Trump Foreign Policy

[TGHusker]

I think this is a pretty interesting/revealing quote from the article. Trump again shows weakness and caves.

 

The Kremlin made clear that the compound issue was at the top of its bilateral agenda. Russia repeatedly denounced what it called the “seizure” of the properties as an illegal violation of diplomatic treaties.

On May 8, the U.S. undersecretary of state for political affairs, Thomas Shannon, traveled to New York to meet with his Russian counterpart, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov on what the State Department described as “a range of bilateral issues” and what Russia called “irritants” and “grievances.”

Ryabkov brought up the compounds, while Shannon raised St. Petersburg and harassment, suggesting that they deal with the operation of their diplomats and facilities in each others’ countries separate from policy issues such as Syria and proposing that they clear the decks with a compromise.

Russia refused, saying that the compound issue was a hostile act that deserved no reciprocal action to resolve and had to be dealt with before other diplomatic problems could be addressed. In an interview with Tass, Ryabkov said Moscow was alarmed that Washington “carries on working out certain issues in its traditional manner, particularly concerning Russia’s diplomatic property in the states of Maryland and New York.”

Two days later in Washington, Tillerson told Lavrov that the United States would no longer link the compounds to the issue of St. Petersburg.

Immediately after their May 10 meeting at the State Department, Tillerson escorted Lavrov and Kislyak to the Oval Office. There, they held a private meeting with Trump. The night before, the president had fired FBI Director James B. Comey, who was then heading an FBI investigation of the Russia ties.

 

Comey, Trump told the Russians, was a “real nut job,” and his removal had “taken off” the ­Russia-related pressure the president was under, the New York Times reported. Later in May, the Justice Department appointed former FBI director Robert S. Mueller III as special counsel to oversee the federal investigation.

 

In a news conference at the Russian Embassy after his meetings with Tillerson and Trump, Lavrov said of the compound closures, “Everyone, in particular the Trump administration, is aware that those actions were illegal.”

The dialogue between Russia and the U.S. is now free from the ideology that characterized it under the Barack Obama administration,” he said.

[BigRedBuster]

[TGHusker]

Diplomatic exchange via Tweets. What a pathetic foreign policy strategy. Because Trump reacts and doesn't think, he misunderstand the London mayor's message to Londoners. He then sends of a bombastic tweet

in reaction that totally misinterprets what the mayor said. The mayor corrects him. Trump tweets back that the mayor is offering excuses.. MEANWHILE our fully sane Ambassador tweets his support of the mayor.

Words can not describe this. This is beyond train wreck status. While one could brush it off as just another stupid tweet by Trump it is so much more. Because Trump is so insecure, he has to project himself into every situation, conversation

-even a 'sacred' conversation between a mayor and the citizens he is to watch over. I say sacred because only certain people are reserved to address citizens in times like these - those who lead them. Think of Ronald Reagan's 'sacred' response after the Challenger disaster. What would we have thought if some bully from England had been critical of his words at that time? And Trump projects himself as an all knowing bully. Because he is so controlling, he cannot trust his diplomatic team to handle the relatively routine response of giving support back to the mayor. So will Trump next be responding to every dog catcher he doesn't agree with. I'm not placing the mayor on that level, but the President should respond on a higher level to heads of state and the diplomatic staff respond to the mayor, etc. He is so arrogant that he appears to know what is best for Londoners at a time like this. And maybe, (first time I'll use this phrase which I don't like to use and it is used too loosely by too many but my mind takes me there) Trump is too racist that he has to attack the Muslim mayor and try to portray him as weak and maybe the indirect cause for the terror in London.

 

Cancel Donald Trump state visit, says Sadiq Khan, after London attack tweets

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jun/05/donald-trump-attack-courts-travel-ban-london

The London mayor, Sadiq Khan, has called on the British government to cancel a planned state visit by Donald Trump after being criticised in two tweets by the US president.

Trump initially criticised Khan for his response to the London Bridge terrorist attack; though, in doing so, he misquoted London’s mayor. Khan’s office pointed out Trump’s error later but the president responded by accusing London’s mayor of making a “pathetic excuse”.

Appearing on Channel 4 News on Monday evening, Khan said Trump was wrong about “many things” and that his state visit should not go ahead.

“I don’t think we should roll out the red carpet to the president of the USA in the circumstances where his policies go against everything we stand for,” he said.

“When you have a special relationship it is no different from when you have got a close mate. You stand with them in times of adversity but you call them out when they are wrong. There are many things about which Donald Trump is wrong.”

Trump’s tirade also appeared to act as a rebuke to the acting US ambassador to Britain, Lewis Lukens, who had put out a thread of tweets, culminating in a retweet of Khan’s statement.

