Former Trump administration national security adviser Robert O’Brien on Sunday laid out a potential strategy for disrupting the so-called “axis of evil” as ties between Russia, China, North Korea and Iran continue to deepen.
O’Brien, speaking on CBS’ “Face the Nation,” said a “failure of American leadership” from the Biden administration has allowed the new alliance to flourish.
“I haven’t seen any peace or strength” about America’s role on the world stage under the Biden administration, O’Brien said.
Asked how former President Trump could drive a wedge between the axis of evil after Russian President Vladimir Putin was spotted traveling in a car with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un last week, O’Brien said the first thing the United States could do was to increase domestic energy production.
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Former national security adviser Robert O’Brien on Sunday laid out a strategy for disrupting the so-called “axis of evil” if former President Trump is re-elected. (Eloisa Lopez/Pool/AFP via Getty Images)
“These countries depend on Russian energy to run their economies,” he said. “We need to increase our energy production.”
A former Trump administration official said that since taking office, Biden has canceled the US Keystone XL pipeline while allowing Putin to open the Nord Stream 2 pipeline from Russia to Germany, reducing US energy production.
O’Brien called for increased U.S. energy production, as well as sanctions on the Central Bank of the Russian Federation and cuts to Russian oil sales. Regarding Tehran, O’Brien said the U.S. and its allies “must apply maximum pressure on Iran.”
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O’Brien said those steps, along with rebuilding the U.S. military and navy and “getting our shipyards turning out ships again,” would help achieve “peace through strength.”
“These are alliances, they’re splitting up the axis of evil,” O’Brien said.
Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Putin are scheduled to meet in Beijing on May 16. (Sergey Bobylev, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via Associated Press)
Having failed to stop Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, O’Brien said the United States must take a tougher stance in Asia to deter China from a similar attack on Taiwan, and that moving U.S. Marines from Germany and other European bases to Guam, Hawaii, the Philippines and Australia would send a strong message to China not to invade, he said.
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“It’s about deterring war, not fighting it and winning it if it comes, which we have to do,” O’Brien said. “Strength will deter China from aggression. It’s not just about lip service. It’s about how China views our force posture.”
