>> trump on foreign policy in a bit. we'll see you back here in an hour. "outnumbered" starts right now. harris: fox news alert. in our nation's capitol we're awaiting a major foreign policy speech from gop presidential candidate donald trump. follows a big delegate grab in five northeastern states last night. he won all of them. this is "outnumbered." i'm harris faulkner. here today, sandra smith. cohost of "after the bell" on fox business, melissa francis. jedediah bila on the couch. today's #oneluckyguy republican strategist and campaign veteran tony sayegh is outnumbered. he saud in the green room. this is day for all your expertise. i can't wait. >> thanks, harris for having me back. harris: as we await donald trump

to step up to the lecturn, his campaign billing the address as major one. we're getting words and details from the campaign on what he will be focusing on the speech. let's take a look at some of that. a shift from nation-building we're told. sticking with america's allies. a new outlook on russia. the iran nuclear deal. and radical islamist threat with the goal of making it clear the u.s. seeks to destroy the islamic state savages. we're also hearing mr. trump's campaign has done a lot of bulking up his foreign policy team. tony, i'm coming straight to you. are these the key points? are they hits absolutely where they need to. >> absolutely. donald trump is known thus far for having strong populist message against wall street and economic system that doesn't help the middle class rise up. he has populist foreign policy message. very anti-interventionist. not for nation-building that goes directly against the

republican establishment orthodoxy of the whole neocon idea we can to into these country, preemptively. we should stay there, build nations up. should remain in terms of resources and troops in those regions. i think trump is actually on the same page as the majority of the american people. his issue is, has he articulated it well enough, has he gone deep enough, has he been thoughtful enough? this is his opportunity. we all mentioned last night, a dominant performance. most people have to look at the race here on in, donald trump very likely could be the republican nominee. speeches like this are critical to bring people to his side who are reluctant up to this point. harris: jedediah, dominant performance and post-victory speech did not sound at all like we were expecting to hear now. he focused on his rivals, so on so forth. what are your thoughts? >> i think he needs to sound like a president today, he needs to be specific. this is area, foreign policy, you talk to people they worry

about donald trump this is the area where they wonder whether he has expertise to actually succeed at a time when it is really dangerous. when you're talking about islamic terrorism and extremism you need to be specific. you can't just say we'll go get these guys. that can't work. he speaks often in sound bites which can be effective in campaign. this is moment where all eyes are on him in terms of foreign policy people expect him to deliver. i'm looking for specifics. i'm looking for him to be bold and looking for him to sound like a president you can see in too position, leadership position, leading this country, heaven for bid -- sandra: his defense of oversimplification of global dynamics and he has been criticized not understanding role and intentions of leaders vladmir putin, but donald trump defends that criticism, that has been his strategy. that has been his tactic. he said the time will come when he changes that strategy and gets more specific. so, perhaps, melissa, this is the moment where he starts to lay out those specifics and the

question remains, will that build support for donald trump and his campaign, will this, this specificity and cause criticism. >> i remember back to aipac. i watched it entirety. i'm not sure how many people. it was very specific. it was right on point. the crowd was educated, they know what is listened form. they laughed at him. they ridiculed him. by the end they were on his feet clapping. he won over a big presume of people on specifics and tone. he stuck to the prompter. it is kind of thing i don't think we've seen since and i look for that donald trump today. harris: what is interesting, tony, donald trump has said the prompter maybe not for him because he will start to sound boring but he will obviously being moving forward to speeches that lend themselves to something like that. with that specificity you want the words in front of you since you may not do that every day. one of our fox news

contributors, walid phares has been working with donald trump apparently what is going to be happening in the speech and one of our fox news business, one of our fox business network reporters has talked with him just recently and here is what pharis is saying. he says he won't give details who exactly is on the advisory board for donald trump at this point but he can say isis is going to be a focus. he says trump will deliver a grand speech with broad themes and offer less in details but kind of hit those points of interest that we talked about right off the top here. but this idea now that we're getting a little bit more familiar who he is going to pull in, maybe not by name but certainly with the speech it will tell us a lot who is behind the scenes. >> walid is one of the best when it comes to the middle east which is clearly hot spot and complex region where american interests sometimes contradicted each other. so i do trust people like walid phares. it does reassure me, i agree with you, melissa, i watched

aipac speech. i know many people who advised trump how it was written. it was brilliant address. i hope he can do the same again. i want to emphasize this point. donald trump has done something, i've been traveling internationally recently and had conversation with people mostly in russia, barack obama has not been able to do, he actually has been able to capture imagination of a lot of these world leaders who find him strong and unpredictable. harris: some of them have done business with people who he knows. >> they appreciate the fact, look, we talk about the fact that he is not gone deep into too many specifics. neither did reagan. as foreign policy president you do outline kind of broader doctrines. you outloan goals and objectives. then the details come into play when you operationalize them. sandra: jedediah, this is not just political pundits criticizing donald trump with his tactics and strategy on foreign policy we've heard from world leaders who say they fear the outcome of a donald trump presidency. >> i think that is key for me.

