Exclusive — Rand Paul: ‘America First’ Vision Has Won Out Hearts and Minds of Public, But Neocons Still Trying to Secretly ‘Undermine’ Trump
WASHINGTON — U.S. Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) told Breitbart News exclusively that the neocons have lost the hearts and minds of the American public who are firmly with President Donald Trump’s America First vision on foreign policy, but that they are still very powerful behind the scenes in the swamp in Washington and trying to secretly “undermine” the president’s push for peace worldwide.
Paul’s comments came during a lengthy exclusive interview with Breitbart News in his U.S. Senate office last week in Washington, just after Trump returned from the Middle East and a hugely successful trip in which the president declared in a speech in Saudi Arabia the era of neoconservatism and nation-building is over and argued for a better way forward.
“I think in the first term, one of the most remarkable achievements, and it really wasn’t so much anticipated, was the Abraham Accords,” Paul told Breitbart News. “A lot of that was Jared [Kushner], but also President Trump. It was doing something that was really outside the box. Everybody tried to have a big peace plan for what do you do in Israel? Instead, they went out outside that and started trying to make peace between Israel and certain countries. I think the potential for that to continue is significant and has a great deal of potential to happen under the second Trump administration. I thought his remarks, particularly towards neocons and the nation-building stuff, were nothing short of remarkable really. That’s the kind of thing that someone like myself has sort of wished for for a long time, for someone to say ‘We’re not into nation-building and we’re not going to be getting involved in every war.’ Frankly, I think he’s doing a great job on the foreign policy front, getting them to invest over here, and having good relations is a good idea.”
Paul expressed his sympathy with Trump’s senior adviser Steve Witkoff’s aggressive travel schedule, as Witkoff—who Breitbart News previously interviewed—has been engaged in negotiations as far-ranging as those with the Russians over the Ukraine war, with the Iranians over their nuclear programs, and over finding a lasting peace in Gaza after Hamas’s deadly Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attack on Israel.
“I can’t imagine what his schedule is like with all the traveling,” Paul said of Witkoff, before turning to what he is enjoying about Trump’s foreign policy efforts.
“What I particularly like about President Trump is he’s willing to do things the neocons would never do. You have to realize the neocons are still here,” Paul said. “They populate the ranks of many of the Republican senators as well as Republican congressmen. And they actually don’t like many of the things he’s doing—they don’t confront him directly, but they try to undermine him. So recently they were sending letters out on Iran saying what they can tolerate and what they can’t tolerate. But really, this is an area where I think President Trump ought to be given the freedom to try to negotiate with Iran. I like the fact that he’s willing to talk to Iran, North Korea, Russia, et cetera, because in the past we had our diplomacy bound by the neocons, who didn’t want to talk to anybody and just wanted to put more sanctions on. So I think President Trump’s approach is better. But I do worry about the organized resistance to him here on Iran and frankly on Russia. One of the things that Lindsey Graham has put forward on Russia is maybe one of the worst pieces of legislation ever to come forward. He’s saying to Russia if they don’t do what we tell them on Ukraine that he’ll put a 500 percent tariff on anybody that buys oil and gas from Russia. Well, there’s about three dozen countries including not just China but India, most of Europe, and even including the U.S.—we still buy some plutonium and uranium from Russia, believe it or not. But the idea of putting a 500 percent tariff? That’s not a payable tariff. Nobody pays a 500 percent tariff. It essentially means you quit trading with those people. So it essentially means eliminating trade with China and most Europe which would be a terrible idea. I think it goes against President Trump because he’s trying to negotiate with Russia to try to get them to either withdraw or stop fighting with Ukraine and if you tell him ‘oh we’re going to put a 500 percent tariff on Russia,’ I think that makes Russia or anybody that does business with Russia less likely to come to the table. So I think some of these things going on in Congress are attempts to undermine President Trump and things I continue to try to stop because I think it ties President Trump’s hands in the field of diplomacy.”
