With Trump as the President of the United States, the country’s foreign policy is far from being clear. Both allies and enemies need to find a way to figure out which announcements are true and which would be debunked and later on denied by the president himself.
The North Korean leader has accepted to meet with America’s officials and talk about denuclearization, and instead of sending a diplomat or secretary of state on a formal trip to Pyongyang, Trump assigned Mike Pompeo, CIA Director, to do this under the veil of secrecy. Note that he couldn’t send the Secretary of State because he doesn’t have one and obviously he believes Pompeo is fit for the job.
On Wednesday, Trump confirmed that he would attend the meeting no matter how the conversation went. However, he then said that he would not waste time if the meeting is not going to be productive. So after all, there might not be a summit. In case the meeting takes place, and Trump realizes that nothing good can come out of it he “will respectfully leave the meeting and we’ll continue what we’re doing or whatever it is that we’ll continue, but something will happen.”
Such statements from the President of the world’s most powerful country are shameful. “Something will happen” means that it can range from continuous threats to a nuclear war. Both Trump and Kim Jong-Un need to understand the position of the other side if they want “something (positive) to happen” during the dialogue. There’s a fat chance that this talk will be fruitful.
Speaking of Trump’s wobbling foreign policy, the sanctions against Russia are imposed, and UN Ambassador Nikki Haley spoke loudly about it on Sunday. Many agreed with these sanctions. The Russians are the ones who interfered with the American election, plus they sided with Bashar al-Assad in Syria, a man who used chemical weapons to kill his own people. Furthermore, it was Russians who tried to assassinate a former Russian Intelligence officer who lives in England, one of the closest American allies. However, there are no new sanctions. And this is confirmed by no other than Larry Kudlow, Trump’s new chief economic adviser. He said that Haley “got ahead of the curve” and that “there might have been some momentary confusion.” She responded: “With all due respect, I don’t get confused.”
Trump didn’t manage to explain what was going on and whether there would be new sanctions or not. But the Russian officials explained that none of that would happen. The Russians proved to be a more reliable source of information than the president of the United States. America has advocated freedom and democracy as well as human rights for decades, but currently, the White House sees diplomatic relations as something that has winners and losers and America must win. Even with that mindset which is wrong, Trump cannot achieve winning conditions, so we are the ones on the losing side.
If you have a hard time believing that, let’s take a moment to remember the withdrawal from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). This was a poor move, and China used this to its advantage, strengthening their position and trade in Asia. Trump then wanted to rejoin the TPP, but just recently we could hear from the White House that they will be staying out. Real roller coaster ride.
Last but not least, Trump had success in Syria. The US troops deployed in the region managed to weaken and drive out the Islamic State. Before that and mostly during his campaign he said that America needs to step out of such wars. But now that he got involved he should end things on right note? No. Widespread reports suggest that Trump demands the troops to withdraw from Syria, which may lead to further conflict in the region and the reestablishment of the Islamic State.
As you can see, current president contradicts himself more often than not. He needs to choose a path and follow it in order to stabilize the foreign policy. The consequences are great, and the other countries consider America weaker due to such inconsistencies and contradictions.
Source: realclearpolitics.com