we tend to focus on, we'll all be watching and who will vote for him, and you have the hawkish wing of the gop and libertarian wing and the world is watching. this is the guy in the lead. what he needs to do is command respect. that is with we feel has been missing from leadership, i don't think barack obama commands respect from world leaders. not only be specific but everyone who should be afraid of us i want them to be afraid of him. the people who should be able to rely on them as allies i want them to know he will be their ally. that is what i'm looking for. harris: what i hear, what you're saying jedediah, you're ready for a turn to more general election conversation from donald trump? >> yes. harris: which is kind of what we saw from donald trump and hillary clinton post their victories last night, melissa. so now the question becomes if you're ted cruz or john kasich and you're watching the speech today, what role are you playing? >> i mean i think you're sitting back feeling a little sick to your stomach, that this thing is getting away from you as you're

watching it. we all know ted cruz has announcement coming up at 4:00. he will try to do that thing the day after you get routed in primary try to turn the page, try to change the narrative. we saw donald trump do it successfully once before. will ted cruz be able to do it? i don't know. there is speculation he may announce a running mate. it would take a lot for him to be able to turn the page on last night. i think this is donald trump pivoting to the rest of the election and leaving the other folks in the dust. harris: tony, when you talk about those two weeks or so donald trump had a few weeks ago that were negative for him and how he went quiet for a little bit. he came back. talk about a rebound. this would be part of that i assume. he announced shortly thereafter i will be making those speeches. can you maybe handicap it for us going forward what it means for this campaign? he has more people. he has pal manafort who has a lot of experience scooping up delegates. we saw the big grab last night. >> he is professionalizing campaign.

i'm of the opinion worked on several you do evolve as campaign structure and team. his team was initially successful winning marketing idea and messaging idea of donald trump and creating certain amount of momentum. you do need quote-unquote boots on the ground politically to turn momentum into delegates. sandra: talk about the general election matchup. we look at hillary clinton clearly the front-runner on the democratic side. she touted as her experience as former secretary of state. how do you see his campaign and his strategy to combat what she has more experience and he is lacking? >> i think he will want to talk her record as secretary of state head on. as we've seen in the last eight years in general, certainly years she has been secretary of state, from maghreb in north africa and iraq and syria, we had a mess on our hands. to your point, jedediah because of lack of strength of presidential administration. underserved our allies, empower

ed and emboldenedded our enemies filled in the vacuum by vladmir putin, north korea and china and others. if i were donald trump i would take on hillary clinton's record as secretary of state. in order to do so with credibility he has to buildout the team. he does have to give specific ideas, some themes he is going to run on and i think isis is good one. against iran deal another one. he has to reassure the american people he has depth and frankly intellectual curiosity for foreign policy. it is not always about being kind of a simple thing to talk about. it is pretty complicated. harris: i want to welcome everybody if they're tuning in at noon hour or 9:00 a.m. hour on the west coast, a few minutes late into "outnumbered" you're wondering what you're watching. we're awaiting for donald trump to step up to the lecturn to make what his campaign is calling a major campaign speech about foreign policy. a couple things. this is washington, d.c., so we don't want to miss the backdrop. that can't be accidental. it doesn't really fold in rest

of his day. if you're wondering because he is going to be there? as i understand it he is going to indiana next. as he talked about last night, he will spend several days there. he will be joined by legendary former coach bobby knight in hoosier land. racked up 902 wins with ncaa basketball. >> look at you. harris: i don't come by it honestly. i will say this, he is going to where he described he will have many friends. he will make this speech and then go to indiana. talk with me about where you think his momentum is now. >> i'm of the opinion, and i'm actually surprised i heard some people kind of dismiss this idea that momentum is important late in the game. i didn't think trump didn't just win last two weeks of contests he dominated. he won every county in every state. in four out of five states he actually beat his opponents than hillary clinton beat bernie sanders.

she had only one person to run against. he is has extreme momentum. if he breaks through indiana, 54 delegates in all, mathematical math, cruz has strong operation much harder. if cruz has a firewall in indiana, to prevent him from basically dominating since last two performances, he. he has a strong organization in south dakota, nebraska, nebraska is winner-take-all but donald trump is now on such a trajectory why the conversation has begun to change he has to start winning over quote, unquote establishment types are coming to grips, like stages of grief, there is acceptance, stage. they need each other. they need each other. sandra: i will point out in the new donald trump phase he will be using teleprompters. he will use one here. our reporter at business network, rich edson, talking to trump's campaign advisor they will not say who advised him or wrote the speech we'll hear from