“I commend the strong leadership of the mayor of London as he leads the city forward after this heinous attack,” the acting ambassador said.

 

In more normal times, such a message of solidarity with a host mayor in an allied state would be unremarkable, but it unleashed a torrent of online abuse from Trump’s supporters, accusing Lukens of disloyalty. Some focused on the fact that the acting ambassador was offering support for a foreign official who is Muslim, rather than echoing the president.(TG:emphasis is mine - shows the mindset of Trump supporters.) There were calls for Lukens to be replaced.

 

Trump’s initial criticism of Khan on Sunday was based on a misunderstanding of what the mayor had said. Early on Sunday morning, Khan made a statement expressing grief and vowing that the terrorists “would not win”. Khan then added: “Londoners will see an increased police presence today and over the course of the next few days. There’s no reason to be alarmed.”

A few hours later, Trump seemed to interpret that as suggesting Londoners should not be alarmed by terrorism.

“At least seven dead and 48 wounded in terror attack and mayor of London says there is “no reason to be alarmed!” Trump tweeted.

The London mayor’s office initially responded by saying Khan had “more important things to do than respond to Donald Trump’s ill-informed tweet that deliberately takes out of context his remarks”.

Hours later, Trump retorted: “Pathetic excuse by London mayor Sadiq Khan, who had to think fast on his ‘no reason to be alarmed’ statement. [Mainstream media] is working hard to sell it!”

Theresa May appeared unwilling to be drawn into the row. She praised Khan’s response to the attack but refused to explicitly comment on the US president’s intervention.

Asked if Trump had been wrong to target Khan, May told reporters on Monday: “Sadiq Khan is doing a good job and it’s wrong to say anything else – he’s doing a good job.”

White House spokesperson Sarah Huckabee Sanders denied that Trump was picking a fight with the mayor of London and said the idea that the president was criticising Khan because he was Muslim was “utterly ridiculous”.

[BigRedBuster]

Absolute bumbling idiot. I can not even think of words to express how embarrassing this is as an American.

[commando]

Absolute bumbling idiot. I can not even think of words to express how embarrassing this is as an American.

i am more embarrassed by the horde of american idiots who blindly follow Twittler

[zoogs]

The thing is a good number of those are bots. But they influence real people -- people who we all know from our memories here for example existed in real life before certain actors decided to try and puppeteer the minds of susceptible Americans for their gain.

 

How's it feel to be a Russian puppet, guys?

[zoogs]

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2017/06/08/iran-trump-response-terror-attack-tehran-repugnant/102621204/

 

"We grieve and pray for the innocent victims of the terrorist attacks in Iran, and for the Iranian people, who are going through such challenging times," Trump said. "We underscore that states that sponsor terrorism risk falling victim to the evil they promote."

Trump on the awful attacks in Iran: they had it coming.

[ZRod]

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2017/06/08/iran-trump-response-terror-attack-tehran-repugnant/102621204/

"We grieve and pray for the innocent victims of the terrorist attacks in Iran, and for the Iranian people, who are going through such challenging times," Trump said. "We underscore that states that sponsor terrorism risk falling victim to the evil they promote."

Trump on the awful attacks in Iran: they had it coming.

This was a perfect opportunity to bring Iran closer to us and get more aid from then against ISIS.

[BigRedBuster]

You gotta love this with our biggest ally in the world.

 

[zoogs]

https://theintercept.com/2017/06/12/trump-saudi-arms-deal-secret-briefing-mcconnell-chris-murphy/

 

THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION is engaged in a last-ditch lobbying effort to stop the Senate from condemning a $500 million weapons transfer to Saudi Arabia as the kingdom wages a brutal, U.S.-backed war in Yemen.

Let's see if the Senate acquiesces. Background:

 

After Saudi Arabia bombed a funeral hall in October in its war against Houthi rebels in Yemen, the Obama administration put a temporary hold on a sale of precision-guided munition to the Persian Gulf dictatorship. An Obama administration official told Reuters that they halted the sale because of “systemic, endemic” problems with Saudi Arabia’s targeting decision.”They’re not picking the right targets,” the official said, citing the funeral bombing.

 

The Trump administration, though, wasted no time in reversing the decision and moving forward with the sale.

The Obama administration, it should be noted, is not innocent of complicity in Yemen.

[Danny Bateman]

Awful.

 

[RedDenver]

Claims that US is using white phosphorus in civilian areas (it's an international war crime to use on civilians):

http://www.snopes.com/2017/06/12/u-s-led-forces-accused-using-white-phosphorus-syria-iraq/

[BigRedBuster]

Good thing we have a President that knows how to defeat ISIS more than the generals do.

[BigRedBuster]

[BigRedBuster]

This is gonna get interesting.