As a fourth-generation New Jerseyan who served at the State Department and USAID, I know that our state feels the impacts of American foreign policy. Jeff Van Drew and the Republican Party are leading America down a dangerous path abroad—and it puts our security and economy at risk. They’ve abandoned allies, sold off our resources, and prolonged conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East, all in the name of putting America first. The truth is, it’s hard to see how bullying Canada, giving Argentina a multibillion-dollar bailout, or igniting a trade war with Brazil solves critical problems here in South Jersey. It’s time for a foreign policy that strengthens us both at home and abroad.
The story starts with trade policy. Trump tried tariffs last time he was in office. The idea was to punish China. Instead, it punished us. Prices shot up, our manufacturers closed their doors, and hundreds of thousands of jobs went overseas. Now he’s doubling down, even though the power of tariffs belongs with Congress, hurting our relationships with close allies like Canada and the European Union. These decisions are not smart or calculated: the President pauses, hikes, and restarts tariffs every week.
Nobody can prepare for tariffs… except Republican politicians and their CEO pals. Jeff Van Drew and Wall Street are getting used to the unpredictability and the carelessness of the Trump tariff policy, and planning accordingly. The grocers, hardware stores, and family-owned farms in South Jersey can’t do that. They pay the price for Trump’s recklessness, and so do we when we pay for more expensive coffee, beef, eggs, and more.
And it costs our allies too, which in turn costs Jersey. Down here on the Shore, we depend on visitors coming from not just the US, but also Canada, and elsewhere. But when these tariffs cut into our neighbors’ spending money, and Trump’s bullying demonizes our allies and friends, everyone stops coming. As the New Jersey Monitor puts it: “when the president insists that Canada is going to be the 51st state… If I were Canadian, I wouldn’t come.” Foreign tourists pick Cancun over Cape May, and our local restaurants and hotels can’t stay afloat. That’s money out of everyone’s pockets.
And then there’s energy. They won’t tell you, but Republicans keep shipping more of the natural gas from Pennsylvania and Texas, the gas that keeps New Jersey’s lights on, overseas. And the more homegrown natural gas we export, the more the prices go up here at home. Donald Trump brags about selling our gas to Europe, but in reality he’s taking our resources and giving it to the Europeans at cheaper prices. And they’ve constrained access to the alternatives: since the Big Beautiful Bill passed, switching to solar is much more expensive, trapping all of us into higher prices. Under Trump’s energy policy, New Jerseyans are left footing the bill every time.
In my career, I’ve seen first-hand how US know-how can lift people up, advance US priorities, and solve American problems before they reach American borders. I worked to drive this progress as I took part in White House national security meetings, advised USAID Administrator Samantha Power as a presidential appointee, and managed key programs at the State Department. When it comes to USAID, for instance, these programs weren’t charity. They were strategic investments in American interests. It’s about spending the money to stop gang violence before it leaves Central America and comes to our communities. It’s about getting rid of Ebola and other deadly diseases before they overrun our hospitals. It’s about countering adversaries like China and Russia in their own backyards. USAID programs made up less than 1% of our federal budget. That’s literal pennies on the dollar compared to what we spend on border enforcement, and it’s arguably just as effective. Unconstitutionally dismantling USAID wasn’t only cruel; it was dumb, and communities like ours stand to lose because of it.
The truth is, the MAGA foreign policy Van Drew blindly supports isn’t about strength, and it isn’t about putting you first. It costs us, whether it’s higher prices for building materials, fewer jobs in our restaurants and hotels, or utility bills that climb every month. That’s why I’m running for Congress. Because foreign policy isn’t foreign, it’s local. It’s right here in South Jersey, in every paycheck, every light bill, and every shift we pick up. I’m Bayly Winder, and I’ll fight in Congress to make sure our foreign policy works for us, not against us.
