The Clinton, Bush, and Trump families will forever be intertwined in not just American history, but the history of the world. The past several years have certainly seen a major change in what once seemed to be a warm relationship between the Trumps and the Clintons, two elite New York clans inhabiting similar circles that have now become the political equivalent of the Hatfields and McCoys. To a lesser extent, because they never seemed particularly close, the same can be said about the Trump and Bush families as well.  

We also all remember prior to his being nominated as the Republican presidential candidate in 2016, that President Trump had to contend with the man who was considered by many the most powerful threat to his possible presidency in the GOP establishment -- former Florida governor Jeb Bush. During the early portion of the primary, Bush, whose campaign never recovered from the early attacks from Trump, was continually embarrassed and even seemingly bullied by the cocksure future president.  

But, despite a past prior to politics that was full of congenial exchanges, former candidate Trump was well aware of the failures of the Clinton and both Bush administrations, as much of his “America First” policy was predicated on undoing the damage of a combined 20 years of pro-Globalist American leadership.

At the top of the list of these failures is the issue of America’s previous China polices. The “Red Dragon,” which had been rightly banished from most of the global economy until the 1970s, was unwisely allowed to be put on the fast track to global economic inclusion beginning in 1986 when at the behest of politicians including then-vice-president George H.W. Bush, the communist nation achieved “observer” status with the predecessor to the World Trade Organization (WTO), the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT).

This, along with other smaller and incremental steps would set the stage for the country to eventually join the WTO as a “founding member” in 2001. This only occurred after President Clinton signed the U.S.-China Relations Act of 2000 on October 10^th of 2000. This consequential bill finally granted China full, permanent, and normal trade relations (NTR) status.

These extremely dangerous developments were enabled by not only Clinton, but with a major push from the previous president, George H.W. Bush, who unfortunately also saw Red China through rose-colored glasses. It was Bush 41’s administration that, in addition to playing an instrumental role in the formation of the WTO, also planted the seeds for America’s subsequent deference to globalism.

These moves did not come without warning however, as the years leading to United States’ ascension into the WTO saw major labor unions in the manufacturing sector oppose the organization due to fears (that would later be realized) that as a result of the deal, much cheaper labor in China would lead to massive job losses and factory closings in America.

And truth be told, between the years 1999 and 2011, more than five million U.S. manufacturing jobs were lost. Further reinforcing fears of the globalization of vital manufacturing was a landmark study that attributed nearly one million of these manufacturing job losses, and almost 2.5 million total job losses, to competition from China.

Even worse, perhaps, than just the economic decimation that would be suffered by American workers, was what became the legitimizing of the brutal and corrupt Communist Chinese government. Over the years, the Chinese government has leveraged their advantage in technological manufacturing to continually attempt to execute international espionage campaigns.

Earlier this year, it was reported that Chinese-made phones issued by the U.S. government to low-income households were infected with malware. This phenomenon is not limited to attempted hacks against Americans exclusively, as a recent CNN report detailed how thousands of low-cost phones manufactured by China’s Tecno and sold in some of the poorest and most vulnerable countries in Africa including Ethiopia, Cameroon, and Ghana were sold with Triada malware pre-installed. In addition to collecting personal data, this strain of malware runs up mobile data and registers users for unwanted subscriptions.

Recent reports have also cited China’s inhumane treatment of their Uighur Muslim minority that has seen as many as one million Uighurs being detained in what the Chinese government calls “voluntary education centers” in Xinjiang. As a result of that, this week saw more than 130 UK lawmakers address a letter to Chinese ambassador Liu Xiaoming condemning China and accusing Beijing of “ethnic cleansing.”

The truth in all this is, both political parties prior to the 2016 election victory of Donald Trump had largely failed America. American Politicians sat on a global lead and allowed for the emergence of a new evil empire that has effectively filled the power vacuum left behind by the collapse of the Soviet Union. For the survival of America in the new global landscape, at a minimum, another term from the “political outsider” Trump is of vital necessity.

Julio Rivera is a business and political strategist, the Editorial Director for Reactionary Times, and a political commentator and columnist. His writing, which is focused on cybersecurity and politics, has been published by websites including The Hill, Real Clear Politics, Townhall and American Thinker.

Image: Pete Souza