donald trump. he refused to say. he did add they will be discussing affairs involving reexamination of the u.s. relationship with russia to your point, a new look at iran nuclear deal. and he will make it clear that the u.s. seeks to destroy isis. harris: i want to talk a little bit how the economy folds into this today. we're seeing budgetary talks on the hill with the military in places where the military is hurts from cuts and so on, so forth. how president obama really taking heat here of late. we knew cuts were coming. we knew they would be deep cuts but we've done our own specials. we look here recently as fox news reporting specials unit what that means for the military and how devastating in some cases, they don't have enough equipment and so on, so forth. part of a foreign policy speech, melissa, i imagine would have to do with money. >> i think so. this is a real shift. we went through a long period of

time spending a lot on military. there were calls to dial back on it. now we've gone so far in the other direction. on right you have knee-jerk reaction when you have problem. solution from the government is always to spend more money. you hear that instinctively, wait a second, i don't know about spending more money. in this case we've seen our enemies grow very strong. we ignored problem overseas. we've seen isis really take root. those problems come home to roost. they're already in europe. they're making their way to our shore. it is something very worrisome. at the same time we fear the powers in the white house right now, talking about bashar al-assad, talks what feels like the original iraq war, getting rid of secular dictators based on horrible things doing to their own people. that was sort of last war we were in. radical islam wants to bring fight to america and kill americans. the tone has completely changed. they missed it in washington and i think donald trump has not and everybody on the right a has now

not. harris: part of the story this week is the hit list, we talked about, weakness is cyber, protecting our own information, seems we're very weak at that. that becomes part of the story. sandra: hack into the state department. we don't know what secrets they may have gotten from that, including hit list part of the story. we're being told, this is the "wall street journal" reporting, this is first of series of policy speeches. they are hinting there will be discussion of global trade, economic and national security policies will be discussed as well. more specifics on all are promised. >> all these issues intersect, right? they don't live in their own silos. foreign policy goes into trade policy which goes into national security which goes into the national and global economy. sandra, melissa, you know better than i, there are a lot of forecasts america will hit a economic rough patch at some point very soon and that's global problem.

trump obviously will have the opportunity. the economy seems up to this point a strength of his especially talking about trade agreements and they have been generally unfavorable toward the american worker. he will have to elevate himself. i do understand, jedediah, world leaders look at trump. there is a bit of confusion because he is so opposite from barack obama who frankly belonged in straus berg and brussels in the e.u. than he did in many respectses in washington, d.c. as a strong american president who really understands exceptionalism of this country and need for american strength. i do think trump will win a lot of friends of the if he does this the right way. harris: to your criticism i think you're pointing to the venue. he is in president obama's backyard, in d.c. not an accident. harris: you know, jedediah i want to talk with you from analysis perspective where the rnc is right now. we know where the dnc is. they are probably watching too. but the republican national

committee has been chippy to borrow a hock can he term. it is interesting, since this time last year how the rnc kind of navigated its way around and kind of back to donald trump. >> yeah. harris: how would you describe the dance they have done and what it will look like going forward? >> i think as of right now they will look to see what he delivers on a stage like this. donald trump keeps telling us if i'm the guy, i'm running against hillary i'm going to be different. this is your opportunity to do that. this is a speech directed at hillary clinton. the other guys are running against donald trump. he gave that speech last night. we talked about before he is targeting them. this is his opportunity, you know what, i cleared a lot of you out of the way. let's get serious. rnc is waiting to see we know he is charismatic, we know he is populist. he got people excited and potentially get reagan democrats and independents who would not vote right but what can he do on policy and specificity? can he make people respect him?

does he have what it takes to get commander-in-chief. is this afy good getting elected much the way barack obama was, he hit the presidency and realized he was out of his league? this is the guy we'll have to get behind. we want a unified party an unified front and let's go for it. harris: if he delivers today and goes for it and cops up short of 1237 delegates you think -- >> depends how close it is. depends how close and how far away everyone else is. what the republican party doesn't need donald trump be a few votes a way, few delegates away, c clamoring to find someone else when he has proven to be competent leader. harris: you know the words on your screen changed a little bit. moments away. that we got word that presidential gop candidate donald trump just walked into the building. we're waiting momentarily for him to walk up to the lecturn and take the stage and begin

what is being described by some of his advisors, walid phares called it a grand speech even taking hyperbole up to the next level. as we await for him to take the stage, we'll continue to talk a little bit how this maybe changes the game. i don't know that you change the game with one speech but historically some have been able to do it. sandra: perhaps what was a hint to come in this speech last night after his big victories he said, quote, part of what i'm saying we love our country and we love our allies but our allies can no longer being taking advantage of this country. he told reporters this last night. early this morning he said the focus would be on nuclear weapons as single biggest threat in the world today. i'm probably the last on the trigger. >> well i think that also begs the question. some of his more shaky comments have been on nuclear issue. he doesn't know what the nuclear triad was. he suggested nuclearized japan and south korea. he has time to obviously shift and give a much more thoughtful response. it definitely will be necessary.

