New York Times | Republicans Are Now the 'America First' Party New York Times For most of my career, the Republican Party was pretty easy to define. It stood for small government, an internationalist foreign policy, free trade, and moral and religious conservatism. Ronald Reagan was the party's North Star. Of course, there have ... |
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Republicans Are Now the 'America First' Party - New York Times
Human nature, I suppose, compels us to adapt to and try to make sense out of chaotic, even dangerous situations. We want things to be less than horrible, so the inclination to ignore persistent signs of danger and convince ourselves all is well can overwhelm common sense and honest perception. This tendency, coupled with reluctance to admit error, has prompted some Republicans of late to declare President Trump is navigating toward the mainstream on foreign policy. Using the favorite word in an abnormal time, they insist he is normalizing. We beg to differ.
Their rationalizing strikes us as not unlike the reaction in the West when each new Soviet leader emerged on the world stage. Oh, but he has Western suits! Oh, he went to an Ivy League school in his youth! The straw-grabbing often involves excessive praise for not doing insane things. (Well, he hasnt said he would invade any countries!) We are adept at self-delusion.
Even the hardest line NeverTrumpers such as myself would, for the countrys sake, like to say this is normal. But its not. Its better than it was because of some of the key appointments at the top, particularly the replacement of Michael Flynn by H.R. McMaster, saidformer State Department official Eliot Cohen. But it wont be normal even when the new team gets past their backlog of appointments in a years time, because of the man at the top. He thinks of foreign policy almost exclusively in personal and transactional terms rather than enduring interests, relationships and values. Cohen added, He has advisers who do not agree with one another. And above all, he remains what some of us described last March as unmoored in principle not to mention untrustworthy ignorant, impulsive and narcissistic. Cohen therefore argued that in foreign as in domestic policy presidential character counts, and his character remains reprehensible.
In an interview on April 27, President Trump said he misses aspects of his life before the presidency and that he thought being president "would be easier." (Patrick Martin/The Washington Post)
Inconveniently interrupting the Hes getting better! meme, Trumps interview with Reuters on Thursday is nothing short of terrifying. His cluelessness about the world persists. This is more work than in my previous life, he says. I thought it would be easier. That smacks of Nobody knew health care could be so complicated, which amounts to admission of complete ignorance of the worlds complexity and insistence that everyone is as blind as he was.
Oh, but thats the least of it. Sounding weirdly sympathetic to arguably the worlds worst tyrant, he said of Kim Jong Un: Hes 27 years old. His father dies, took over a regime. So say what you want but that is not easy, especially at that age. And as if to set everyones teeth a bit more on edge he declared, There is a chance that we could end up having a major, major conflict with North Korea. Absolutely. Gulp. Yes, thanks for the reminder that the potential for nuclear war rests with a man given to impulsive outbursts and angry responses to perceived slights. (Referring there to Trump not Kim Jong Un.)
To top it off, Trump seemed to go out of his way to kick ally South Korea, which sits directly in the line of fire of a homicidal tyrant. Reuters recounts:
He blamed the U.S.-Korean trade deal, known as KORUS, on his 2016 Democratic presidential election opponent, Hillary Clinton, who as secretary of state promoted the final version of the trade pact before its approval by Congress in 2011.
It is unacceptable, it is a horrible deal made by Hillary, the Republican Trump said. Its a horrible deal, and we are going to renegotiate that deal or terminate it.
Asked when he would announce his intention to renegotiate the deal, Trump said: Very soon. Im announcing it now.
Trumps comments stunned South Korean financial markets, sending Seoul stocks and the won currency into reverse even as the countrys economic outlook has started to brighten.
South Koreas foreign ministry said Seoul would continue to explain to the Trump administration the benefits of the free trade deal. Washington had not officially filed a request to Seoul to renegotiate the agreement, it said.
Trumpalso asserted that with regard to the Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system: I informed South Korea it would be appropriate if they paid. Its a billion-dollar system.
These remarks are not just embarrassing; they create doubt in the eyes of allies that we will be there in a crisis. Unstable adversaries come to believe they are dealing with a rube, someone with little interest in going to bat for allies.
Itis also worth remembering that Trump has yet to face an actual crisis or construct new, coherent policies to replace ones he thinks were deficient under his predecessors. Brookings Institution scholar Michael OHanlon calls for a bit more patience, and skepticism, even as I have breathed a huge sigh of relief based on the choices of the top national security team and the responsible crisis management to date, and the repair of relations with China.Trump is momentarily reactive (as he was in responding to Syrias chemical attack), but lacks sustained interest to demonstrate U.S. staying power. OHanlon thinks an incomplete may be the fairest assessment simply an incomplete grade because they really dont have any new policies yet.
Trump has put forth a defense budget that falls short of expectations. A 3 percent increase doesnt amount to a serious effort to rebuild the military after years of neglect.
