We the undersigned, members of the Republican national security community, represent a broad spectrum of opinion on America’s role in the world and what is necessary to keep us safe and prosperous. We have disagreed with one another on many issues, including the Iraq war and intervention in Syria. But we are united in our opposition to a Donald Trump presidency. Recognizing as we do, the conditions in American politics that have contributed to his popularity, we nonetheless are obligated to state our core objections clearly:

His vision of American influence and power in the world is wildly inconsistent and unmoored in principle. He swings from isolationism to military adventurism within the space of one sentence.

His advocacy for aggressively waging trade wars is a recipe for economic disaster in a globally connected world.

His embrace of the expansive use of torture is inexcusable.

His hateful, anti-Muslim rhetoric undercuts the seriousness of combating Islamic radicalism by alienating partners in the Islamic world making significant contributions to the effort. Furthermore, it endangers the safety and Constitutionally guaranteed freedoms of American Muslims.

Controlling our border and preventing illegal immigration is a serious issue, but his insistence that Mexico will fund a wall on the southern border inflames unhelpful passions, and rests on an utter misreading of, and contempt for, our southern neighbor.

Similarly, his insistence that close allies such as Japan must pay vast sums for protection is the sentiment of a racketeer, not the leader of the alliances that have served us so well since World War II.

His admiration for foreign dictators such as Vladimir Putin is unacceptable for the leader of the world’s greatest democracy.

He is fundamentally dishonest. Evidence of this includes his attempts to deny positions he has unquestionably taken in the past, including on the 2003 Iraq war and the 2011 Libyan conflict. We accept that views evolve over time, but this is simply misrepresentation.

His equation of business acumen with foreign policy experience is false. Not all lethal conflicts can be resolved as a real estate deal might, and there is no recourse to bankruptcy court in international affairs.

Mr. Trump’s own statements lead us to conclude that as president, he would use the authority of his office to act in ways that make America less safe, and which would diminish our standing in the world. Furthermore, his expansive view of how presidential power should be wielded against his detractors poses a distinct threat to civil liberty in the United States. Therefore, as committed and loyal Republicans, we are unable to support a Party ticket with Mr. Trump at its head. We commit ourselves to working energetically to prevent the election of someone so utterly unfitted to the office.

Ken Adelman

David Adesnik

Michael Auslin

Mike Baker

Christopher Barton

Kevin W. Billings

Robert D. Blackwill

Daniel A. Blumenthal

Max Boot

Ellen Bork

Anna Borshchevskaya

Joseph A. Bosco

Michael Chertoff

Patrick Chovanec

James Clad

Eliot A. Cohen

Gus Coldebella

Carrie Cordero

Michael Coulter

Chester A. Crocker

Patrick M. Cronin

Seth Cropsey

Tom Donnelly

Daniel Drezner

Colin Dueck

Eric Edelman

Joseph Esposito

Charles Fairbanks

Richard A. Falkenrath

Peter D. Feaver

Niall Ferguson

Jamie Fly

Richard Fontaine

Aaron Friedberg

Dan Gabriel

Greg Garcia

Jana Chapman Gates

Jeffrey Gedmin

Reuel Marc Gerecht

James K. Glassman

David Gordon

Christopher J. Griffin

Mary R. Habeck

Paul Haenle

Melinda Haring

Robert Hastings

Rebeccah Heinrichs

Francis Q. Hoang

Rachel Hoff

Jeffrey W. Hornung

William C. Inboden

Jamil N. Jaffer

Ash Jain

Marc C. Johnson

Myriah Jordan

Robert G. Joseph

Tim Kane

Kate Kidder

Robert Kagan

Rep. Jim Kolbe

David Kramer

Stephen Krasner

Matthew Kroenig

Frank Lavin

Philip I. Levy

Philip Lohaus

Mary Beth Long

Peter Mansoor

John Maurer

Matthew McCabe

Bryan McGrath

Richard G. Miles

Paul D. Miller

Charles Morrison

Michael B. Mukasey

Scott W. Muller

Lester Munson

Andrew S. Natsios

Michael Noonan

Tom Nichols

John Noonan

Roger F. Noriega

Stephen E. Ockenden

John Osborn

Robert T. Osterhaler

Mackubin T. Owens

Daniel Pipes

Everett Pyatt

Martha T. Rainville

Stephen Rodriguez

Marc A. Ross

Nicholas Rostow

Michael Rubin

Daniel F. Runde

Benjamin Runkle

Richard L. Russell

Andrew Sagor

Kori Schake

Randy Scheunemann

Gary J. Schmitt

Gabriel Schoenfeld

Russell Seitz

Kalev I. Sepp

Vance Serchuk

David R. Shedd

Gary Shiffman

Kristen Silverberg

Michael Singh

Ray Takeyh

Jeremy Teigen

William H. Tobey

Frances F. Townsend

Jan Van Tol

Daniel Vajdich

Ruth Wedgwood

Albert Wolf

Julie Wood

Dov S. Zakheim

Roger Zakheim

Sam Zega

Philip Zelikow

Robert B. Zoellick

Laurence Zuriff

Number of Signatories: 122

The statement above was coordinated by Dr. Eliot A. Cohen, former Counselor of the Department of State (2007–8), and Bryan McGrath, Managing Director of The FerryBridge Group, a defense consultancy. They encourage other members of the Republican foreign policy and national security communities wishing to sign the declaration to contact them.

Want to get involved? Read Bryan McGrath’s proposed plan for taking down Trump.

Photo credit: Gage Skidmore