make no mistake, it may not change everything, harris, but donald trump right now in this one speech i'm going to predict will change entire orthodoxy, entire foreign policy orthodoxies of republican party. harris: that's bold. that's bold. >> we have last decade doubled down on neocon idea preemptively go into countries, that america has to put boots on the ground and intervene consistently. we note from his own public comment, donald trump does not believe it, neither do most of the american people. sandra: melissa we talked about this on the couch this week, news that president barack obama made decision to send 250 special forces into syria. donald trump responded to the move i about the president said he agreed with this decision by president barack obama but i would not have made that decision public. he said, i would send them in quietly. right now they have a target on their backs. perhaps we also hear more about that today. >> no, this is amazing. this is one of the big

criticisms all along. why are we telling our enemies when we're leaving, the date we're leaving, giving them safe the date cards when pulling out of a region. makes absolutely no sense. do same thing when sending others in. there is a middle ground and what americans are hungry before between the nation-building that has gone on that we've grown weary of. seen maybe work, maybe not. cost a lot of money and cost a lot of lives and retreat barack obama brought about where we just left our allies high and dry. we left regions and the forecasts have come true. that the enemy would flush back in stronger force. harris: melissa, look what is going on with saudi arabia. not that we've left but they're really angry. look at israel, not that we left but they're angry. you hear me talk about this all the time, we still don't know what is in it because there were side deals. like a house you buy and builder

didn't tell you there is a back room, with a body in it! couple things real quickly. i go right back to melissa, in the audience to fill in a bit of color but mostly press but donald trump's personnel entered the room. they're taking their spots. we'll keep our focus but i want to come back to that issue. >> no, i think the american people this is one of the things donald trump struck a chord he seems to be in middle of all that. we need to be strong in territory we have a real threat with isis and others. his approach to russia is really interesting, because this is a leader we have learned in this country to despies. we've been told to distrust. who obviously done terrible things to germany, i'm sorry, to journalists, to his own people, to his neighbors. at same time we have probably scarier and bigger enemies. this is one of the more questionable moves with our president. donald trump is trying to thread the needle. i don't know if you do it

successfully. sandra: tony to your point he said this morning in interview this speech will focus on economics of foreign policy. he said quote, we're getting killed on economics. >> he focuses on that with specifically china and mexico and japan. i want to get back to the idea of our allies not trusting us. what is singular battle obama gives to combating isis, we need sunni states to be invested in the fight. guess what, saudi arabia, jordan, egypt, they don't trust us. they don't believe president obama has their back. for them to take isis fight on themselves -- harris: he did a deal with their enemy that we still don't know what's in it. >> exactly, harris. undermines we as american country and military and our president and administration is going to back them up when things are going to get tough and things will get tough. harris: how does it play on the world stage? president obama gets credit in some corners for bringing people together.

how does it play, jedediah on the world stage when he says to saudi arabia and iran and others play like good neighbors? >> yeah, right. this has been a terrible time for us because people look at president obama and don't see leadership across board. don't see follow-through. this guy draws red lines and said, oh, i made a boo-boo, goes back and changes his mind. what people are looking for in a leader, consistency, follow through and credibility. for me it will be really interesting from the speech, there is strong -- i'm libertarian. there is strong libertarian wing of republican party that feels completely abandoned and lost. when rand paul left the race. they feel lost. when i see donald trump focusing on things opposed to nation-building, i wonder if he will be able to unite the people an pull people in yes, want a strong military and yes when a president make as commitment and follows through and recognizes we can't be everywhere. there are limited funds. sometimes with we go somewhere without proper follow through,

we give weapons to them they wind up being used against us in specific instances. you have to have consistency and caution in the process. i'm curious who this speech will target in terms of american voters and whether or not he will be a able to say something make everyone on right come together and say, you know what? , this guy has a good head on his shoulders. >> i want to take the point especially as donald trump is about to walk up on the stage to give a speech, there is going to be very engaging idea from the right to criticize this speech, kind of flatly. there is going to be a lot of people on republican conservative side who will hear things trump said and their instinct it is not intellectual, it is not deep thinking, not comprehensive, not basically what we stand for. i want, i wish people will stop and reserve judgement. there is something going on in this country, and affecting economic policy, affecting trade policy, affecting foreign and national policy and donald trump thus far, for whatever you want to say, i have no doubt

sometimes he has not talked foreign policy in reassuring way, donald trump's finger is largely on the pulse. harris: i'm cutting in. people see a little bit of movement now ahead of that, looks down front of the lecturn there in the first couple of rows. as people get set in. we have rather distant shot, when the shot tightens that means donald trump is fast approaching. tony i want to cut in what we're watching for. it is interesting what you say. what you're asking because donald trump has been a very gifted messenger to people, you're asking those who would be his critics listen how he puts things because he does have a way of communicating to people, you know, beyond all of the facts, it is the message, underlying tone. sandra: real quick, tony before you respond to that on the message and color of that message, trump's biggest backer in washington, republican u.s. senator jeff sessions said the candidate would offer quote, more restrained foreign policy

