Beyond the Water's Edge


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- Beyond the Water's Edge -

Trump Voters Back Israel and Are Happy That Hostages Have Been Returned

For the fourth month in a row, The Vandenberg Coalition and GOP polling firm TargetPoint surveyed a sample of Trump voters between September 22–29 to assess their attitudes on the pressing foreign policy challenges of our time. Trump voters are enthusiastic about recent pushes towards peace in the Middle East; specifically, Trump voters continue to back Israel and are pleased that the final remaining living hostages have been safely returned to Israel.

Further, Trump voters want American-led peace on American terms. 82 percent of Trump voters—including 90 percent of respondents under the age of 30—argued that the United States should play a role in charting a course for Gaza’s future, 81 percent of MAGA conservatives support the creation of a European force backed by U.S. airpower to police a demilitarized zone between Ukraine and Russia, and 91 percent of MAGA conservatives expressed concern about the threat of Chinese weaponization of TikTok to promote anti-American propaganda.

You can read about the poll on our website, in National Review, and in our newsletter. Be sure to follow us on X to not miss new monthly results!

Featured

No, the Israel-Hamas Ceasefire Could Not Have Happened Earlier

TVC Chairman Elliott Abrams | The Washington Free Beacon | October 13, 2025

Bottom Line: The facts are plain to see for those not motivated by hatred of Netanyahu and of Trump, or at least by political rivalry with either of them. Israel devastated the military power of Hezbollah; Netanyahu and Trump devastated the military power of Iran; with Trump’s approval, Israel began to conquer Gaza City; and the Israeli attack in Doha created a diplomatic opening when the Qataris concluded that the war must end, and they were willing to give their own ultimatum to Hamas. The ceasefire deal was the product of power well applied by two men who have never been afraid to use it.

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Trump Resists the Isolationists

TVC Governance Board Member Matt Pottinger | Freedom Frequency | October 6, 2025

Bottom Line: No question, Trump believes U.S. allies must rapidly strengthen their own defenses rather than rely solely on U.S. protection. But unlike some of his subordinates, Trump understands that deterrence also requires American military strength and presence far from America’s shores. Nowhere has Trump called for a weaker, less capable, and less global U.S. military. In his second term, the president has repeatedly called upon a strong military to bolster diplomacy, deter adversaries, and apply force.

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Donald Trump Gave War a Chance—and It Worked

Aaron MacLean | The Free Press | October 13, 2025

Bottom Line: Aligning with Israel, being comfortable with escalation when prudent, and seizing the moment presented by the Doha strike to apply pressure on Hamas’s sponsors—all without losing the moral clarity that came with demanding all the living hostages come home first—have led to the current moment in the region. Very little about the future of Gaza is yet resolved, but among the amazing consequences of this diplomatic coup is that the future of Gaza suddenly matters a lot less…The major challenge ahead—to hasten the decline of the Iranian neo-imperial project while managing the coming contact between Turkish neo-imperialism and a newly dominant Israel, principally in Syria—can now be pursued without distraction.

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The U.S. Needs To Hasten Its Rare-Earth Independence

Thomas Black | Bloomberg | October 14, 2025

Bottom Line: The uncomfortable position of depending on an adversary for rare-earth elements has a solution, and it’s urgent to shorten this period. The government support should be robust but with a clear goal of unwinding equity positions once the crisis has subsided. This period of vulnerability should also be a lesson not to become beholden to China for other key aspects of the economy.

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