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Not one of Trump's foreign policy moves has been about the national interest. Every single decision--but especially the big ones--has had one interest in mind: his own political fortune.
Here he's transparent about it w/ Jerusalem. But the same principle holds across the board. https://twitter.com/HowardMortman/status/1295517398720811009
Here he's transparent about it w/ Jerusalem. But the same principle holds across the board. https://twitter.com/HowardMortman/status/1295517398720811009
In some cases, it's been entirely transparent and fully transactional. Why did he instruct his team to withhold taxpayer funds and a White House visit from his Ukrainian counterpart? He wanted dirt on his domestic political opponent. There was NOTHING in the national interest.
In other cases, it's been domestic politics masquerading as foreign policy. Take North Korea. In his engagement with Pyongyang, Trump made clear he had very little regard for the outcome. All he wanted were the splashy summits, photo opps, and chants of "No-bel." Remember those?
Trump's approach to North Korea was a staple of his rallies in '18 and '19. It was during such a rally that he told a confused crowd he'd fallen in love with Kim Jong Un. Now that diplomacy is moribund and Kim's arsenal is more advanced than ever, it's like it never happened.
In other cases, he acquiesced to requests, always from autocrats, that made no sense from the perspective of the national interest. For example, he ordered his team to relax penalties against the Chinese tech giant ZTE, which had skirted US sanctions. https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/995680316458262533?lang=en
He did so because the Chinese demanded it to keep the prospects of a potentially politically valuable trade deal alive.
Sound familiar? That's because Trump also was prioritizing the politics of the trade deal when he ignored the impending pandemic and instead praised Xi.
Sound familiar? That's because Trump also was prioritizing the politics of the trade deal when he ignored the impending pandemic and instead praised Xi.
And then there's Russia. No on thinks Trump's fawning over Putin serves the national interest. But Trump knows Putin backed his campaign in '16, potentially decisively, and is doing the same this cycle. Rather than treat him as an adversary, he caters to him as a political donor.
The fact is that the American President has huge leeway when it comes to the conduct of foreign policy -- much more so than domestic policy. And so in his approach to foreign policy, we have a window into what Trump prioritizes.
The answer is clear: reelection above all else.
The answer is clear: reelection above all else.
