as anyone who watches reality television knows, the genre might<u+00a0>be entertaining, but its correlation to actual reality is tenuous.









which is a good place to start with the <u+00a0>much-awaited foreign policy<u+00a0>speech delivered wednesday in washington by presidential candidate donald trump.









as with the apprentice, the show that helped him become a household name, the republican front-runner<u+00a0>sought<u+00a0>to provide appealing fare for a certain class of people. in this case, the primary<u+00a0>audience was voters opposed to trade, resentful of immigrants, distrustful of foreign governments, and wistful for a time when america wielded more power in a simpler world.









in reaching out to this group, trump vividly portrayed a world that does not exist:<u+00a0>america<u+2019>s allies would be more respectful after being lectured to, while its enemies would be dealt with by<u+00a0>bluster. china would fall into line after enduring unspecified economic pressure. and troubled regions of the world would be stabilized through u.s. disengagement.









inexplicably, trump<u+00a0>declared that <u+201c>america first<u+201d> would be<u+00a0>the overarching theme of his<u+00a0>administration.<u+00a0>a non-interventionist approach might have its merits in certain situations.<u+00a0>but the america first movement got its name espousing an isolationist<u+00a0>approach at exactly the wrong moment, urging the united states to stay out of world war ii as adolf<u+00a0>hitler was rampaging through europe.









trump's secondary<u+00a0>audience was the washington establishment, the equivalent of tv critics. and the early reviews were harsh.<u+00a0>on cnn, foreign policy experts fareed zakaria and david rothkopf<u+00a0>used the same word: incoherent.<u+00a0>fellow republican lindsey graham tweeted,<u+00a0><u+201c>not sure who is advising trump on foreign policy, but i can understand why he<u+2019>s not revealing their names.<u+201d>









in trump<u+2019>s worldview, things happen because he says they will. he made a number of proclamations to this effect. his unspecified plan to defeat the islamic state terrorist group echoed richard<u+00a0>nixon's secret plan in 1968 to win the vietnam war. isil <u+201c>will be gone if i<u+2019>m elected president," trump vowed, "<u+00a0>and they'll<u+00a0>be gone quickly. they will be gone very, very quickly.<u+201d>









things might<u+00a0>happen that way on tv. but not in reality. or<u+00a0>perhaps we should say real reality.









usa today's editorial opinions are decided by its<u+00a0>editorial board, separate from the news staff. most editorials are coupled with an opposing view <u+2014> a unique usa today feature.









to read more editorials, go to the<u+00a0>opinion front page<u+00a0>or sign up for the<u+00a0>daily opinion e-mail newsletter.
trump's unreal foreign policy: our view
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