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DonViejo

(60,536 posts)
Mon Dec 3, 2018, 04:36 PM Dec 2018

Trump's not winning anything, anywhere - By Jennifer Rubin


Opinion writer
December 3 at 11:45 AM

President Trump pulled the United States out of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), but he has no apparent substitute for containing Iran’s aggression. We are isolated from our European allies. Trump says he wants to pull out of the North American Free Trade Agreement, but NAFTA 2.0 is not ratified (nor is it likely to be), and in any event, it isn’t dramatically different from the original. We’re out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership but not out of a trade war with China (although tariffs are not rising quite yet).

Trump met with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un, declared the nuclear threat gone and wants to meet again. North Korea, however, has not shown it is prepared to denuclearize. Trump pulled the United States out of the Paris accord; the other world leaders are meeting in Poland to discuss steps forward without the United States. Meanwhile, the climate change problem becomes more urgent with each passing year, according to the administration’s own report.

Our European and North American allies scorn and distrust Trump, revile his pullout from international agreements and his erratic trade threats, and rightly see him as unable to lead the West in an existential battle against illiberal regimes.

Russia remains in Ukraine and now is making a play for control of the Sea of Azov. Iran and Russia dominate Syria. The war in Afghanistan drags on without clear purpose.

Let’s be blunt: The only significant foreign policy “achievements” Trump can claim are eviscerating our reputation as a reliable ally that defends human rights and giving autocrats the impression that they can get away with murder (and dismemberment and more) without paying any significant price.

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https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/opinions/wp/2018/12/03/trumps-not-winning-anything-anywhere/
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Trump's not winning anything, anywhere - By Jennifer Rubin (Original Post) DonViejo Dec 2018 OP
Not a shred of respect Land and sea Dec 2018 #1
How much respect did you have have left to lose? n/t MoonchildCA Dec 2018 #2
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