5m
20 Jan 2025

‘Country more united with Trump’, says former Trump staffer

Europe Editor and Presenter

We spoke to Fred Fleitz, who was Chief of Staff and Executive Secretary of the National Security Council during the first Trump administration.

Matt Frei: This speech, and I’m sure you listened to it as much as we all did, does it represent a significant shift for America and indeed for the rest of the world?

Fred Fleitz: Hey, Matt, it’s great to be here. I see you were able to find a handful of protesters against the Trump presidency – I might add, there were huge numbers when he was sworn in in 2017. The number today was much lower because I think the country is actually more united with Trump. We do have a divided country, there’s no doubt about that. But you know what I was really heartened by? As Trump was leaving the Capitol today, he said to Chuck Schumer, who is now the Senate minority leader, ‘I wish I could have a better relationship with the Democrats’ – and we saw a peaceful transfer of power today. And I think it just was a great thing for our country after this very divisive election, after this very divisive Biden presidency. I think Trump has really put out an olive leaf to unite this country and make this country great again.

Matt Frei: It was extraordinary watching all the previous presidents sitting in the rotunda on Capitol Hill, especially President Biden. They seem to have a fairly amicable relationship. But there was President Trump kind of shredding, you know, rhetorically at least, one aspect after another of the Biden presidency. How’s that going down?

Fred Fleitz: I give the Bidens a lot of credit. I think that their exit and the way they dealt with Mr. Trump and Mrs. Trump was classy. I think that’s what we want to see in our country, a peaceful transfer of power where the incoming and outcoming presidents, even from different parties, are going to be cooperative and civil to each other. That’s what Americans want. That really wasn’t possible in 2020 for a lot of reasons – the pandemic, questions about the 2020 election. But look, Trump made a speech about all the problems in this country that he thinks were caused by Joe Biden, that he’s going to solve – and there’s a long list of them. I don’t think there’s any question that our country is less safe, the world is less safe because of Joe Biden. And Donald Trump is going to fix this.

Matt Frei: He also said, I’m talking about Trump here, that he will take back the Panama Canal. Does he mean militarily if the Panamanians don’t hand it over to America?

Fred Fleitz: I think Trump said that he’s not going to tolerate the Panama Canal being controlled by China. He’s not going to tolerate the Panama Canal charging exorbitant fees for US ships, including US Navy ships. I think he sent a clear message to the government of Panama that this is something the US is not going to stand for.

Matt Frei: And the Gulf of Mexico will now be known as the Gulf of America?

Fred Fleitz: Well, this is a decision that the president made – as head of the executive branch he has the power to make decisions on geographic names for the US government. And this is a decision that he’s decided to make for the former Gulf of Mexico.

Matt Frei: I just wondered to what extent you think, as a foreign policy expert, much of what he said today was performative – was presidential theatre on the big day – and how much of it will actually be put into reality?

Fred Fleitz: I think a strong and decisive American president is what the world needs. It’s good for American security, it’s good for global security. And I also think in foreign policy, success breeds success. If the release of these hostages by Hamas, which would not have happened if Trump had not been elected, is successful, if we get a lasting ceasefire that is fair to Israel and its security, I think this can open many doors for progress in resolving disputes around the world, starting with the conflict in Ukraine. So I think that the world should be happy that America once again has a strong and decisive president. And let’s see what happens.

Matt Frei: But he’s put – briefly – he’s put the world on notice, hasn’t he? I mean, including some of America’s oldest and best friends, including us in Britain. The message seems to be you’re either with us or you’re against us.

Fred Fleitz: You know, I was really struck by how the president has tried to reach out to China. He spoke to Chinese President Xi. He invited Xi to the inauguration. Xi sent his vice president. So we hear all this tough talk about China, including from some people coming into the Trump administration, but Trump wants to engage in dialogue with China. He’ll be tough with China. But he also wants to improve relations with dialogue. So I don’t think I completely agree with what you just said.

Matt Frei: Okay. Well, we’ll be watching and I’m sure we’ll be talking again. Thank you very much, Fred Fleitz.