Back to 1940: Trump's return to 'Fortress America'

The year 1940 seems like a long time ago, but there are striking similarities between the international security challenges the U.S. faced that year and those it is grappling with in 2024. In 1940, Hitler conquered Western Europe after forging an alliance of convenience with the Soviet Union to crush the European democracies. Isolationist America stood on the sidelines, even as Great Britain stood alone to face the Nazi onslaught. Following the fall of France in June 1940, a political movement was launched — the America First Committee — that aimed not only to keep the U.S. out of the…