Trump Needs to Shift the Nation’s Focus This sheds light on a growing problem: the disintegration of Latin America. For whatever President Trump’s instincts on retrenchment and buckpassing and deal-making in the Middle East, he has yet to meaningfully disengage from the region. That is partly because it is increasingly clear his bureaucrats have found ways to delay and resist any attempt to decouple from the region. This is not a healthy development for civil-military relations. Nor is the increasing appeal of Praetorianism good, the idea that there would be a semi-permanent entrenched cadre of enlightened individuals who channel the republic, regardless of who is in power after an election. It makes the entire act of elections meaningless. More importantly, President Trump also lacks the matching intellectual bench, think tanks, and people trained in the day-to-day handling of government, as well the message discipline to keep his goals on target. Ranting on Twitter doesn’t help much. President Trump is not known for his Epictetian stoicism.