in this speech, more realistic foreign policy counts the cost not only now but in the months and years to come, going back to economics of foreign policy. >> sure. there is this idea we at our own expense go out too far for others and we don't necessarily secure our interests, our national security interests. and that unfortunately sometimes has occurred. so that is certainly a point. i think what i'm trying to say too is, look. i've had my own concern about some things donald trump has said. the way he talks about withdrawing our bases, withdrawing our troops, almost unilaterally talks about nuclearizing parts of korean peninsula, but at same time he is not off the mark sometimes. he is even ahead of the curve. he is lead indicator sometimes what the american people are thinking. of course the speech is fair game. of course every presidential candidate accepts fact they will be challenged to when they make policy speeches i encourage my

colleagues part of the intellectual elites on the right to stop and think. harris: as i promised, the camera zooms in. we're watching right now the introduction. so we'll continue to watch this but this means we're very closeo give his foreign policy speech. this is boilerplate how we do it. get in on the close-up. sandra. sandra: more information from another fox business reporter blake burman, giving sort of an outline where this speech may be going. he says the key issues donald trump will be focusing on here shift from nation-building, sticking with allies, new out look with russia, radical islamist threat. he is told that the buildup of the foreign policy team is well underway and almost reaching, quote, romney levels. harris: he is looking back now. as we watch to see what's happening, we know that there are a certain amount of advisors. walid phares who work with us many years at fox news channel to help us best understand things in the middle east. he has been pulled on board to

work with donald trump. he is one of the people talking with our journalists at fox business network and others what would be in the speech. we know there is team with him and behind donald trump. we see some of them take the stage. we're waiting for him to come up to make this foreign policy speech. melissa? sandra: hopefully -- >> hopefully this is the point in the campaign when we turn to serious issues. we turn to foreign policy. beyond this we'll talk more about the economy again. more data coming in showing the economy is really slowing. there has been sort of a thunder gathering on the economic side of people saying, there is a good chance, that we're heading back into another recession. harris: i've been hearing you say that would be cyclical thing and we would feel it because we haven't quite really all the way come back from the last one we were in? >> definitely. indicators are coming in as we see the rate of the growth of the economy slow and more and more people on economic side saying wow, buckle up, we may go

back into this. this could be another time when we see economy come forward and emerge as major issue in the campaign. i think that is good for donald trump. he is somebody who knows about business and knows about the economy, regardless what he said on trade that a lot of people don't agree with. many people think that is opening bid. it is good for him and tough for hillary clinton who bears the burden of a lot of what the obama administration has done. harris: real quickly, we're inside the two minute warning. from you, tony, you've been at these occasions with candidates. what is going on to prep this candidate as he takes the stage for what will really be his first time doing this sort thing? >> one thing i learned about donald trump i'm not sure he is following that conventional formula. >> right. >> most of us have been doing another year. >> probably laughing in another room as we say that i will not do what they think i will do. harris: how would you normally do it? >> he is clearly being prepped and being briefed way ahead on some of these issues. probably hopefully practicing

his remarks. trying to make sure if there are any follow-up questions he is prepared for them. you want to make sure he understands who is in the room, vis-a-vis the press and what potential questions you anticipate from them. i think trump has confidence, inner barometer ier in see hem feel concerned about public performance. sometimes it benefited him, sometimes he has fallen short but this is the opportunity for him to break through especially the more and more it looks -- sandra: we're being told from our reporters on the ground, we're being told by his advisors this will be a speech, a written speech. so a teleprompter will be involved. jedediah, what do you think -- will this be a big test of his ability to stick to a speech? >> i think it is interesting to see if there are any curveballs. once i say he goes into the serious space and presents a new tone where he tries to look presidential, don't go back and get off the stage and talk about serious stuff and people have

confidence in you and say ted cruz you're a jerk on twitter. people respect you and see you and rnc saying hold on, maybe this is the guy, stick wit. guess what, you're in the lead. now it is time to prove if you win you can actually do the job. that is what this test is for. tell him, if this tone works and keep it. >> the no tweets from donald trump morning by the way. no tweets for 15 hours now. harris: a little bit of -- sandra: right. 15 hours. harris: james rosen sent this to us, our correspondent there in washington who telling us who is in the room now. so the first speaker was jacob halbrun editor of "national interest" magazine associated with the center for national interest. the current speaker right now, if he looks familiar to you, zalmay khalizad, former u.s. ambassador to iraq and to the united nations. your thoughts on that?

