Ross Douthat sees an essential continuity between Trump and Obama in that both rejected the interventionist impulses of the foreign policy establishment. Is he right?
Yes and no, but mostly no. It is true that neither is a neo-conservative, and that both want to limit the footprint of America’s military involvements overseas. Obama, however, believed in the Pax Americana; he just wanted it on the cheap, and sought to provide it through the creation of rules and the use of alliances, with American military involvement serving only as a last resort. Trump thinks the Pax Americana is for chumps, prefers the company of dictators, and threatens trade and nuclear wars to obtain leverage for bilateral deals with friends and foes alike.
On the whole, the differences are far more compelling than the similarities.