“Donald Trump has finally admitted that he has no strategy to defeat ISIS. It’s a shocking reversal that exposes just how out of his depth Trump is on national security issues. The Donald once claimed he knew ‘more than the generals’ about ISIS and had a ‘secret’ plan to defeat the Islamic State. Now, it’s clear those comments were a lie—he’s punting to the generals because he has no plan. The startling hypocrisy doesn’t end there. Trump lied about his support for the war in Iraq, the intervention in Libya and the removal of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. He claimed that he is committed to protecting America’s cyber security—yet just a few months ago asked Russia to hack the U.S.
“What’s clear is that Trump has no clue how to protect the American people and lacks the judgement and temperament to serve as Commander-in-Chief. A Trump presidency would endanger the American people, isolate our allies and give comfort to our country’s greatest adversaries.”
Trump began his campaign by calling Mexican immigrants “rapists.” When faced with backlash for his countless anti-Latino comments, he tweeted a tone-deaf, offensive picture of himself eating a taco bowl. Trump has treated Mexico, one of America’s allies, as an enemy, and has even said he wants “nothing to do with Mexico.”
This meeting could be quite uncomfortable. Beyond these offensive comments, Trump probably needs to ask about his plan for the Mexican government to pay for the wall he wants to build. We’ll see how that goes.
Donald Trump: “Happy #CincoDeMayo! The best taco bowls are made in Trump Tower Grill. I love Hispanics!” [Donald Trump, Twitter, 5/5/16]
Donald Trump: “When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending their best. […] They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists.” “Thank you. It’s true, and these are the best and the finest. When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending their best. They’re not sending you. They’re not sending you. They’re sending people that have lots of problems, and they’re bringing those problems with us. They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists. And some, I assume, are good people.” [Donald Trump, Presidential Announcement speech, 6/16/15]
Donald Trump: “Everything’s coming across the border. The illegals, the cars, the whole thing. It’s like a big mess, blegh. It’s like vomit.” “Everything’s coming across the border. The illegals, the cars, the whole thing. It’s like a big mess, blegh. It’s like vomit.” [Donald Trump remarks to Texas Patriots PAC, 4/30/15]
Donald Trump: “People are coming through the border that are really bad hombres and bad dudes and these are people that Mexico doesn’t want.” “You look at beautiful Kate [Steinle] and what’s going on like in San Francisco and Jamiel [Shaw] and so many people being killed and hurt badly. And people are coming through the border that are really bad hombres and bad dudes and these are people that Mexico doesn’t want and other countries where they come from, they don’t want them.” [Daily Ledger, 8/5/15]
Donald Trump said Mexico was sending criminals to the US in the same way Fidel Castro “opened up his prisons and sent his prisoners to the United States.” “Trump also tried to make a historical comparison, noting, ‘[Former Cuban leader Fidel] Castro, many years ago, opened up his prisons and sent his prisoners to the United States,’ which the candidate called a disaster for the America, before adding, ‘In a much more sophisticated manner, Mexico is [now] doing the same thing.’” [New York Magazine, 6/12/15]
Donald Trump on Mexican immigration: “They send the bad ones over because they don’t want to pay for them.” “Our leaders are stupid, our politicians are stupid, and the Mexican government is much smarter, much sharper, much more cunning, and they send the bad ones over because they don’t want to pay for them, they don’t want to take care of them. Why should they, when the stupid leaders of the United States will do it for them? And that’s what’s happening, whether you like it or not.” [Donald Trump, Fox News Presidential Debate, Cleveland, OH, 8/6/15]
Donald Trump: “You have illegal immigrants pouring through the country. They’re incarcerated, many of them are in jails. You have hundreds of thousands of people going to state and federal penitentiaries.” “DONALD TRUMP: No, I don’t apologize. Everybody knows what’s going on. You have illegal immigrants pouring through the country. They’re incarcerated, many of them are in jails. You have hundreds of thousands of people going to state and federal penitentiaries. That just came out in Homeland Security Report. You just have to take a look at them. The crime is rampant all over the place. You have the illegals just literally pouring — and not from Mexico only, they’re coming from all over the world. You have them all over South America, but they’re coming from the Middle East.” [Real Clear Politics, 7/1/15]
