Trump's Foreign Policy: Aggressive and Dumb

It took 10 days for the glue that holds this country together to crumble. And our democracy is unraveling as quickly as our new President can sign executive orders.

- Linda Stasi (NY Daily News, Jan 31)

As if its domestic agenda wasn't bad enough, the Trump Administration is rapidly escalating tensions around the world with allies and rivals alike.  President Twitter's most recent forays into foreign relations have been a disaster.  I wonder if newly-confirmed Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is having second thoughts about his position given the horror show he's being handed.

The "Mexico tariff to build the wall" fiasco has been followed by wide-ranging missteps and misguided threats.  The past week's shenanigans reminded me of a comment by my senior manager back some years ago.  Referring to some new hires, he said,  "There is no one as dangerous as an aggressive, dumb person."  And yet here we are...

Credit: calendariu.com

Trump's travel ban against refugees and seven Muslim countries met with instant and near-universal outrage. The UN, the Vatican and the EU have all issued statements opposing it.  (The Oklahoman, Feb 1)  A petition is circulating in the State Department against it.   An acting attorney general was fired for refusing to defend the executive order, deeming it unlawful.  Federal Courts have begun to issue injunctions and stays of deportation.  Four states and several cities are suing the Trump Administration's travel ban and its threat to limit funding to so-called sanctuary cities.

For centuries, America has been a refuge for people escaping oppression, war and poverty.  We even have a national monument dedicated to that sentiment.  And don't believe the nonsense about this refugee ban making us safer.  I can't see how a two-year-old Syrian given asylum in the US is any threat.

This week, Trump "lambasted the leader of Australia over a refugee agreement before...abruptly hanging up the phone, according to senior officials" in what was supposed to be an hour-long telephone call.  (NY Daily News, Feb 2)

The most troubling of the past week's escapades was the "putting Iran on notice" comment by National Security Adviser Michael Flynn, who "made a surprise, first-on-camera appearance Wednesday, using the authority of the White House briefing room... 'As of today, we are officially putting Iran on notice,' Flynn said, in a statement condemning a recent Iranian ballistic missile [test] launch." In a briefing later in the day, an anonymous senior administration official "did not rule out the possibility of a military action against Iran. Asked whether the U.S response could 'include a military option,' the official said: 'We are considering a whole range of options. We’re in a deliberative process.' "  (CNN, Feb 2)

Let's hope they don't do anything too aggressive and dumb.