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Trump has turned U.S. foreign policy into a subsidiary of his reelection campaign
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/10/04/trump-has-turned-us-foreign-policy-into-subsidiary-his-reelection-campaign/
President Trump listens as Secretary of State Mike Pompeo speaks during a meeting in the Cabinet Room of the White House on July 16. (Bloomberg/Photographer: Bloomberg/Bloomber)
By Brian Klaas DemocracyPost contributor
Oct. 4, 2019 at 12:02 p.m. EDT
Are blatant abuses of power any less impeachable if they’re done in plain sight in front of television cameras rather than on a secret phone call?
President Trump must hope so. On Thursday, he fired yet another smoking gun, this time on the South Lawn of the White House. After days of Trump and his spineless surrogates denying that he ever pressured Ukraine to investigate former vice president Joe Biden, Trump again pressured Ukraine to investigate Biden. Then, for good measure, he pressed China to do the same, a mere 30 seconds after he threatened Beijing by saying “if they don’t do what we want, we have tremendous power.” It doesn’t take a “very stable genius” to read between those lines.
Foreign governments have now learned a disturbing lesson: If you target Democrats or put money in Donald Trump’s pockets, you might earn diplomatic benefits from the United States government.
For example, Trump’s July 25th phone call with the president of Ukraine offered a horrifying glimpse into the ways Trump has drastically reshaped U.S. foreign policy — not by shifting it toward Republican principles, but by making it revolve around Republican politics and Trumpian self-interest. In the phone call, Trump responds to his counterpart’s request for military assistance with one of his own: “I would like you to do us a favor, though.”
Those 10 words underscore what has long been suspected: that the president is conditioning American diplomatic relationships on the degree to which foreign governments don’t just stroke his infamously fragile ego but also boost his political chances while simultaneously lining his pockets. American foreign policy has been co-opted by the Trump 2020 reelection campaign and by the Trump Organization. It’s the wholesale politicization of U.S. diplomacy. To secure a concession related to U.S. foreign policy, you don’t have to help the United States; you have to help Trump.
</snip>
President Trump listens as Secretary of State Mike Pompeo speaks during a meeting in the Cabinet Room of the White House on July 16. (Bloomberg/Photographer: Bloomberg/Bloomber)
By Brian Klaas DemocracyPost contributor
Oct. 4, 2019 at 12:02 p.m. EDT
Are blatant abuses of power any less impeachable if they’re done in plain sight in front of television cameras rather than on a secret phone call?
President Trump must hope so. On Thursday, he fired yet another smoking gun, this time on the South Lawn of the White House. After days of Trump and his spineless surrogates denying that he ever pressured Ukraine to investigate former vice president Joe Biden, Trump again pressured Ukraine to investigate Biden. Then, for good measure, he pressed China to do the same, a mere 30 seconds after he threatened Beijing by saying “if they don’t do what we want, we have tremendous power.” It doesn’t take a “very stable genius” to read between those lines.
Foreign governments have now learned a disturbing lesson: If you target Democrats or put money in Donald Trump’s pockets, you might earn diplomatic benefits from the United States government.
For example, Trump’s July 25th phone call with the president of Ukraine offered a horrifying glimpse into the ways Trump has drastically reshaped U.S. foreign policy — not by shifting it toward Republican principles, but by making it revolve around Republican politics and Trumpian self-interest. In the phone call, Trump responds to his counterpart’s request for military assistance with one of his own: “I would like you to do us a favor, though.”
Those 10 words underscore what has long been suspected: that the president is conditioning American diplomatic relationships on the degree to which foreign governments don’t just stroke his infamously fragile ego but also boost his political chances while simultaneously lining his pockets. American foreign policy has been co-opted by the Trump 2020 reelection campaign and by the Trump Organization. It’s the wholesale politicization of U.S. diplomacy. To secure a concession related to U.S. foreign policy, you don’t have to help the United States; you have to help Trump.
</snip>
