O'Brien: Trump put an end to Obama-Biden 'leading from behind foreign policy' toward China

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How American foreign policy has changed under President Trump

National Security Adviser Robert O'Brien explains on 'The Story'

President Trump successfully ended Barack Obama and Joe Biden's foreign policy of "leading from behind," especially when it comes to American interests in Asia, National Security Adviser Robert O'Brien told "The Story" Thursday.

O'Brien told host Martha MacCallum that under the president's predecessor, America had "turned a blind eye to Chinese unfair trade practices. 

"It turned a blind eye to Chinese intellectual property theft of all of our great innovations," O'Brien added. "It turned a great blind eye to China hollowing out the American Midwest and our manufacturing capability."

The adviser referred to Trump as the "first president in my adult lifetime" to recognize the threat from Beijing, and respond with tariffs and consequences for intellectual property theft.

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O'Brien said Trump has adopted Ronald Reagan's "peace through strength" model of building up the military during a period of noninterventionism, letting the world to see the military capacity of the United States as a warning.

"All I can do is look at what we faced when Trump came into office and what President Trump has done," he said, "and it's been pretty spectacular what the president has done with respect to China."