Trump on world stage
Richard Fulton
While everyone is focused on the continuing drama of the Trump family circus, we must not forget the great damage done to the standing of the United States in the world as a result of the problematic foreign trip President Trump took just a week ago.
We should not let pass or minimize the great harm done to the world standing of the United States by the president’s fumbling attempts at diplomacy.
By going to Poland first on his visit he shunned the more tradition deference to our historic friendship with Great Britain. They have been America’s central ally in European diplomacy.
Poland was a choice that sent the wrong message to most of the rest of Europe to begin with. It has an ultra-conservative government uncooperative with EU policies towards the problems facing the EU. They refuse, for example, to take their fair share of immigrants as per EU policy.
Trump encouraged that by emphasizing the “survival” of Western values in his speech there. This was obviously a reference to his animosity towards Middle Eastern and Central American immigrants and their problems.
More important than these symbolic moves was his reception and conduct amongst the G-20 advanced economic states. He famously met with President Putin of Russia with a small group designed, one assumes, to be able to control the narrative of what happened in that meeting.
Did Trump confront Putin over Russia’s hacking in attempts to influence our democratic election? Yes, he said twice he brought it up. The Russians say he accepted their denial.
Trump’s response was to simply say we must move on from this controversy, then made some kind of a deal to cooperate with Russia to find solutions to international hacking. Russia tries to disrupt our election system and influence it to their liking and all Trump does is discuss how to collude with the Russians in cooperative anti-hacking mechanisms. Letting the fox into the henhouse.
Then on the discussions went, of what we know not. Putin played on Trump’s naivety and Trump didn’t even know it.
While meeting other leaders individually, Trump missed many of the full meetings and discussions over world problems: economic, military, and diplomatic. At one point he left a meeting and let his daughter sit in for the U.S.. It must have been “take your daughter to work” night.
Trump seemed to get along somewhat with President Macron of France and he is in France today to help celebrate Bastille Day and American help in WWI. We shall see if Trump can begin to gain his diplomatic legs there.
In his continued insistence on withdraw from the Paris agreement on climate change, Trump left this significant arena of nearly unanimous world cooperation to other leadership. Clearly the leaders of our greatest allies, Great Britain and Germany, were less than happy with him.
Insiders report that the leaders of Europe and Asia are fearful of the Trump temperament. Some even whisper that they are not sure of the stability of the president within an atmosphere demanding sound decision making.
He blusters and tweets from the top of his head. He seems greatly inexperienced in arenas of serious discussions. His knowledge base is shallow and he refuses to have specific State Department and other experts at his side to advise him.
In short, President Trump has not made America great again. The world paid attention to American strengths but marginalized its leader in crucial discussions and decisions.
Richard Fulton is an emeritus professor of political science.
