President Trump is now more than 100 days into his presidency, but there are still many controversies over his administration’s policies. Supportive views of Trump’s policies are rarely reported, especially in the mainstream media. At the beginning of Trump’s presidency we interviewed Wallace Bruschweiler, a security consultant who has a staunch conservative stance on current political issues.

From Obama to Trump

Fujii: What is your impression of the new administration? Do you think it is good for Americans that the Obama era is over?

Bruschweiler: Yes, I would say so. We came out of eight years of a peculiar way of running a country, basically promoting a globalist point of view more than anything else. Therefore, national security was lacking. Our standing on the world scene suffered for it. Before that, we were considered the strongest country. At the end of the eight years, even our closest allies were questioning our standing and commitments.

Fujii: You sometimes called the former President, Barack “Hussein” Obama. What do you mean by that?

Bruschweiler: It is a part of his name. I mean, his real middle name is “Hussein,” and that is a direct link to his Muslim roots. He was also raised in Indonesia. Even when he came back to the United States as a student, in some of his questionnaires he filled out, he was considered a foreign American citizen. I personally wouldn’t go back to his birth certificate and things like that. That is too far-fetched. However, the link with the Muslim world is there. Nobody can deny that.

Fujii: So, do you think the Obama administration’s policies were not based on traditional American values?

Bruschweiler: I think that his entire political agenda during the eight years was not exactly favourable to the United States and the westernized world. On the international scene, he did not defend the country and made some questionable deals. “The Iran deal” was not exactly what should have taken place.

The “Leftist” Media Is Against Trump

Fujii: During the presidential campaign, Mr Trump was severely attacked by the media. They are sometimes called the liberal media or the mainstream media. However, you call them the “leftist” media. What do you mean by that?

Bruschweiler: From my point of view the problem the United States is still facing today is that we are run by media which is very “leftist”. Up to 95% of the media is “leftist”. That means the written media, television and radio stations. There is a reason, at least the way I see it. It all started back in the late 60s revolution. From that moment on the “lefts” in the United States took very solid root and managed to influence teachers. The education system started to get tainted and eventually ended up totally “left”. That means that we generate one generation after the other of “leftist” students.

I hope that the Trump administration will be able to correct that, but it will take one or two generations to correct the entire system. Today, all of our youngsters are basically leftists. This is what creates the problem. People like myself are considered either “rightists”, “extremists” or “fascists”. We’re used to being branded as such, but it is completely wrong.

Fujii: It is very interesting to hear that. What do you think of Trump’s way of communicating? He uses Twitter very often.

Bruschweiler: It is a very fast way. By using Twitter, you bypass all official channels. You reach the majority of the population. I understand why President Donald Trump uses it to his own advantage. In my opinion, it should slowly come to a more controlled approach.

Views on Trump’s Travel Ban

Fujii: What is your opinion on the travel ban issued by the new administration? Do you think it is anti-Muslim or a xenophobic policy?

Bruschweiler: No. I think it’s long overdue. If you accept the real definition used by the United Nations of who is really a refugee, that is, a person displaced from his home country because of danger of internal warfare, and similar things of that nature. First of all, women and children should be left out of the conflict area. Young men should stay there to fight. We are witnessing today exactly the opposite. Young men are becoming so-called refugees. Women and children are staying in their country. We need to find out “who” our refugees are.

Secondly, whoever is classed as having refugee status should be vetted. That is, carrying out background checks and everything. Half of the people I see crossing the borders from the Middle East declare that they lost their documents. They don’t have a passport. So, we have to believe them.

I personally think that Chancellor Angela Merkel has a huge responsibility because she is the driving force behind the European Union. She puts that burden on the entire European Union. There is a backlash. People are not willing to do that any longer. Strangely enough, all of the ex-countries of the Soviet Bloc are not taking any refugees. They don’t want to have anything to do with them. Today, if you look at the major Middle Eastern countries, there aren’t any refugees going to them because they don’t want them. They don’t want terrorism in their countries. That is my point of view. I know it’s not exactly very kind, but reality is what it is.

Fujii: So you think President Trump has the right stance on immigration?

Bruschweiler: Yes, definitely. The United States is a country made up of people from all over the world. They’re all coming from somewhere. They have to come through the door according to certain rules which exist. So, we cannot throw away all those rules and accept people just because they come from the Middle East.

The Populist Surge in Europe

Fujii: It is often said that there is now a populist surge in Europe. And this year several national elections are going to be held in European countries. What do you think of this movement?