Paul even warned of neocon efforts to subvert the president by infiltration into his administration. “And they have tried to infiltrate the administration, frankly, as well,” Paul said.
Asked if he had advice for the president in countering this subversive element, Paul said he just urges Trump to trust his instincts and “be himself.”
“I don’t think he necessarily needs advice from me, other than to be himself, but the only thing I would caution if he would ask me is be aware of those around you who have a secondary agenda,” Paul said. “There are many who, for example, he recently said Assad is gone and we put the sanctions on Syria under a previous administration and we’re going to take off the sanctions and see if we can live peacefully with Syria. I think that’s the way to go, because what you do is, if you want to behave as long as you do, you take it off. Instead, there are many of the neocons here who still want to keep the sanctions and oppose the president on this. So that’s what he has to watch for, and not let them try to get legislation that would subvert his plans. It’s the same with Iran. He needs the ability to be able to negotiate with Iran and the carrot is the release of sanctions. But there’s a sort of a never-peace-with-Iran group here who never want to release the sanctions. To my mind, the sanctions are only of value if you trade them. You can have them on the book and say I’m punishing Iran—that’s one thing. But also to get Iran to come to the table is another—but ultimately if you want a peace deal you’ve got to swap sanctions for peace. You have to swap reduction of that, and there’s a large group that doesn’t really want any sanctions relief on Iran and doesn’t want any sanctions relief with Syria. There were people during the previous Trump administration who did undermine him. There was a guy named James Jeffrey who was the Special Envoy to Syria and if you remember when we defeated ISIS the president said let’s come home and we don’t want need to have troops in Syria. But when he did that, James Jeffrey a couple years later said he played a shell game to hide from the president the number of troops so he didn’t know we were still there. That to me is tantamount to treason really, the idea that people would lie to the president. So he just has to be careful of the people in his administration and that we don’t get anybody that sneaks into the administration with their own agenda that counters his.”
Even though there are efforts by failed globalists of a bygone era to try to reclaim their lost mantle inside the GOP, Paul said the American public—particularly the GOP primary base across America—has turned hard against neocons everywhere.
“I think so,” Paul replied when asked if the hearts and minds of the people are with him and Trump. “And I think the people out there—the populous, particularly the Republicans at least—have always been closer to the idea of less intervention overseas, less foreign wars, et cetera. I think Trump always instinctively got this. It wasn’t that Trump came around to this. I don’t think Trump is a sort of doctrinaire libertarian, but he’s a sort of instinctual believer that we shouldn’t be involved in more war unless we have to. So I think he has a good combination of putting up and presenting strength while at the same time being willing to negotiate on the other hand. I think it’s something much different than any other president that we’ve had—and to a great benefit for the country. But I think you’re right. It has taken over. I think if you were to interview any Republican primary audience in any state, I think most of them agree with the idea of America First. But also most agree with the idea of less foreign war, that other countries need to be paying their fair share—they have to be paying their way—and I think he [Trump] got that before anybody did on NATO or all of these things and that people were sort of free-riding on American presence and American dollars.”
But again, while the public is with Trump here, Paul warned that the “fight’s still not over” in the power centers of Washington, like inside Congress.
“So, I think and worry the fight’s still not over within the halls of Congress,” Paul said. “I think the people are with President Trump, but there are still many people on the foreign policy front who would undermine the president’s policy and actively do. Like, right now, the legislation on trying to put more sanctions on Russia is not I think what the president is trying to negotiate. The president is trying to negotiate is [if] Russia will behave we can give you less sanctions. We have plenty of sanctions on them. They’re no longer part of the banking system and all kinds of things and yet the war went on because as the war began the price of oil went up and their ability to sell it was more difficult, but they got more for it. Russia has economically survived this war. Now, a lot of people have died, but I think they can economically survive even more. The best thing is to trade relief, I think, for trying to find a peaceful solution.”
More from Paul’s latest exclusive interview with Breitbart News is forthcoming.
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