On trade, he sealed our departure from the Trans-Pacific Partnership. If you believe him, we came within a whisker of pulling out of NAFTA. He spends his time threatening trade wars (against China, Mexico, Canada), not understanding that his bluster can create lasting ill-will and, ultimately, undermine his credibility when he backs down (as he always does).
And lets not forget his cringe-worthy congratulatory call to Turkeys president in the wake of an allegedly rigged election or his unprecedented cheering for the National Front (!) in France. These actions coupled with unqualified support for human rights abusers (Egypt) and silence on totalitarian suppression of civil liberties (China) make him so far the worst human rights president in history. His attacks on the American mediagive cover to regimes that imprison, threaten and even kill journalists. His failed Muslim travel ban alienated Muslim allies and damaged Americas moral stature.
Author and military scholar Tom Nichols thinks Republicans cheering Trump are deluded. There isnt a policy, as far as I can tell, he said via email. Remember that phone call to Taiwan? Apparently thats over with, and now [Chinese President Xi Jinping] is a great guy. He concluded, Republicans are desperately trying to impose intellectual coherence on a grab bag of statements that are all over the map at this point.
Trump deserves genuine credit for picking (after Flynn) McMaster, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley (although he now reportedly wants her to clear her speeches suggesting shes gotten too much praise for the narcissistic president to tolerate). If they only had a different commander in chief, we might have an effective foreign policy.
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Republicans are kidding themselves about Trump's foreign policy - Washington Post (blog)
President Trump told Fox News Martha MacCallum on Friday that hes disappointed with how congressional Republicans have handled big legislation on health care and other issues, as he reflected on his first 100 days in office.
At the same time, Trump rejected the notion that he hasnt had major legislative victories so far and said he understands the challenge for lawmakers trying to navigate what he called a very tough system.
Im disappointed, Trump said, adding, Ill tell you [House Speaker] Paul Ryans trying very, very hard. I think everybody is trying very hard.
WATCH THE FULL INTERVIEW WITH TRUMP ON THE FIRST 100 DAYS FRIDAY AT 7 P.M. ET ON FOX NEWS CHANNEL
Trump sat down with MacCallum, anchor of The First 100 Days, on day 99 of his presidency for a wide-ranging interview.
The interview came as Congress approved a stopgap spending bill to avert a government shutdown this week but also pushed off a possible vote on a new health care package until next week at the earliest.
House Speaker Paul Ryan was forced to pull initial legislation to replace ObamaCare from the floor last month after being unable to corral the votes, in large part because of opposition from House conservatives. Many of those lawmakers have gotten on board with a new version, but GOP leaders are still courting moderates.
Im disappointed that it doesnt go quicker, Trump told Fox News. I like them a lot. I have great relationships dont forget most of them I didnt even know. But many of them like the Freedom Caucus came and I see them all the time, we love our president, were doing this for our president. You look at that, you look at the moderates, its the same thing.
He said, however, that its really wrong to claim he hasnt had major legislation.
We passed 28 bills, he said.
He also reacted to the developing controversy behind his fired national security adviser Michael Flynn, whom House lawmakers say may have violated policies against taking foreign money without permission after he left the Obama administration. Trump suggested it was the Obama administration, not his transition team, that erred in vetting him.
I do feel badly for [Flynn]. He served the country. He was a general. But just remember, he was approved by the Obama administration at the highest level, Trump said. And when they say we didnt vet, well Obama I guess didnt vet, because he was approved at the highest level of security by the Obama administration. So when he came into our administration, for a short period of time, he came in, he was already approved by the Obama administration.
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'The First 100 Days': Trump says he's 'disappointed' with congressional Republicans - Fox News
CT News Junkie | Republicans release budget alternative Yale Daily News (blog) The Connecticut Republican caucus released its long-anticipated budget proposal in a press conference Thursday afternoon. The proposal, titled Confident Connecticut, claims to protect the state's hospitals, nonprofits and social services, many of ... Malloy Calls For Hiring Freeze As Income Tax Collections Nose-Dive $450 Million |
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Republicans release budget alternative - Yale Daily News (blog)
A new Republican bid to keep the government open past Friday includes no fresh money for the construction of a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, diminishing the chances of a last-minute spending fight.
The decision to withdraw a roughly $1.5billion request to begin building a physical barrier between the two countries may eliminate the White Houses best chance to secure the funding and begin construction this year. Nonetheless, President Trump and his aides vowed Tuesday that a wall will be built by the end of his current term.
GOP leaders submitted the new offer Tuesday in an effort to appease Democrats, whose votes are needed to avert a shutdown of federal agencies.
The wall was never going to be in there. There arent enough Republican votes, said Sen. Patrick J. Leahy (Vt.), the top Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Committee and a lead negotiator.
In exchange for backing off the border funding request, Republicans insisted on increases in border security and defense spending, including an unspecified amount to repair fencing and new surveillance technology to patrol the nearly 2,000-mile border, according to multiple House and Senate aides familiar with the ongoing talks. Democrats have indicated that they would support such a plan as long as no money goes toward an actual wall.