Donald Trump on the PGA tour happening in Mexico: “I hope they have kidnapping insurance.” TRUMP: “And I’m going to bring jobs back from Mexico and China and all these places. I mean, I just heard that the PGA tour is taking their tournament out of Miami and moving it to Mexico, as an example.” HANNITY: “Good grief.” TRUMP: “They’re taking it — it’s at Doral. It’s at — they use one of my places. They’re moving their tournament. It’s the Cadillac World Golf Championship. And Cadillac’s been a great sponsor, but they’re moving it to Mexico. They’re moving it to Mexico City, which, by the way, I hope they have kidnapping insurance. But they’re moving it to Mexico City.” [Fox News, 5/31/16]
Donald Trump, pointing to a plane flying above his campaign event: “That could be a Mexican plane up there — they’re getting ready to attack.” [Donald Trump, Manchester, NH, 6/30/16]
Donald Trump said that the border was “like an open sieve” that was allowing in “people that are sick and with contagious diseases, like tuberculosis.” VAN SUSTEREN: “Listen, I want to ask you about some things about President Obama’s request, $3.7 billion for the border. What do you think about that?” TRUMP: “I think the whole thing is ridiculous. It’s like an open sieve. People are just pouring in, all sorts of people. People that are sick and with contagious diseases, like tuberculosis, which is a real disaster. And what we are doing with this country is unthinkable. So, they are going there, and it’s a very — it’s a big humanitarian problem. There is no question about it. But they are all being dropped there because we are an open fence. We are an open door. We should just automatically say we have an open-door policy. Because, what’s going on is absolutely insane for this country. And, we owe, as you know, $17 trillion, Greta, $17 trillion. We can’t afford this. And they are only there because of the fact that we are saying, welcome, come in, and it’s not a good situation.” [Fox News On the Record, 7/11/14]
Donald Trump: “The Mexicans are the new China.” O’REILLY: “OK. I actually laughed when you said you’re going to build this giant wall from San Diego to Brownsville and the Mexicans are going to pay for it. The Mexicans aren’t going to pay for the wall.” TRUMP: “Let me tell you. The Mexicans are the new China. What they are doing to this country –” [Fox News’ O’Reilly Factor, 6/16/15]
Donald Trump: “Don’t do business with Mexico!” “I have a lawsuit in Mexico’s corrupt court system that I won but so far can’t collect. Don’t do business with Mexico!” [Donald Trump, Twitter, 2/24/15]
Donald Trump: “The Mexican legal system is corrupt, as is much of Mexico.” “The Mexican legal system is corrupt, as is much of Mexico. Pay me the money that is owed me now – and stop sending criminals over our border.” [Donald Trump, Twitter, 2/24/15]
Donald Trump: “Mexico’s totally corrupt gov’t looks horrible with El Chapo’s escape—totally corrupt. U.S. paid them $3 billion.” [Donald Trump, Twitter, 7/13/15]
Donald Trump: “Mexico is not our friend.” “They will pay for the wall. And the wall will go up and Mexico will start behaving. Mexico is not our friend.” [Fox News, 6/16/15]
Donald Trump: “Rodolfo Rosas Moya and his pals in Mexico owe me a lot of money. Disgusting & slow Mexico court system. Mexico is not a U.S. friend.” [Donald Trump, Twitter, 4/16/15]
Donald Trump: “They [Mexico] treat us like garbage at the border. They laugh at us.” “Two weeks ago, front page of the Wall Street Journal, big story on Mexico taking a tremendous — a billion-dollar car plant out of Tennessee. It was going to go to Tennessee, big German company. Was going to go to Tennessee, was all set. And then out of the blue, Mexico swiped it. They took it. They gave them all sorts of things. And now it’s being built in Mexico. More people employed. And then they treat us like garbage at the border. They laugh at us. They laugh at us.” [Trump remarks, FITN Republican Leadership Summit, 4/18/15]
Donald Trump appeared to indicate he could get congressional approval for “destroying Mexico.” TRUMP: They charge us tariffs. We don’t charge them because we’re stupid. They charge us. And the largest bank in the world is right under this floor. O’REILLY: Now you realize Congress is going to have to ok all this. They’re going to have to ok you destroying Mexico.They’re going to have to ok you for the tariff on China. TRUMP: Bill. O’REILLY: And you really think you’re going to get it through? TRUMP: Absolutely. I’ve been dealing with politicians all my life.” [Fox News, 6/17/15]
Donald Trump: “I want nothing to do with Mexico other than to build an impenetrable WALL.” “Mexico’s court system corrupt. I want nothing to do with Mexico other than to build an impenetrable WALL and stop them from ripping off U.S.” [Donald Trump, Twitter, 3/5/15]
Donald Trump: “Build a massive wall & deduct the costs from Mexican foreign aid.” “The border is wide open for cartels & terrorists. Secure our border now. Build a massive wall & deduct the costs from Mexican foreign aid!” [Donald Trump, Twitter, 3/30/15]
