on Europe right now,” he continued before fretting over an entirely hypothetical spike in oil prices.After Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth mounted a full-throated defense of Trump’s decision, explaining how it was in the United States’ best interests, Vance conceded.“If you think we should do it, let’s go.I just hate bailing Europe out again,” he admitted.Vance may be correct that Europe is overly reliant on the United States for defense, but his attitude and impression that these strikes could be politically damaging is wrongheaded.Since when has the electorate objected to the U.S.

taking out barbaric, America-hating monsters?Recall that the bulk of the country celebrated Trump’s order to take out Qasem Soleimani back in 2020.It was the progressive cocktail party class in Washington — not the wor...