Sleep Now in the Fire: The Resurgence of ‘America First’
As tensions in Europe grew through the late 1930s, much of the American public remained wary of military involvement abroad due to the economic stresses at home.1 Today, many of the same attitudes pervade the American voter base. Throughout both his terms, President-elect Donald Trump has utilized the principles and even slogan of the America First Movement, threatening the United States’s alliances through territorial disputes and decrying American military aid abroad.
Following the Great Depression, the United States gradually began to engage in global conflicts, first through cash-and-carry in 1939, then through the destroyers-for-bases agreement in 1940, and finally through lend-and-lease in 1941.1 The America First Committee (AFC), founded in 1940, found support in Americans wary of another period of economic and military involvement in what appeared to be a foreign squabble.[1] Charles Lindbergh distilled the movement’s principles in a 1941 speech in Des Moines, Iowa, proclaiming, “The one time we did take part in a European war left European problems unsolved, and debts to America unpaid”.[2] Throughout his oration, Lindbergh emphasizes the division of America from Europe, both physically and philosophically. He goes on to invoke America’s historical “independence from Europe” and the country’s rise to greatness through their self-interest.3 Although the AFC was disbanded following Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor, their nationalist sentiments have endured in American politics, particularly through President-elect Donald Trump’s incendiary speeches and public comments.2
Since his 2016 campaign, President-elect Donald Trump has capitalized on the core principles of the America First movement in capturing a voter base, even utilizing their slogan at his 2020 inauguration.[3] In a 2016 address, President-elect Trump emphasized both the significance of the aid the United States has provided abroad and the lack of equal contribution from the United States’ allies. Trump denounced this unequal investment, “The countries we are defending must pay the cost of this defense, and if not, the U.S. must be prepared to let these countries defend themselves. We have no choice”.[4] Though Trump diverges from Lindbergh by seeking repayment rather than complete dissociation, his core claim is the same: to cease American aid in global conflicts that do not directly involve them. Furthermore, through his repeated threats to take control of Greenland, and refusal to rule out the use of military force against Denmark, Trump places NATO, an institution constructed to prevent the outbreak of a third World War, into jeopardy.[5] To ‘Make America Great Again’, Trump proposes a return to the exceptionalist values America was founded upon.
The similarities between President-elect Trump’s and Lindbergh’s appeals to the American people point to the renewed salience of isolationist rhetoric. By portraying the United States’ military aid abroad as a waste of resources that could otherwise have benefitted the American people and threatening NATO allies over territorial disputes, Trump steers the future of American foreign policy towards the very isolationism that allowed Americans to stand by for years as Nazi Germany persecuted millions of people.1 With President-elect Donald Trump embracing the principles of the AFC, it is likely that their antisemitic and xenophobic currents will pervade American policy in the next four years.
References
[1] Scott Simon, “‘America First,’ Invoked by Trump, Has a Complicated History,” NPR, July 23, 2016, https://www.npr.org/2016/07/23/487097111/america-first-invoked-by-trump-has-a-complicated-history.
[2] Charles Lindbergh, “Who Are the War Agitators?” (1941), in America in the World, ed. Jeffery A. Engel, Mark Atwood Lawrence, and Andrew Preston.
[3] Greg Myre, “'America First': From Charles Lindbergh To President Trump,” NPR, February 6, 2017. https://www.npr.org/sections/parallels/2017/02/06/513240634/america-first-from-charles-lindbergh-to-president-trump.
[4] Donald Trump, “America First” (speech, Washington, DC, April 27, 2016), Time, https://time.com/4309786/read-donald-trumps-america-first-foreign-policy-speech/.
[5] Alys Davies and Mike Wendling, “Trump ramps up threats to gain control of Greenland and Panama Canal,” BBC, January 7, 2025, https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c4gzn48jwz2o.