Donald Trump said his border wall with Mexico would help address the heroin epidemic in New Hampshire, because “you know where that stuff comes from.” “‘It’s amazing how many people bring that up,’ Trump answered. ‘I bet half the people have their hands up about heroin.’ Trump responded that he wants to take care of addicts using locally based clinics, and stop the source of the drug by walling off the border. ‘The problem of heroin in New Hampshire is unbelievable, it’s like an unbelievable problem that you have,’ Trump said. ‘And you know where that stuff comes from.’” [CBS, 11/11/15]
Donald Trump: “We have the anchor babies. I was right about the anchor babies. A woman’s pregnant, she steps across the border, she has a baby. Congratulations.” TRUMP: “We have the anchor babies. I was right about the anchor babies. A woman’s pregnant, she steps across the border, she has a baby. Congratulations. We take care of that baby for ninety years, or for however long the baby lives.” [Donald Trump, Town Hall, Nashua, NH, 1/29/16]
Donald Trump: “The illegals coming in are causing tremendous problems. In terms of crime, in terms of murder, in terms of rape.” TRUMP: “The illegals coming in are causing tremendous problems. In terms of crime, in terms of murder, in terms of rape, in terms of…” COOPER: I’m going to give you two studies. Northwestern University, cited by ‘The Washington Post,’ says essentially no correlation between illegal immigration and violent crime. Pew Research Center, using figures from the University of Massachusetts, found, quote, ‘the crime rate among first-generation immigrants, those who came to this country from somewhere else, significantly lower than the overall crime rate and that of the second generation.’” TRUMP: “If somebody is an illegal immigrant, they shouldn’t be here at all. There shouldn’t be any crime. They’re not supposed to be in our country. They’re not supposed to be — and I’m not just talking Mexico. They’re coming — excuse me, they’re coming from all over the world. I’m not just talking about Mexico.” [CNN, 7/8/15]
]]>Mexican political leaders have been remarkably blunt about how they feel about The Donald’s bigotry and insults. In fact, Trump’s bigoted rhetoric has drawn the strong condemnation of Mexico’s three most recent presidents. Peña Nieto has previously compared Trump’s candidacy to the rise of fascist dictators Benito Mussolini and Adolf Hitler. Peña Nieto’s immediate predecessor Felipe Calderon has gone even further, saying Trump is “exploiting feelings like Hitler did in his time.” And this morning on CNN’s New Day, former Mexican President Vicente Fox said that Trump “is not welcome to Mexico…We don’t like him. We don’t want him. We reject his message.”
And about that wall? Calderon has said, “we are not going to pay any single cent for such a stupid wall!” Fox was even clearer: “I am not going to pay for that [expletive] wall.”
Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto compared Donald Trump to Benito Mussolini and Adolf Hitler. “Asked about Trump, Peña Nieto complained to the Excelsior newspaper about ‘these strident expressions that seek to propose very simple solutions’ and said that sort of language has led to ‘very fateful scenes in the history of humanity.’ ‘That’s the way Mussolini arrived and the way Hitler arrived,’ he said.” [The Washington Post, 3/7/16; Excelsior, 3/7/16]
Former Mexican President Felipe Calderon compared Donald Trump to Adolf Hitler. “‘This logic of praising the white supremacy is not just anti-immigration,’ Calderon said. ‘He is acting and speaking out against immigrants that have a different skin color than he does, it is frankly racist and [he is] exploiting feelings like Hitler did in his time,’ Calderon said.” [The Guardian, 2/27/16]
Former Mexican President Vicente Fox said Donald Trump reminded him of Adolf Hitler. FOX: “He [Donald Trump] says he’s going to bring back America to what it was? That’s crazy. Never before America, the United States, was so big, so strong, so powerful, so successful as it is today. He’s going to take that nation back to the old days of conflict, war and everything. I mean, he reminds me of Hitler the way he’s starting to speaking.” [CNN’s Anderson Cooper 360, 2/26/16]
Former Mexican President Felipe Calderon: “Mexican people, we are not going to pay any single cent for such a stupid wall!” “‘Mexican people, we are not going to pay any single cent for such a stupid wall! And it’s going to be completely useless,’ Calderon said.” [CNBC, 2/8/16]
Former Mexican President Vicente Fox: “I am not going to pay for that f*cking wall.” Maria Bartiromo: “Which is why he thinks he’s going to be successful and Mexico is going to pay for the wall because he knows Mexico needs the U.S. when it comes to trade just the way the U.S. needs Mexico. Vincente Fox: “I have to say, we are not, I am not going to pay for that f*cking wall. I am not. And he should know that.” [Fox Business’s Mornings with Maria, 2/26/16]
Former Mexican President Vicente Fox: The U.S. “is going to fail if it goes into the hands of a crazy guy.” “Slamming Trump’s anti-immigration rhetoric and his campaign promise of building a wall at the U.S.-Mexico border, Fox urged Hispanics to ‘open their eyes.’ ‘Please, you Hispanics, Latinos in the U.S., open your eyes. It’s not to defend our race. Not to defend our creed. It’s to defend this very same nation that is hosting you. This nation is going to fail if it goes into the hands of a crazy guy,’ warned the former Mexican commander-in-chief.” [Fusion, 2/26/16]
