The ludicrous idea of Trump as a promoter of peace — a notion his 2024 campaign leaned into — rests on a deep, willful misunderstanding of Trump’s record and character. It is true that he broke with key elements of neoconservative ideology, particularly when it comes to nation-building and promoting democracy. In 2016, he set himself apart from his Republican rivals with his willingness to call the Iraq war a disaster. But what Trump has always hated isn’t conflict but sacrifice, the notion that American power should ever be constrained by a veneer of idealism or care for global opinion.