Donald Trump Plays Down Role of U.S. in Global Crises

[brooklynite]

Source: New York Times

CLEVELAND — Donald J. Trump, on the eve of accepting the Republican nomination for president, said Wednesday that if he were elected, he would not pressure Turkey or other authoritarian allies about conducting purges of their political adversaries or cracking down on civil liberties. The United States, he said, has to “fix our own mess” before trying to alter the behavior of other nations.

“I don’t think we have a right to lecture,” Mr. Trump said in a wide-ranging interview in his suite in a downtown hotel here while keeping an eye on television broadcasts from the Republican National Convention. “Look at what is happening in our country,” he said. “How are we going to lecture when people are shooting policemen in cold blood?”

During a 45-minute conversation, Mr. Trump re-emphasized the hard-line nationalist approach that has marked his improbable candidacy, describing how he would force allies to shoulder defense costs that the United States has borne for decades, cancel longstanding treaties he views as unfavorable, and redefine what it means to be a partner of the United States.

He said the rest of the world would learn to adjust to his approach. “I would prefer to be able to continue” existing agreements, he said, but only if allies stopped taking advantage of what he called an era of American largess that was no longer affordable.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/21/us/politics/donald-trump-issues.html?_r=0

[bucolic_frolic]

1. America in Full Retreat, that ought to go over well

give the forces of evil in the world full reign as we count our pennies

Great Don, go there, America is waiting

[elleng]

2. aside from 'forces of evil,'

it should go over well with 'his' own party/hawks!

[pampango]

3. FDR he ain't: "re-emphasized the hard-line nationalist approach", "cancel longstanding treaties

he views as unfavorable ..."

... he would press the theme of “America First,” his rallying cry for the past four months, and that he was prepared to scrap the North American Free Trade Agreement with Mexico and Canada if he could not negotiate radically better terms.

... asked about Russia’s threatening activities that have unnerved the small Baltic States that are the most recent entrants into NATO, Mr. Trump said that if Russia attacked them, he would decide whether to come to their aid only after reviewing whether those nations “have fulfilled their obligations to us.”

Mr. Trump repeatedly defined American global interests almost purely in economic terms. Its roles as a peacekeeper, as a provider of a nuclear deterrent against adversaries like North Korea, as an advocate of human rights and as a guarantor of allies’ borders were each quickly reduced to questions of economic benefit to the United States.

Mr. Trump had nothing but praise for President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the country’s increasingly authoritarian but democratically elected leader. “I give great credit to him for being able to turn that around,” Mr. Trump said of the coup attempt on Friday night. “Some people say that it was staged, you know that,” he said. “I don’t think so.”

To Trump all our international affairs are "quickly reduced to questions of economic benefit to the United States", IOW money. No surprise there.

[nitpicker]

4. Link to BBC re NATO

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-36852805

[RAFisher]

5. How is this not getting more coverage?!?! He wants to close our overseas military bases!

Yeah Mr. Pro-Military wants to close all or most of the US's military bases. I can't get over this. Every fucking speech at the RNC they say how the evil black man destroyed our military. Then Trump says this. Comrade Vladimir Trump has no fucking clue how the world works! I'm more convinced Moscow has some sort of influence over Trump.

[Proud liberal 80]

6. I would have actually agreed with him if he said

“Look at what is happening in our country,” he said. “How are we going to lecture when policeman are shooting people in cold blood?”