So WHY does Trump 2.0 have "no foreign policy"?

First, it's true, at least as far as him having no "theory" of foreign policy, whether neocon, isolationist, dove in disguise or whatever. Hell, the last 24 hours, per my post about his TACO-ing supporters, show that's true on Iran alone.

I wrote out my thoughts on Zach Beauchamp's articulation of that both here and at Substack (shorter) last week. As I noted there, I had called Trump a "weathervane" from the start of Trump 2.0. Beauchamp notes, near the end of his piece, that he had been that way in his first term, to a degree, but, that there are no "careerists" or "mandarins" (Beauchamp doesn't use either word, but that's the idea) to manage Trump, or even occasionally stand up to him, the second time.

Let's just compare his key players, especially on foreign policy, between the two terms.

State: Rex Tillerson vs Marco Rubio. Tillerson may not have been a multi-term U.S. Senator. He may not have had any government experience at all. He may have brought a Big Oil plutocrat's perspective to the job. But, he knew his way around the world. He could deal with Putin without either groveling sycophancy nor NATO-style badgering. He was not a neocon or any type of Zionist on Middle East issues. And, he would and did stand up to Trump. So, he got fired. In addition, Rubio's been neutered by Trump since the 2016 debate "Little Marco" tag.

NSA: A string of uniformed brass hats vs first Mike Walz, then Rubio trying to do two jobs. Michael Flynn was a nut, but you'd accept Kellogg and McMaster, theoretically.

Defense: Jim Mattis or Mike Esper vs Pete Hegseth? You'd take either one of their Filipino pool boys over Hegseth.

DNI: Dan Coats vs Tulsi Gabbard. An old hand vs a party-jumping young buck but one whom, contra The Dissident, and perhaps others, is not a hypocrite.

Homeland Security (which can spill a bit into for pol): John Kelly then a bunch of flunkies vs Kristi Noem. Call this one a wash.

Chief of staff: Reince Priebus, aka Rinse Penis, then Kelly, then flunkies, vs Susie Wiles, who probably is more ignorant than all Trump 1.0 COS counterparts on foreign policy.

And:

Veep! Mike Pence vs Bagger Vance. Yes, Pence was a religious right nutter. But, Vance is a Catholic version of that. And, as illustrated on Jan. 6, 2021, Pence eventually turned out not to be a Trump sycophant.

Trump tagged Pence to keep the Religious Right on board. People like Tillerson, though willing in their own ways to challenge aspects of the so-called "deep state," nonetheless were generally considered "safe hands."