The prevailing orthodox position on foreign policy within the GOP is neoconservatism, which could be defined as the belief that America must forcefully and visibly assert its belief in liberal democratic values, and that those values can and should be imposed by military force throughout the world, where necessary. This position is completely consistent with the GOP’s view of itself as the butt-kicking Daddy Party, but is difficult to reconcile with its support of severe limits on federal power at home.
Trump doesn’t subscribe to any of this. He doesn’t believe that American values can be applied universally, so, to him, there are no foreign policy conflicts between interests and values–interests prevail, period. Furthermore, he doesn’t believe that America has any friends abroad; in his eyes, even our so-called “allies” exploit us on a regular basis. He basically wants to renegotiate all of our relationships with everyone, using our superior military and economic strength as leverage, and then disengage with the world to the maximum extent possible.
Some of his specific ideas, such as “taking the oil” in Iraq and Syria, are too stupid to be worthy of serious analysis. I don’t agree that it is practically possible for our foreign policy to be completely separated from our values, and I don’t think we can disregard the relationships (both positive and negative) that we have created with other countries over time. However, I have to admit that I find his approach to be a bit of a refreshing change from what we have heard from Bush, Cheney, et. al. for the last 16 years; more focus on our interests would, in fact, be appreciated.