During the 2016 presidential campaign, analysts, including Republicans as well as Democrats, were discussing the probable disintegration of the Republican party with a Trump loss. First, Trump was widely expected to lose. Second, Trump was not acting within the bounds of a regular political contest, thus shedding many traditional Republicans.
During the campaign, Trump strayed way beyond usual Republican positions on trade, entitlement reform, money in politics, and national security. He and his core followers disagreed with Republican party leaders on significant issues. Amazingly, Trump even seemed to demonstrate that policy positions did not matter. He ridiculed the idea that problems required a depth of study. He said he was smarter than the military generals; consequently, he would make decisions, and he would make them by instinct.
His three marriages, the many accusations of him sexually assaulting women, and his crude talk on tape about his habit of sexual assaults flew in the face of the party’s posture of religious conservatism. Importantly, his open appeals to racial bigotry seemed to validate the criticism of many people that the Republican party was the party of white resentment against blacks and other minorities.
Back in 2016, magazine headlines blared, “Has Trump Killed the GOP?” “Is this the end of the GOP as we know it?” But he won! And now the question is whether the country can survive his presidency.
Trump told the country what we would be getting with his presidency. He said he admired Putin, the president of our foremost adversary. And he said he was a nationalist, not a fan of international collaborations, especially NATO (Putin’s nemesis).
Few thought he would openly praise so many dictators/strong leaders—Putin; Philippine leader, Rodrigo Duterte; Xi Jinping, China; Kim Jong Un, North Korea; Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, Egypt; and Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey. Inappropriately, Trump has heaped praise on each of these authoritarian leaders. And these men play the uninformed Trump like a puppet.
We recently learned that transcripts of Trump’s telephone calls with some of these men had been hidden inappropriately in high-security places. However, some of us suspected all along that some of his calls and other conversations with foreign leaders were seriously inappropriate if not outright dangerous. Look at his behavior and discussions in the White House with the two Russian leaders, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Ambassador Sergey Kislyak. There he told them he had solved the Russian election interference investigation problem by firing FBI Director James Comey. In that meeting, he also revealed details about a spy mission in Russia, putting the spy’s life in danger.
After a telephone call with President Erdogan of Turkey on October 6, Trump obeyed Erdogan’s wishes and immediately announced the removal of American troops from Northeast Syria. He did this without consultation, blindsiding Pentagon officials. The Washington Post aptly called Trump’s actions the result of a knowledge-free foreign policy.
Let’s recap the situation where the United States gave Erdogan everything he wanted. Turkey has long wanted to push Kurds out of northern Syria along their border. For several years, Kurdish soldiers have fought in that region alongside Americans in containing ISIS, losing 11,000 lives in the process. Now the U.S. is abandoning them—for possible genocide.
By withdrawing troops so abruptly, Trump gave Turkey the ability to invade northern Syria and slaughter Kurds. Outrageously, Trump even used Erdogan’s words by saying Turkey needed to “clean” the area.
Trump sends Vice President Pence to negotiate with Turkey (after the fact). The deal means Kurds must move from Northeast Syria or be slaughtered, no victory for the good guys.
In less than three years, the United States has abdicated its position as a leader of the free world. Undoubtedly, in many places, it is potentially, if not actually, the laughingstock of the world. At a minimum, it will take years and possibly generations, to restore America’s place in the world.
