2018 has been a year of highs and lows for many things in the Trump administration—the stock market, job reports and approval ratings to name a few. This discord and constantly changing environment have impacted the administration’s foreign policy, in some ways for the better, and in some ways for the worse. 
President Donald Trump started 2018 with a relatively strong foreign policy team led by Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley. Tillerson’s valuable understanding of the threat Russia and China pose to the U.S. from a variety of angles helped the administration realize those fears, and Haley exceeded everyone’s expectations as one of the most effectual ambassadors the U.S. has ever sent to the UN.  
Neither one was afraid to stand up to Trump when they felt he was acting outside the best interest of the country. In April 2018, Mike Pompeo succeeded Tillerson, and Heather Nauert has been nominated to fill the ambassadorship Haley vacated at the beginning of this year. I do not believe either one will be as successful as the predecessors, making the loss of Tillerson and Haley even greater for the administration. 
Personnel aside, the administration did make some major accomplishments in foreign policy this year. Trump withdrew the U.S. from the failing Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), known as the “Iranian Nuclear Deal” after the Israeli government discovered Iran was developing a nuclear archive which could be used to develop nuclear weapons. 
Iran also refused to comply with “anytime, anywhere inspections,” refusing to allow the U.N.’s International Energy Agency (IEA) to inspect its nuclear facilities. The deal was a ticking timebomb counting down until Iran received a nuclear weapon. By striking the deal and re-imposing sanctions against Iran until they halt their nuclear programs, the Trump administration made great strides in preventing another crisis in the Middle East. 
Also in the Middle East, the Trump administration authorized airstrikes against Syria’s Assad regime after it was discovered the regime was using chemical weapons against its own people, as reported by the BBC. The airstrikes symbolized the U.S. as the leader of the free world and as a beacon of hope for all peoples threatened by tyranny without anyone else to protect them. An area in the Middle East in which the administration grotesquely failed was its handling of the death of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
According to Anthony Zurcher of the BBC, the administration failed to condemn the Saudi government, despite the CIA’s findings that the Saudi Crown Prince ordered the death of a Saudi journalist in an embassy on a foreign nation’s soil. Trump failed to sanction, or in any real way condemn the Saudi government for its atrocious behavior. 
Trump’s meeting with North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Un marked a historic first as the two nations try to move toward de-escalation on the Korean peninsula. The summit resulted in North Korea pledging to move toward denuclearization, but, as CNBC reports, it was little more than a seemingly empty promise as North Korea has still yet to show any real signs of denuclearization.  
Some battles are still being waged and have uncertain outcomes. One such example would be the administration’s trade policies, especially the introduction of steel and aluminum tariffs that led to a renegotiation of NAFTA and a trade war with China.  
The World Economic Outlook Database noted U.S. participation in NAFTA left us with a $64 million trade deficit with Mexico in place of the $1.3 billion surplus that existed prior to NAFTA. It is unquestionable NAFTA needed a renegotiation, but whether the administration’s new agreement, USMCA, will serve to rectify the deficit and improve trade and relations for all nations involved, is yet to be seen.
The same is true for the trade war Trump is waging against China. The so-called trade war caused much upheaval on the stock market, and the concessions China has made to end the war are thus far unexaminable and may not even hold true. These trade wars seem to be emblematic of the administration’s foreign policy: loud and dramatic upheaval that may or may not led to eventual success.