Trump talk: Rethinking elections, rhetoric, and American foreign policy

Abstract

This special issue on elections, rhetoric, and American Foreign policy brings to light how and why ‘talk’ matters particularly in foreign policy. While not all of the articles examine President Trump directly, the special issue situates itself in what can be seen as a new era, brought on by Trump, that is, rewriting the rules of rhetoric and elections, and challenging our assumptions about how they impact American foreign policy. By way of conclusion, I summarize what I see as the key contributions of the special issue and offer a critical claim that the authors do not go far enough in just how dramatically President Trump’s rhetoric is reshaping American domestic and international politics.