President Donald Trump’s return to the White House comes amid an international landscape destabilized by the Biden-Harris administration’s policy failures, especially in Ukraine and the Middle East, according to retired U.S. Army Lt. Col. Daniel L. Davis, who slammed Biden’s decisions, asserting that the administration failed to seize diplomatic opportunities, leaving Trump with a “whirlwind” of crises. He urged Trump to bring “new blood” like former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard into his cabinet to strengthen his foreign policy approach.
In an exclusive interview with Breitbart News, Davis, a senior fellow and military expert at Defense Priorities, argued that the Biden-Harris administration’s foreign policy has led to a “far worse situation now than when Trump left office” in 2021. Biden’s refusal to negotiate with Russia early on and a misguided approach to the Ukraine war have deepened the crisis, the Colonel noted, saying, “This war should never have been fought.”
He emphasized that under Biden’s leadership, the U.S. “refused every opportunity we had for a diplomatic negotiation and settlement,” failing to act on opportunities like the Minsk Accords.
In the Middle East, Biden’s inability to effectively manage America’s interests has emboldened Iran, complicated relations with Israel, and resulted in significant instability.
Ukraine Crisis
The former U.S. Army colonel warned that Trump will inherit a fragile situation in Ukraine, where U.S. policies under Biden have strengthened Putin’s negotiating position.
“Putin has all the cards,” he explained, describing how Biden’s refusal to address Russia’s key demands, particularly over NATO in Ukraine, fueled the current conflict. “We knew war was coming … and we allowed the war to happen,” he remarked, explaining that a focus on NATO expansion signaled to Russia that the U.S. would not negotiate in good faith.
According to Davis, who served multiple tours in Afghanistan, Trump will face an uphill battle as he seeks to establish peace.
Biden’s decisions have forced the U.S. into a weak negotiating position, the former lieutenant colonel said, and “it’s going to require Trump to make significant concessions” to end the war. Yet he emphasized that achieving peace is in America’s interest, saying, “Getting this war off the map will be an emotional issue … but everything is certainly safer then.”
The Middle East
In the Middle East, Biden’s failures have compounded risks for Israel, Davis asserted, noting that the stage has now been set for increased threats to Israel from Iran-backed groups, including Hezbollah and the Houthis, further entrenching Iran’s influence.
He sees Trump as Israel’s best hope for a stable Middle East.
Biden’s weakness, Davis said, led to a broader regional alignment against Israel, with Iran positioning itself as a key powerbroker, supported by Russia and China.
“They’re not going to just sit, be passive, and let the Iranian regime be taken out,” he warned, emphasizing the significance of Iran’s relationship with Russia and China in keeping Israel’s adversaries emboldened.
Trump’s Foreign Policy
Davis pointed out that Trump’s record of not starting any new wars presents a stark contrast to Biden’s approach.
Biden’s reluctance to assert strong American influence has left allies questioning U.S. resolve and adversaries emboldened, from Russia to Iran. Trump’s commitment to de-escalation and peace would give him a much stronger hand than Biden, he argued.
In the face of the current challenges, he believes that Trump’s approach can deliver results.
“If he sticks with his stated plans, we’ll have a more stable world order,” he insisted, optimistic that Trump’s experience and instinct for diplomacy will help him navigate the turbulent geopolitical landscape Biden has left behind.
Davis also suggested that Trump should bring “new blood” into his cabinet to strengthen his foreign policy approach, specifically naming U.S. Army veteran and former presidential candidate Tulsi Gabbard as an ideal pick for Secretary of State.
“She is unconventional, she has been proven right on so many issues, and definitely is not just the same old same old in the Republican Party,” he noted, describing her as a departure from Washington’s “standard set of advisers.”
According to Davis, Gabbard’s perspective would help Trump implement his vision of foreign policy that prioritizes U.S. stability while addressing complex global challenges.
A New Era of Stability
As Trump prepares to return to the White House, his stated goal to end foreign conflicts represents a marked shift from Biden’s policies, which Davis describes as failures that have deepened international chaos.
Trump: "I'm not going to start wars, I'm going to stop wars."
— Catch Up (@CatchUpFeed) November 6, 2024
Incredible speech. pic.twitter.com/G97Kp8rsd0
For America’s standing on the world stage, Trump’s approach could spell a much-needed shift toward stability. However, he cautioned, the challenges left by the Biden-Harris administration are formidable, and expectations for Trump to “magically fix” these issues instantly need to be tempered.
As Breitbart News reported, the Biden-Harris administration’s foreign policy has left the world in chaos and on the edge of major conflict — from the botched Afghanistan withdrawal to the Israel-Hamas war.
Under Biden, adversaries like Russia, China, and Iran, previously restrained by Trump’s tougher stance, have grown emboldened.
The Afghanistan withdrawal is widely seen as the Biden-Harris team’s most severe foreign policy failure, undermining global trust in U.S. commitments, leaving billions in military equipment to the Taliban, and signaling U.S. vulnerability. Experts argue that this, combined with Obama-era policies, set the stage for Putin’s invasion of Ukraine — unlike Trump’s deterrence-based approach.
Further, Biden’s decision to remove the Houthis from the terrorist list and empower Iran weakened U.S.-Israel ties, contrasting with Trump’s pro-Israel policies, including the Abraham Accords and the embassy move to Jerusalem. The administration’s lenient stance on China, from allowing a spy balloon incident to weak sanctions, also contrasts sharply with Trump’s robust Indo-Pacific alliances and hardline diplomacy, which kept Chinese ambitions in check.
From North Korea’s renewed arms deals with Russia to Iran’s growing influence, Biden’s foreign policy blunders destabilized global security, highlighting the stark difference from Trump’s strategy of deterrence, which included decisive actions like the strike on Iranian Revolutionary Guard Gen. Qasem Soleimani, keeping U.S. allies secure and adversaries in check.
Joshua Klein is a reporter for Breitbart News. Email him at
