President Obama's foreign policy had been described as "strategic patience" ... which, to this observer, was a cover for his inaction. President Trump's approach can easily be called "strategic chaos" or a constant state of confusion about what Trump is going to do, say or tweet next. This strategy has also been tagged as "transactional" as Trump may not know himself exactly how the U.S. might respond to a certain event ... until the event occurs in all its nuance.
Such was the case yesterday when he appeared, in the Helsinki news conference with Putin, to trust Russian intelligence operations over his own. This misstep is understandable in the context of the FBI IG report that has demonstrated the degree to which the FBI and DOJ (and likely the CIA under Brennan) hand been working to take him down. And it continues. Rod Rosenstein at the DOJ baited the trap last Friday when he announced the obviously politically-motivated indictment of 12 Russian Intel officers for hacking the Democrats during the last presidential election ... but no Americans were wittingly involved. Trump had not, because of the timing of this revelation, been given the opportunity to vet this bomb shell ... to his regret.
Trump is finding that the negotiators on the international stage and in the DC swamp are a little tougher than New York union bosses. As a consequence, in Helsinki, Trump found himself between a rock and a hard place going into his meeting with Putin ... really a no-win, chaotic transaction ... and he didn't win ... he equivocated when he should have stood firm ... to the gleeful delight of the DOJ, the FBI, the U.S. political establishment, the American media, and, I suspect, Putin. Trump has been sullied in what was supposed to be his strong suit, his negotiating skills. This is damaging to his ability to carry off his other challenges, trade with China, North Korean denuclearization, immigration reform, the Mueller witch hunt, etc. And he is pretty much alone on this chaotic battlefield ... with possibly only middle America to come charging over the hill bugles blaring. Will we? We will find out in November.
Afterthought: As a result of Helsinki, Trump has been called a traitor and worse by many of the unhappy parties listed above. It seems to this observer that such mania and its impact on all of international negotiations that are affected by this discord is possibly much more damaging to this country than Trump's perceived bending to Russia.
6 comments:
Once again you have not included the facts with your story. Trump was briefed by Rosenstein about the indictments a week before they were announced. He had plenty of time to vet them but he doesn't read, he doesn't listen to his advisors and he doesn't think clearly. Either you stand for Trump or you stand for America. It's your choice.
" no Americans were wittingly involved" *in the hacking of Democrats*. Mueller has already got indictments against Americans who helped Russia help Trump. More to come, I'm betting.
When middle american holdouts figuratively charge over the hills with bugles and AK-47's. The storied deep state Government has aircraft, tanks and bazooka's. I'm betting on the Government.
When Rosenstein announced the 12 indictments, he explicitly said no Americans were involved.
When Rosenstein announced the indictments on Friday (Trump was in England) he said the President was "briefed" on them "earlier this week. Rosenstein is another Deep State snake ... and he clearly set Trump up. And please don't question my patriotism ...
I read that statement as explicitly referring to the Hacking of DNC, not collusion by Trump campaign with Russians. Otherwise, there is no further work for Mueller to do and should be shut down. I am impatient for a conclusion.
Haven't many Dems contended that the Trump campaign helped the Ruskies hack the DNC? I predict that Mueller will end with an October surprise.
Post a Comment