Donald J. Trump, the 45th President of the United States of America has been handed down numerous formidable foreign policy challenges ranging from areas in the Middle East throughout East Asia. Trump had even tweeted that “THE WORK BEGINS!” on January 23, despite any of his top foreign policy positions, at the time, yet to be filled (Trump). According to the White House website, Trump will implement an “American first foreign policy focused on American interests and American national security” (Spicer). The White House strategy will focus on “peace through strength,” made possible in part by chasing “the highest level of military readiness” (Spicer). Potential Challenges: RussiaOne potential challenge posed to U.S. interest by theemerging foreign policy of the Trump administration is the issue of Russia. TheU.S.-Russian relationship is at its lowest point since the Cold War (Fishel).President Trump has stated a closer association with Russian President VladimirPutin would be an advantage to the United States (Fishel). But the majority ofhis administration has “maintained that Russia needs to be confronted for itsaggression, including for its annexation of Crimea and military incursions intoEastern Ukraine, hacking during the 2016 presidential election, backing Syriandictator Bashar Assad, and Russia’s brutal aerial bombing campaign to assisthis efforts” (Fishel). Unparalleled Russian hacking into the Democratic NationalCommittee also enhances the colossal “security threat posed to criticalcomponents of the U.S. government, infrastructure, defense technology, and manyother government operations that rely heavily on cyber technology” (Fishel). Onthe White House Website, it was publicized that it “will make it a priority todevelop defensive and offensive cyber capabilities at our U.S. Cyber Command,and recruit the best and brightest Americans to serve in this crucial area”(Fishel). Russia’s military intervention in Syria has efficiently set up aproxy war with the U.S. and the rebel forces it backs. The U.S. has held Russiaresponsible for its “subsequent breakdown of cease-fire negotiations and thedevastating siege of Aleppo, Syria” (Fishel). Finally, “Putin’s war inUkraine and illegal annexation of Crimeahas sparked fears that he’s seeking to reclaim Soviet-era borders and eventuallycould bait the NATO allianceinto a military conflict” (Fishel). Trump’slatest remarks on Russia have so far confronted the conventional wisdom ofeither party and has drawn criticism from both sides. Trump hasn’t convictedthe Russian hacks into the U.S. election process and has said he “would belooking at the possibility of lifting sanctions against Russia tied to itsillegal military annexation of Crimea, which the U.S. government has refused toaccept” (Fishel). He openly questioned the intelligence community’s calculationthat Russia hacked the DNC, compared them to Nazis and held them responsiblefor releasing false information about his ties to Russia (Fishel). Rather thanstand against a potential restoration of Soviet expansionism, critics say Trumpseems to be accepting it. He has labeled the North Atlantic Treaty Organization(NATO), considered thefirst line of defense against Russian expansionism, as “obsolete, whilealso suggesting he may not honor the organization’s most sacred covenant ofmutual defense” (Fishel). In addition to saying the U.S. would profit from afriendlier association with Putin, Trump has also admired him on Twitter,calling him “very smart” for deciding not to react when PresidentObama kicked out Russian intelligence offers in retort to the election hack(Trump). North KoreaDuringthis past September, North Korea administered its biggest ever nuclear test, discharginga bomb that has been perceived to be able to “yield to the equivalent of 10kilotons of TNT” (Fishel). Making this the country’s second nuclear test thisyear and their fifth since 2006. Now more than ever the United States inextremely alarmed, that North Korea is more near to their goal of“miniaturizing a nuclear weapon that can be placed on long-range missiles amove that could destabilize the region and the world” (Fishel). Differing fromIran, the U.S has been unable to negotiate an agreement regarding nuclearissues (Fishel). Taking into account, that 3 of the five nuclear tests in NorthKorea have taken place under Kim Jong-un’s rule, it is clear that the dictatoris fearless of the overpowering economic sanctions imposed by foreign nations(Fishel). Even though China’s foreign Ministry has reprimanded the North KoreanTests and urged “international dialogue, recent tensions between the UnitedStates and China over the South China Sea could congeal Chinese support fortaking a more aggressive approach to the North Korean regime” (Fishel). Thispast January, after North Korea stated that they were close to firing offnuclear weapons that could reach the United States, Donald Trump tweeted that“it won’t happen,” which could be interpreted as a possible “redline” for theTrump administration (Fishel). In May of 2017 Trump stated that we couldpotentially be open to the idea of allowing North Korea’s neighbors, includingUnited States allies South Korea and Japan, to obtain their own nuclearresources. This is a move that would successfully “nuclearize the entire regionand negate the cost as justification for stationing United States troops in theregion” (Fishel). Trump at the same time has stated that “We cannot afford tobe the military and the police for the world” (Trump). What Trump’s administration means for US InterestsThe TrumpAdministration will test the durability of some of America’s longstandingalliances but may create opportunities for new cooperation with others. Trump has expressed that he wanted to improve the UnitedStates relationship with Russia, more specifically he wants a closer relationshipwith Putin (Tucker). Improvement in the U.S.