>> look i think donald trump has potential to attract some really impressive talent when it comes to this. thus far walid is very good pick. i would like to see him make other selections very similar to that but donald trump is going to speak loudly when he makes this type of selections, one of the things, melissa, you and i talked about on the business channel, as a chief executive, a businessman one of his perceived strengths he will put the right people in place to do the right job. he will supervise them appropriately. therefore the outcome will be positive. there there will be a lot of speculation because he has no foreign policy record but he has negotiated deals overseas and businesses overseas but doesn't have a voting record. harris: we might get caught in middle of this because we're inside of a minute. sandra, you moderated a couple of debates. foreign policy was a place where trump's rivals could hit him. does this quiet among his rivals

are that doesn't do well at all? sandra: this is him answering the criticism, that he has not been specific on his foreign policy suggestions. this is the moment. he promises said this time is coming so here it is. this will, as i said earlier, open up for more criticism of donald trump from those criticizing him and been skeptical and those that supported him. harris: donald trump now walking up. a couple of speeches ahead of him. he is taking stage now. we'll pick up the sound to hear a little bit of color in the room as he walks to the lecturn as he begins his speech. i will stop talking while he speaks. >> thank you, for the opportunity to speak to you and thank you to the center for national interests for honoring me with this invitation. it is truly a great honor. i would like to talk today how to develop a new foreign policy direction for our country, one that replaces randomness with

purpose, ideology with strategy and chaos with peace. it's time to shake the rust off america's foreign policy. it's time to invite new voices and new visions into the fold, something we have to do. the direction i will outline today will also return us to a timeless principle. my foreign policy will always put the interests of the american people and american security above all else. has to be first. has to be. that will be the foundation of every single decision that i will make. america -- [applause] america first will be the major and overriding theme of my administration. but to chart our path forward, we must first briefly take a look back. we have a lot to be proud of.

in the 1940s we saved the world, the greatest generation beat back the nazis, and japanese imperialists. then we saved the world again. this time from tote tearianism and communism, the cold war, it lasted for decades but guess what? we won. and we won big. democrats and republicans working together got mr. gorbachev to heed the words of president reagan, our great president, when he said, tear down this wall. history -- [applause] history will not forget what he did, very special, special man and president. unfortunately after the cold war our foreign policy veered badly off course. we failed to develop a new vision for a new time. in fact, as time went on, our

foreign policy began to make less and less sense. logic was replaced with foolishness and arrogance which led to one foreign policy disaster after another. they just kept coming and coming. we went from mistakes in iraq to egypt, to libya, to president obama's line in the sand in syria. each of these actions have helped to throw the region into chaos and gave isis the space it needs to grow and prosper. very bad. it all began with a dangerous idea that we could make western democracies out of countries that had no experience or interest in becoming a western democracy. we tore up what institutions they had, and then, were surprised what we unleashed. civil war, religious fanaticism, thousands of americans and just killed, lives, lives, wasted,

horribly wasted. many trillions of dollars were lost as a result. the vacuum was created that isis would fill. iran too would rush in and fill that void, much to their really unjust enrichment. they have benefited so much, so sadly for us. our foreign policy is a complete and total disaster. no vision, no purpose, no direction, no strategy. today, i want to identify five main weaknesses in our foreign policy. first, our resources are totally overextended. president obama has weakened our military by weakening our economy. he has crippled us with wasteful spending, massive debt, low growth, a huge trade deficit and open borders.

our manufacturing trade deficit with the world is now approaching one trillion dollars a year. we're rebuilding other countries while weakening our own. ending the theft of american jobs will give us resources we need to rebuild our military, which has to happen, and regain our financial independence and strength. i'm the only person running for the presidency who understands this and this is a serious problem. i'm the only one, believe me, i know them all, i'm the only one that knows how to fix it. [applause] secondly, our allies are not paying their fair share. i've been talking about this recently a lot. our allies must contribute toward their financial, political and human costs, have to do it, of our tremendous

security burden. but many of them are simply not doing so. they look at the united states as weak and forgiving and feel no obligation to honor their agreements with us. in nato, for instance, only four of 28 other member countries, besides america, are spending the minimum required 2% of gdp on defense. we have spent trillions of dollars over time on planes, missiles, ships, equipment, building up our military, to provide a strong defense for europe and asia. the countries we are defending must pay for the costs of this defense. and if not, the u.s. must be prepared to let these countries defend themselves. we have no choice. [applause] the whole world will be safer if our allies do their part to support our common defense and

security. a trump administration will lead a free world that is properly armed and funded and funded beautifully. thirdly, our friend are beginning to think they can't depend on us. we've had a president who dislikes our friend and bows to our enemies something at that we've never seen before in the history of our country. he negotiated disasterous deal with iran and then we watched them ignore its terms, even before the ink was dry. iran can not be allowed to have a nuclear weapon, can not be allowed, remember that, can not be allowed to have a nuclear weapon. [applause] and under a trump administration will never ever be allowed to have that nuclear weapon. [applause]

