Shaheen calls for Trump-era foreign policy update

• Her speech amounts to a frank acknowledgment that the Democratic Party, and the foreign policy community, need to rethink their approach to global affairs.
• But the ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee will also defend many features of the post-war international architecture. And she will double down on her commitment to free trade.
• "I've supported free trade for decades and I believe we shouldn't be afraid to say that," she will say.
• "Trade, when done right, lowers costs, creates jobs and provides critical geopolitical advantages."

Zoom out: Shaheen, who announced her retirement in March, is using her last two years in the Senate to help devise a long-term strategy to outflank Trump on foreign policy.

• In March she urged her colleagues to zero in on Trump's approach to China, arguing that the president's trade and tariff policy would ultimately leave him vulnerable with his core MAGA base.
• Then in July she and her staff issued a report that accused the Trump administration of ceding influence to China and letting Beijing "fill the void we have left behind."

Zoom in: In Tuesday's remarks, Shaheen appears to acknowledge that some targets of Trump's cuts made it hard to defend them, though she didn't mention any specific institutions, like USAID, which Trump has slashed.

• "On some cases their missions strayed, making it easier for Republicans to pull support," she said.
• And she also suggested that foreign policy leaders need to rethink the military aid the U.S. sends to Israel, given that Israel is now "one of the world's most powerful militaries."
• "But U.S. policy of significant security assistance hasn't caught up," she said.

Go deeper: Mainstream Senate Democrats are starting to echo their party's base, which has soured on supporting Israel.