-Russia relationship couldalleviate the risk of an escalation in tensions between Iran and the UnitedStates. Russia is hopeful for the Trump administration will be friendliertoward them and will “weaken or even diminish sanctions that were previouslyimposed on them after the annexation of Crimea in 2014” (Tucker). Thesesanctions being lifted would allow for President Putin to pronounce himself awinner in the stand-off with the Western powers before the presidentialelection in 2018 (Tucker). Authorities in Ukraine fear that more cordialrelationship between the U.S.-Russia will “undermine U.S. support for theirreform process” (Tucker). Since the Maidan revolution in 2014, the U.S has beena “committed ally helping finance the new government guaranteeing itsinternational bonds and supporting the IMF program in Ukraine” (Tucker). NorthKorea prohibitedthe U.N. Security Council’s declaration on its latest “ballistic missile launchand claimed its tests are in self-defense” (News). These tests made by NorthKorea have been unanimously condemned by the Security Council. They stated thatthese launches are a “grave violation of international law” (News). China, oneof North Koreas only allies, and main lifeline, also signed onto that statement(News). This enhances another level of ambiguity to the region that is stilltrying to get a read on the new unpredictable U.S. president. These newmissiles are more stable and allow for a less advanced warning (News). “This achievementon part of North Korea is a dangerous advancement toward the pursuit of anuclear weapon and is a big first test for President Trump” (News). “Obviously,North Korea is a big, big problem and we will deal with that very strongly”Trump tweeted (Trump).  “China andthe United States have fundamentally different approaches to dealing with NorthKorea,” said Tong Zhao, a fellow at the Carnegie-Tsinghua Center in Beijing(News). “China believes we have to gradually encourage North Korea toliberalize its economy to open up to the international community” (News). Ninety percent of North Korea’s trade is with China,leading Western officials indict Beijing of upholding the neighboringdictatorship (News). ButChina said, “It’s doing its part by signing on to stringent U.N. sanctions” (News). In March the UnitedStates and South Korea held their “annual large-scale military drills, whichwas largely seen by North Korea as a direct threat to their security” (News). NorthKorea has stated that this could seriously undermine peace and security in theregion (News). These drills could also potentially close the door on any “potentialdirect engagement with the United States and push North Korea to test an evenlarger more powerful missile” (News). But to reassure us all Trump tweets “Ihave great confidence that China will properly deal with North Korea. If theyare unable to do so, the U.S with its allies will! U.S.A.” (Trump). Since Donald Trump has taken office, things have been less then dull, especially regarding his foreign policy. Sure his order to suspend visas for citizens from seven Muslim-majority countries was explosive, however, it is not a central issue in U.S. foreign policy (Friedman). Deepening questions have been brought up in regards to Trump’s foreign policy. And the real question is if he actually has intentions of downgrading NATO, shift relations with Russia, confront China, and take a significant stand against Iran. A foreign policy is not made by hostile phones calls nor threatening tweets. Works CitedFishel,Justin. “7 Major Foreign Policy Challenges Facing President DonaldTrump.”ABC News. ABC News Network, 23 Jan. 2017. Web. 11 Apr. 2017..Friedman,George. “Trump’s Conventional Foreign Policy.” RealClearWorld. GeopoliticalFeatures, 9 Feb. 2017. Web. 17 Apr. 2017. .News,CBS. “What North Korea Missile Launch Means for U.S.-ChinaRelations.” CBS News.CBS Interactive, 14 Feb. 2017. Web. 17 Apr. 2017. .Schneider,Ondrej. “The Trump Effect: Global Implications of the Next U.S.President.”The Trump Effect: Global Implications of the Next U.S.President | The Institute of International Finance. Institute ofInternational Finance, 8 Dec. 2016. Web. 14 Apr. 2017..Spicer,Sean. “Remarks by President Trump in Strategy and Policy Forum.” The White House. The UnitedStates Government, 03 Feb. 2017. Web. 11 Apr. 2017..Trump,Donald J. “Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump).” Twitter. Twitter, 09 Apr. 2017.Web. 12 Apr. 2017. .Tucker,Joshua. “Here’s How Trump’s Election Will Affect U.S.-RussianRelations.”The Washington Post. WP Company, 10 Nov. 2016. Web. 14Apr. 2017. .Get Help With Your EssayIf you need assistance with writing your essay, our professional essay writing service is here to help!Find out more