all of this without even mentioning the humiliation of the united states with iran's treatment of our 10 captured sailors, so vividly i remember that day. in negotiation you must be willing to walk. the iran deal, like some of our worst agreements is the result of not being willing to leave the table. when the other side knows you're not going to walk, it becomes absolutely impossible to win. you can't win. at the same time, your friends need to know that you will stick by the agreements that you have with them. you've made that agreement. you have to stand by it. and the world will be a better place. president obama gutted our missile defense program. then abandoned our missile defense plans with poland and the czech republic. he supported the ouster of a friendly regime in egypt that

had a long-standing peace treaty with israel and then helped bring the muslim brotherhood to the power in it is place. israel, our great friend, and the won true democracy in the middle east, has been snubbed and criticized by an administration that lacks moral clarity. just a few days ago, vice president biden again criticized israel, a force for justice and peace, for acting as an impatient peace area in the region. president obama has not been a friend to israel. he's treated iran with tender love and care, and made it a great power. iran, has indeed become a great, great power in just a very short period of time because of what we've done. all of the expense and all at the expense of israel, our allies in the region, and very

importantly, the united states itself. [applause] we pick fights with our oldest friends and now they're starting to look elsewhere for help. remember that? not good. forth, our rivals no longer respect us. in fact, they're just as confused as our allies but an even bigger problem they don't take us seriously anymore. the truth is, they don't respect us. when president obama landed in cuba on air force one no leader was there, nobody to greet him. perhaps an incident without precedent in the long and prestigious history of air force one. then amazingly, the same thing happened in saudi arabia. it's called, no respect, absolutely no respect. do you remember when the

president made a long and expensive trip to cophenhagen, denmark to get the olympics for our country, and, after this unprecedented effort, it was announced that the united states came in fourth. fourth place. the president of the united states making this trip, unprecedented, comes in fourth place. he should have known the result before making such an embarrassing commitment. we were laughed at all over the world, as we have been many, many times. the list of humiliations go on and on and on. president obama, watches helplessly, as north korea increases its aggression and expands further and further with its nuclear reach. our president has allowed china to continue its economic assault

on american jobs and wealths and refusing to enforce trade deals and applying leverage on china to necessarily rein in north korea. we have the leverage. we have the power over china, economic power and people don't understand it. and with that economic power we can rein in and we can get them to do what they have to do with north korea. which is totally out of control. he has even steal government secrets with cyber attacks and engage in industrial espionage against the united states and its companies. we've let our rivals and challengers think they can get away with anything, and they do. they do. at will. it always happens. if president obama's goal had been to weaken america, he could not have done a better job. finally, america no longer has a clear understanding of our

foreign policy goals. since the end of the cold war, and breakup of the soviet union we've lacked a coherent foreign policy one day we're bombing libya and getting rid of a dictator to foster democracy, for civilians. the next day we're watching the same civilians suffer when that country falls and absolutely fall apart. massive monies lost, the world is a different place. we're a humanitarian nation but the legacy of the obama-clinton interventions will be weakness, confusion, and disarray. a mess. we've made the middle east more unstable and chaotic than ever before. we left christians subject to intense persecution and even

genocide. [applause] we have done nothing to help the christians, nothing. and we should always be ashamed for that. for that lack of action. our actions in iraq libya, and syria have helped unleash isis. and we're in a war against radical islam but president obama won't even name the enemy. and unless you name the enemy you will never ever solve the problem. [applause] hillary clinton also refuses to the say the the words, radical m even as she pushes for massive increase of refugees coming into our country. after secretary's clinton failed intervention in libya, islamic terrorists in benghazi took down our consulate and killed our

ambassador and three brave americans. instead of taking charge that night, hillary clinton decided to go home and sleep. incredible. clinton blames it all on a video an excuse that was a total lie. proven to be, absolutely a total lie. our ambassador was murdered, and our secretary of state misled the nation. and by the way, she was not awake to take that call at 3:00 in the morning. and now isis is making millions and millions of dollars a week selling libya oil, and you know what? we don't blockade. we don't bomb. we don't do anything about it. it is almost as if our country doesn't even know what's happening, which could be a fact and could be true. this will all change when i become president. to our friend and allies, i say, america is going to be strong again.