Bruschweiler: Populism comes from a movement which started about fifty years ago with a gentleman in France called Pierre Poujade. He was quite successful, up to a point. The movement has ideology behind it. Basically speaking, people realize that government has infringed their own liberties. It has taken a dominant role and tried to dictate everything.

For example, I don’t want to sound as though it’s a joke, but in the European Union, some people in Strasbourg and Brussels can dictate the size of your toilet paper or the size of a tube of toothpaste. It just doesn’t make any sense.

Here in the United States, Trump used that leverage when he said people are sick and tired of regulations. They want to have their own freedom. They will be able to decide certain things on their own – not have some federal employees in Washington telling them what he or she has to do from the moment they wake up in the morning. At the same time, there was a rejection of very strong over-regulating government. That’s what has brought Trump to the White House. If you remember correctly, all of those so-called pundits predicted he would never win the election. Strangely enough, those same people are still in the place and write articles today. They have no shame in being basically wrong.

As per your question about Europe: in my opinion, the same is going to take place, first of all in France with Marine Le Pen. The same thing will happen in Italy. The only big question mark will be Germany. Brexit is a direct result of populism. The British people were sick and tired of the EU. They didn’t want Brussels and Strasbourg dictating everything. What saved Great Britain was the fact that they never accepted joining the Euro Zone.

Fujii: Do you think this movement is against globalism?

Bruschweiler: Yes. Globalism is exactly the opposite. Populism goes directly against globalism. In my opinion, globalism is part of a fantasyland. Let’s take one simple example. You are from Japan. Globalism would mean that you are the same as people from Greece or from South Africa. It does not work. I’ve travelled too much to see the difference. Each of us has the ancestry in our blood. You react to certain things a different way.

Could Marine Le Pen Win?

Fujii: Do you think there’s a possibility of Marine Le Pen winning the French election?

Bruschweiler: In my opinion, if nothing drastically comes against her, she will definitely become the next president of France. She has a vast following. She was really lucky in the last couple of years. François Hollande, the president of France, is a very strange person. He did not fulfil the requirements and the desires of the French population.

Fujii: If Marine Le Pen were to win, would there be “Frexit”, a French exit from the EU?

Bruschweiler: I think that’s a sign that the EU is collapsing. It started with Brexit. The next nail in the coffin will be the election of Marine Le Pen in France. There is a strong possibility in the financial world that Greece will ask to get out of the Euro Zone and try to be in the U.S. Dollar Zone. Those are things which I’m hearing in the financial environment.

On the Middle East

Fujii: As President Trump often says, do you think the co-operation of Russia and the United States would help defeat ISIS?

Bruschweiler: You have to understand that both Russia and the United States are faced with the problem of Islamic extremists. You don’t have to forget that between 20% and 40% of the Russian Army is comprised of Muslims. Vladimir Putin of Russia has a huge problem in Chechnya; a lot of ISIS warriors are from there. At the end of the day, it’s the Muslim extremists behind all this. So therefore Russia, the United States and other countries like Japan, are faced with the same basic problem. It is in their best interests to join forces against what I call our “enemy.” Those who behead people, put people in cages and burn them – this is what we are faced with. This is what we have to fight. Even if it’s a temporary alliance between the United States and Russia, it can solve a lot of problems in the Middle East.

NATO and Japan

Fujii: During the election campaign, Trump insisted that U.S. allies, NATO and Japan, should share the military budget. What is your opinion?

Bruschweiler: You cannot ask in this age that the U.S. act like it’s the Marshall plan. We did it after the World War II. Rightly so, it had to be done. Japan also was the beneficiary of that kind of kindness. Germany was on the receiving end. It gave all the countries which were afflicted by the World War II, the possibility to get back on their own feet again and become a productive nation. I think that the Trump administration is trying to correct the NATO funding deficiencies effectively.

Fujii: What do you think about Japan?

Bruschweiler: I admire Japan. Recently you passed the legislation that can send Japanese soldiers abroad. That is the first step. The moment a country accepts certain international and continental responsibilities, it’s welcome. It is a step in the right direction.

Draining the Swamp

Fujii: My last question is, do you think Trump can “Make America Great Again” in his presidency?

Bruschweiler: Yes. I think he will fulfil that promise. First of all, he has to clean the entire area of Washington of all the corruption.

Fujii: You mean “drain the swamp”?

Bruschweiler: Yes, exactly. It’s not only the Democrats. It’s unfortunately also some Republicans. In my opinion, some are Republicans in name only. It’s a huge job that he has in front of him. I personally wish him all the luck because it’s finally moving the United States, not only domestically, but also internationally, in the right direction.

Fujii: Thank you for your time.