As he prepares to leave leadership, McConnell challenges Trump on foreign policy

WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell is challenging President-elect Donald Trump to reject the isolationist voices within their party and build his foreign policy around military strength, arguing that if the U.S. retreats from global engagement, “its enemies will be only too happy to fill the void.”

In an essay published Monday in Foreign Affairs, McConnell took the rare step of warning Trump directly as he plans to step down from his post in the coming weeks. The Kentucky Republican plans to stay in the Senate and has made clear that his top priority will be pushing for the United States to maintain and improve its global strength.

“The time to restore American hard power is now,” McConnell wrote, arguing that military readiness should override “both left-wing faith in hollow internationalism and right-wing flirtation with isolation and decline.”

McConnell has long pushed back against the growing isolationist wing in his party, making an aggressive, ultimately successful push this year to pass aid to Ukraine when many in his party in Congress were openly opposed to it. But the essay is his most direct warning yet to Trump and his allies and advisers, including Vice President-elect JD Vance, an Ohio senator who was one of the loudest voices in opposition to the Ukraine aid.