In leaked speech, Trump bemoans Mideast wars, blames Clinton

CLEVELAND — Republican nominee Donald Trump plans to castigate US military involvement in the Middle East under the last two presidents and vow to work with Israel to ameliorate regional crises, according to a draft of the speech leaked to the press Thursday evening.

The prepared text, which included only one reference to the Jewish state, blamed the George W. Bush and Barack Obama administrations for the growing tide of extremism around the globe.

“Iran is on the path to nuclear weapons. Syria is engulfed in a civil war and a refugee crisis that now threatens the West,” the draft said. “After fifteen years of wars in the Middle East, after trillions of dollars spent and thousands of lives lost, the situation is worse than it has ever been before.”

The majority of the prepared remarks were dedicated to painting his rival, presumptive Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, as having poor judgement on foreign policy issues and as being part of the Washington establishment that has created crises. “This is the legacy of Hillary Clinton: death, destruction and weakness,” the draft text said.

While the speech mentioned Israel only in passing, it did note briefly that the US ought to work with the Jewish state to combat terrorism.

“We must have the best intelligence gathering operation in the world. We must abandon the failed policy of nation building and regime change that Hillary Clinton pushed in Iraq, Libya, Egypt and Syria,” it said. “Instead, we must work with all of our allies who share our goal of destroying ISIS and stamping out Islamic terror … This includes working with our greatest ally in the region, the State of Israel.”

The billionaire also dedicated three paragraphs to lambasting the Iran nuclear deal, which he said “gave us nothing” and “will go down in history as one of the worst deals ever made.”

The draft address also stressed the campaign theme of “America First” throughout. The slogan has caused consternation among the American Jewish community over its echoes of Charles Lindbergh’s 1940 presidential campaign and America First Committee. Lindbergh was an isolationist and Nazi sympathizer whose rhetoric was infused with anti-Semitism.

When Trump first introduced his adoption of the slogan, the Anti-Defamation League urged him to drop it. “For many Americans, the term ‘America First’ will always be associated with and tainted by this history,” said ADL chief Jonathan Greenblatt. “In a political season that already has prompted a national conversation about civility and tolerance, choosing a call to action historically associated with incivility and intolerance seems ill-advised.”

Trump has dismissed Greenblatt’s criticism and the draft of his Republican National Convention speech contained many references to the slogan and the policy priorities it reflects.

“The most important difference between our plan and that of our opponents, is that our plan will put America First. Americanism, not globalism, will be our credo,” it said. “As long as we are led by politicians who will not put America First, then we can be assured that other nations will not treat America with respect. This will all change in 2017.”