Message Is Clear as Trump Plays Weapons Salesman: 'Buy American…Tanks, Drones, Bombs, and Guns!'

Ahead of the unveiling of his “Buy American” initiative to push even more arms exports into foreign countries, President Donald Trump has begun acting as a weapons salesman, directly appealing to foreign leaders to buy U.S.-made military equipment.

The initiative will loosen restrictions on exports of weapons including drones, firearms, jets, and ships, ensuring that deals are reached more quickly—potentially at the expense of human rights, say critics, who argue that the more weapons flow through the international arms trade, the more likely they are to fuel violence in the Middle East and elsewhere.

According to Reuters, the president spoke with the emir of Kuwait earlier this year in order to push through a stalled $10 billion deal to sell fighter jets to the country.

“With this Oval Office intervention, the details of which have not been previously reported, Trump did something unusual for a U.S. president—he personally helped to close a major arms deal,” Reuters reported. “In private phone calls and public appearances with world leaders, Trump has gone further than any of his predecessors to act as a salesman for the U.S. defense industry, analysts said.”