(Peter Stevenson/The Washington Post)
Some in the White House have calculated that the Trump administration will have a better chance of funding the wall later this year. Marc Short, the White House director of legislative affairs, told reporters Tuesday that the administration knows that the budget plan for fiscal 2018, which begins in October, is probably going to be a better place for us to better make the case for specific bricks and mortar for the wall. I think that we will have funding for physical barriers.
The two sides remain at odds over whether the spending bill would include money for subsidy payments under the Affordable Care Act, how long to extend a health-care program for coal miners and unrelated policy measures known as riders.
Tuesdays offer came as Republicans also pushed negotiations on tax reform and health care, eager to demonstrate forward motion on Trumps other top domestic priorities. Republican congressional leaders and the chairmen of tax-writing committees huddled with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and White House economic adviser Gary Cohn to review details of Trumps tax plan. And conservatives in the House were mulling support for a new proposal to revamp the nations health-care system.
A breakthrough came Monday, when Trump seemed to soften his demand for immediate funding for a border wall, telling a small group of conservative reporters he would be open to delaying a confrontation with Democrats over the border until September.
But by Tuesday, a defiant Trump insisted that no matter what happens with the spending fight, the walls going to get built.
Meeting with farmers at the White House, he defended his administrations work on border security so far, noting that illegal border crossings have dropped more than 70percent in the past year.
Asked by reporters when the wall would be built, Trump said, Soon.
When one reporter asked whether the wall would be built in his first term, Trump said, Yeah, we have plenty of time. Weve got a lot of time.
[No, no, no, no: Spicer wont say funding for border wall is delayed]
Even if funding for a border wall is revisited in the coming months, Trumps signature campaign pledge will run into fierce resistance in Congress. Border-state Republicans, fiscal conservatives in his own party and Democrats consider the project a non-starter.
A lot of us have been pushing for additional border security funding for a while, but a solitary, 2,000-mile wall has never been a must-have for anybody in a border state, said Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.), whose state has more than 300miles of border with Mexico.
Speaking for many Democrats, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) has repeatedly called a border wall immoral.
Despite the presidents fluctuations, congressional leaders remained encouraged that at least for now, the White House wont be pushing for border wall money.
The fact that the wall is now off the table Americans should breathe a huge sigh of relief, said Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.).
Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.), a member of the Senate leadership, acknowledged that when it comes to the spending talks, the wall is becoming more of a nonissue.
Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), a top appropriator, agreed, saying that Trumps comments were helpful to resolving weeks of talks over spending.
This is that moment where the president has to determine that you need some Democrat votes in the Senate to get the bill done. And the Democrats have to determine that there are a lot of things in that bill that they want, as well, Blunt said. They need a bill that the president will sign, and nobody can get too far out of the zone and hope to get both of those things done.
[Trump is caving on border wall funding after showing his base that he tried]
Less clear was whether Trump would feel blowback from his base. The White Houses decision to back off its request earned a rebuke from prominent conservatives, including radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh, who told his millions of listeners Tuesday that Trump is caving on his demand.
Faulting Democrats for threatening a shutdown, Limbaugh added that if Trump is willing to withdraw a demand for border wall money, then the Democrats will have just learned that this threat works on Trump, too, not just all the other Republicans.
House and Senate negotiators worked throughout a two-week Easter break on details of the spending plan, but the talks broke down last week after White House officials began demanding greater concessions from Democrats, including explicit funding for the wall.
[President Trump just had his bluff called again]
The issue of health subsidy payments, which affect approximately 7million Americans, has become the primary sticking point in the talks, the aides said. Democratic leaders demanded that the subsidies, which already are prescribed in the Affordable Care Act but which Trump has said he might not continue, be fully funded in the short-term spending bill to give Congress the power to make the payments.
But some Democrats have signaled a willingness to back down from that demand if the administration commits to continuing the payments on its own. Democrats also may be calculating that if Trump decides to stop the payments, the near-certain political damage would fall to him.
House Minority Whip Steny H. Hoyer (D-Md.), the second- ranking member of his caucus, said Tuesday that the subsidies should be handled by the White House, not Congress.
The president has the authority to go ahead and do it. He ought to do it, Hoyer told reporters.
The payments are the subject of an ongoing lawsuit filed by House Republicans, arguing that Congress should have to sign off on the subsidies. A federal district court ruled last year that the payments were illegal but allowed the program to continue during the appeals process.
It is unlikely that both the House and Senate will have enough time to pass an agreement before Friday, increasing chances that Congress will temporarily extend current spending levels. Negotiators would not confirm plans for a stopgap spending measure, but members of the appropriations committees are prepared to approve emergency spending to keep the government open for several days, according to several congressional aides.
Philip Rucker, Ashley Parker, David Weigel, Sean Sullivan, Tory Newmyer, Paige Winfield Cunningham and Karen Tumulty contributed to this report.
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