america is going to be reliable again. it's going to be great and reliable ally again. it's going to be a friend again. we're going to finally have a coherent foreign policy, based upon american interests, and the shared interests of our allies. [applause] the we're getting out of the nation-building business and instead focusing on creating stability in the world. our moments of greatest strength when politics ended at water's edge. we need a new, rational american foreign policy, informed bit best mind, and -- supported, by both parties, it will be supported by both parties,

democrats, republicans, independents, everybody, as well as by our close allies. this is how we won the cold war and it is how we will win our new future struggles which may be many, which may be complex, but we will win, if i become president. [applause] first, we need a long-term plan to halt the spread and reach of radical islam. containing the spread of red call islam must be a edge -- radical islam must be a major foreign policy goal of the united states and indeed the world. events may require the use of military force but it is also a philosophical struggle, like our long struggle in the cold war. in this we're going to be working very closely with our allies in the muslim world, all of which are at risk from radical islamic violence,

attacks and everything else. it is a dangerous world, more dangerous now than it has ever been. we should work -- [applause] thank you. we should work together with any nation in the region that is threatened by the rise of radical islam but this has to be a two-way street. they must also be good to us. remember that. they have to be good to us. no longer one-way. it is now two-way. and remember, us and all we're doing. they have to appreciate what we've done to them. we're going to help but they have to appreciate what we've done for them. the struggle against radical islam also takes place in our homeland. there are scores of recent migrants inside of our borders charged with terrorism. for every case known to the public, there are dozens and dozens more.

we must stop importing extremism through senseless immigration policies. we have no idea where these people are coming from. there is no documentation. there's no paperwork. there's nothing. we have to be smart, we have to be vigilant. a pause for reassessment will help us to prevent the next san bernanadino or frankly, much worse. all you have to do is look at the world trade center, and september 11th, one of the great catastrophes in my opinion, the single greatest military catastrophe in the history of our country. worse than pearl harbor because you take a look at what's happened and citizens were attacked as opposed to military being attacked. one of the true great catastrophes. and then there's isis. i have a simple message for

them. their days are numbered. i won't tell them where, and i won't tell them how. we must -- [applause] we must as a nation be more unpredictable. we are totally predictable. we tell everything. we are sending troops, we tell them. we're sending something else, we have a news conference. we have to be unpredictable. and we have to be unpredictable starting now. but they're going to be gone. isis will be gone if i'm elected president and they will be gone quickly. they will be gone, is very, very quickly. [applause] secondly, we have to rebuild our military and our economy. russians and chinese rapidly expanded their military

capability and but look what happened to us. our nuclear weapons arsenal, our ultimate deterrent has been allowed to atrophy and desperately in need of modernization and renewal and it has to happen immediately. our active duty armed forces have shrunk from two million in 1991, to about 1.3 million today. the navy has shrunk from over 500 ships to 272 ships during the same period of time. the air force is about 1/3 smaller than 1991. pilots flying b-52s in combat missions today. these planes are older than virtually everybody in this room. and what are we doing about this? president obama has proposed a, 2017 defense budget in real dollars cuts nearly 25% from

what we were spending in 2011. our military is depleted. and we're asking our generals, and military leaders to worry about global warming. we will spend what we need to rebuild our military. it is the cheapest single investment we can make. we will develop, build, and purchase the best equipment known to mankind. our military dominance must be unquestioned and i mean unquestioned by anybody and everybody. but we will look for savings and spend our money wisely. in this time of mounting debt, right now, we have so much debt, that nobody even knows how to address the problem. but i do. no one dollar can be wasted.

not one, single dollar can we waste. we're also going to have to change our trade, immigration and economic policies to make our economy strong again and to put americans first again. this will insure that our own workers, right here in america, get the jobs and higher pay that will grow our tax revenues, increase our economic might, as a nation, make us strong financially again. so, so, important. we need to think smarter, about areas where our technological superiority and nobody comes close, gives us an edge. this includes 3 d printing, artificial intelligence and cyber warfare. a great country also takes care of its warriors. our commitment to them is absolutely, i mean absolute. a trump administration will give

our servicemen and women, the best equipment and support in the world when they serve and where they serve, and the best care in the world when they return, as veterans, and they come back home to civilian life. our veterans -- [applause] our veterans have not been treated fairly or justly. these are our great people and we must treat them fairly. we must even treat them riley, really well, and that will happen under the trump administration. [applause] finally we must develop a foreign policy based on american interests. businesses do not succeed when they lose sight of their core interests and neither do countries. look at what happened in the 1990s.

our embassies in kenya and tanzania, and this was horrible time were attacked and 17 brave sailors were killed on the uss cole. what did we do? seemed like we put more effort into adding china into the world trade organization which has been a total disaster for the united states, frankly, we spent more time on that, than we did in stopping al qaeda. we even had an opportunity to take out osama bin laden and we didn't do it. and then, we got hit at the world trade center, and the pentagon again. the worst attack on our country in its history. our foreign policy goals must be based on america's core national security interests. and the following will be my priorities. in the middle east our goals must be, and i mean must be, to

defeat terrorists and promote regional stability, not radical change. we need to be clear-sighted about the groups that will never be anything other than enemies. and believe me, we have groups that no matter what you do, they will be the enemy. we have to be smart enough to recognize who those groups are, who those people are. and not help them.