US Election 2016: Donald Trump names hardline foreign policy advisers for his isolationist approach to global affairs

Republican frontrunner says US should cease ‘nation-building’ in the rest of the world and focus on domestic infrastructure

Tim Walker

US Correspondent

Tuesday 22 March 2016 16:06 EDT

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Senator Jeff Sessions, an immigration hardliner, will lead Trump’s foreign team (AP)

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Donald Trump has named several new foreign policy advisers to help with a more detailed outline of his isolationist approach to global affairs.

Speaking to The Washington Post, Mr Trump said the US should cease “nation-building” in the rest of the world and focus on domestic infrastructure. He was sceptical about US involvement in Europe, and suggested scaling back its contribution to Nato. Mr Trump’s views on military intervention put him at odds with Republican orthodoxy, and members of his new foreign policy brain trust are from beyond the mainstream.

Chaired by Republican Senator Jeff Sessions of Alabama, an immigration hardliner, the team includes Walid Phares, a Lebanese-born academic who accused the Obama administration of “appeasing” radical Islam. The group also includes Joseph Schmitz, who was inspector general of the US defence department under President George W Bush.

At the annual AIPAC conference in Washington, Mr Trump stuck more closely to the GOP playbook, vowing to “dismantle” the “catastrophic” Iran nuclear deal.

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