NEW YORK — Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau on Thursday cast trade and commercial diplomacy as the essential work of statecraft, telling an audience in New York that the Trump administration is trying to restore economic dealmaking to the center of U.S. foreign policy.
Speaking at a "Trade Over Aid Deals Showcase" at the Lotte New York Palace, Landau said he was "so delighted" to be serving under President Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio because the administration is treating economic diplomacy as a core mission rather than a side issue. He described himself as the "quarterback of our economic diplomacy efforts," a phrase that underscored the administration's effort to present trade, investment and commercial ties as instruments of geopolitical influence.
"In this job, I have to give a lot of speeches," Landau began, before adding that this one felt different. "This one is one that is really the heartland of why I'm in this job and what I'm trying to do in this job."
His remarks were delivered in a setting designed to showcase an approach that favors trade over aid, a formulation that reflects a broader shift in U.S. foreign policy language under Trump. Rather than emphasizing development assistance as the primary lever of American engagement, the administration has increasingly argued that durable prosperity comes from market access, private-sector investment and commercial partnerships that create jobs and long-term economic ties.
Landau said that for "many decades economic and commercial issues have taken a back seat in the world of diplomacy," even though, in his view, they should be central. He acknowledged that diplomacy often focuses on political and security crises, but insisted that the deeper purpose of foreign policy is to improve the lives of citizens through prosperity.
"Ultimately, as good diplomats, if you back and read what our Founding Fathers wrote about why we have a foreign policy in this country — and I'm sure for many of you and your countries it may be the same thing — it is to bring prosperity to your people through economic and commercial intercourse with other countries," he said.
He tied that argument to the responsibilities of democratic governments, saying elected leaders must prove that public trust was well placed by delivering tangible improvements in daily life. "You make their lives better obviously by providing a safe and secure country; that's very important," he said. "But also and equally important is a prosperous country, where people have economic opportunities and jobs, and diplomacy is not — that is not different than diplomacy. That is the core of diplomacy."
The deputy secretary also used the event to offer a personal reflection, citing his father's career in the Foreign Service as an example of the value of commercial expertise in diplomacy. Landau said his father had spent years in the private sector before entering government at age 37, when President Dwight D. Eisenhower launched a program to bring private-sector experience into public service.
According to Landau, that initiative reflected a recognition that professional diplomats needed stronger commercial instincts and practical dealmaking experience. His father's first post, he said, was as commercial attaché at the U.S. Embassy in Montevideo, Uruguay. "A good ambassador is, first and foremost, a good commercial attache," Landau said, adding that strong economic relations create "a lasting foundation of goodwill between countries."
The comments came as the administration seeks to sharpen its message on foreign policy at a time of heightened global competition, when governments are increasingly using trade, investment and supply chains as strategic tools. Landau's remarks suggested that Washington wants to present itself not simply as a security guarantor or aid donor, but as a partner capable of opening markets and generating growth.
He also thanked Ambassador Waltz, Ambassador Negrea and the U.S. mission to the United Nations for organizing the program, signaling that the event was part of a broader diplomatic effort to align U.S. missions and senior officials around the administration's economic agenda.
Landau's speech was notable not only for its substance but for its tone: part policy argument, part institutional defense of a more commercially minded foreign service. In a diplomatic environment often dominated by war, sanctions and crisis management, he argued that the most durable foreign relationships may be built through business, investment and trade deals that create visible benefits at home.
For the Trump administration, the message was clear: diplomacy should not merely manage conflict. It should help produce prosperity, and in Landau's telling, that means treating commercial diplomacy not as an accessory to foreign policy, but as its foundation.