Trump and Biden’s foreign leader choices this week reveal how they would govern

It’s basically an aphorism at this point that American voters almost never make a decision about their choice for president based on foreign policy. The only exception comes when Americans are in harm’s way, as Lyndon Johnson, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, George W Bush and Barack Obama can all attest.

At the same time, presidential candidates’ foreign policy reveals plenty about how what they value at home. Harry Truman’s desegregation of the US military reflected Democrats’ larger shift away from being the party of Southern racists to becoming the party of civil rights. Reagan’s ardent opposition to communism abroad reflected his desire to slash government spending at home.

That makes President Joe Biden and former president Donald Trump’s choices of foreign heads of state to meet this week particularly interesting. They reflect much about what values they want to promote at home.

During his State of the Union Address to Congress on Thursday, Biden invited Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, in order to celebrate the Scandinavian nation’s acceptance into NATO. Biden’s decision to welcome the head of state for a country that has historically remained neutral in numerous world conflicts reflected his efforts to actively promote democracy at home and abroad.

Indeed, during his address, Biden tied the efforts to defend democracy abroad with his efforts to defeat the authoritarian creep of Trumpism at home. He pointedly mentioned how Trump had killed legislation that would have provided aid to Ukraine and how his “predecessor” had incited a riot to overturn the 2020 election results.

“History is watching — just like history watched three years ago on January 6 when insurrectionists stormed this very Capitol and placed