Mexican Foreign Secretary Jose Antonio Meade remarked on ‘all the good things that Secretary Clinton has constructed for Mexico.’ Mexican Foreign Secretary Jose Antonio Meade: ‘Basically we’re wanting in this meeting to convey all the gratitude that we have for all the good things that Secretary Clinton has constructed for Mexico for the relationship. It’s a good time to take stock, it’s a good time to look where we are and what we can construct with her successor. But we basically wanted to thank her for what she has done for Mexico. She is very important and well loved.’ [Remarks with Mexican Foreign Secretary Jose Antonio Meade, state.gov, 1/30/13]
]]>“Tonight’s town hall will make clear, once again, that Trump is utterly unqualified to combat the threat of terrorism and defeat ISIS. Instead of laying out a plan to protect our country, Trump simply lied about his record on Iraq, refugees and the attack in San Bernardino. Luckily, he had Sean Hannity—the ultimate Trump whisperer—onstage eagerly explaining what The Donald was supposed to say. For once, Trump couldn’t get a word in, and Hannity even admitted, ‘I’m talking to you as if you aren’t here.’ So much for hearing Trump’s substantive plan to keep our country safe.
“The question now for the chaotic Trump campaign is this: how low will they go? Since the taping of this town hall yesterday, Trump has once again tried to reboot his campaign by bringing on widely-loathed Breitbart executive Steve Bannon. With Bannon onboard, Trump is set to sink further into the far-right swamp. The bigotry, falsehoods and hypocrisy from the Trump campaign simply will not stop.”
Donald Trump just proposed a purity test to enter the United States — one he and his supporters would likely fail. Despite speaking from a teleprompter, Trump’s speech was as mendacious, bizarre and bigoted as ever. Trump once again lied about his record of supporting the Iraq War and the intervention in Libya. His ‘extreme vetting’ proposal is simply a rebranding of his bigoted ban on Muslims. He claims he wants work with other countries to fight ISIS, but has spent the past year disparaging our closest allies and undermining the NATO alliance.
“Trump still has no detailed plan to keep America safe and no amount of teleprompter speeches can hide the fact he is utterly unfit to be Commander-in-Chief.
Mr. Trump claims he is not an isolationist and wants to ‘make America great again.’ It is hard to see how he achieves that when he describes a completely unhinged view of international engagement that denigrates Muslims and other foreigners and international organizations, including the United Nations. Mostly, his vision of cooperation with allies depends largely on how much they would pay the United States for protection.
AS DONALD Trump observed during a visit to The Post on Monday, we have been critical of his candidacy, so give him credit for agreeing to sit down with us and answer questions for more than an hour. Unfortunately, the visit provided no reassurance regarding Mr. Trump’s fitness for the presidency. ‘I’m not a radical person,’ he told us as he was leaving. But his answers left little doubt how radical a risk the nation would be taking in entrusting the White House to him.
Inexplicably, Trump declared that ‘America First’ would be the overarching theme of his administration. A non-interventionist approach might have its merits in certain situations. But the America First movement got its name espousing an isolationist approach at exactly the wrong moment, urging the United States to stay out of World War II as Adolf Hitler was rampaging through Europe.
Donald Trump’s Foreign Policy View “Denigrates Muslims and Other Foreigners and International Organizations”
“Mr. Trump claims he is not an isolationist and wants to ‘make America great again.’ It is hard to see how he achieves that when he describes a completely unhinged view of international engagement that denigrates Muslims and other foreigners and international organizations, including the United Nations. Mostly, his vision of cooperation with allies depends largely on how much they would pay the United States for protection.
Republican leaders have for years failed to think about much of anything beyond winning the next election. Year after year, the party’s candidates promised help for middle-class people who lost their homes, jobs and savings to recession, who lost limbs and well-being to war, and then did next to nothing. That Mr. Trump was able to enthrall voters by promising simply to ‘Make America Great Again’ — but offering only xenophobic, isolationist or fantastical ideas — is testimony to how thoroughly they reject the politicians who betrayed them.
Donald J. Trump called on Monday for the United States to bar all Muslims from entering the country until the nation’s leaders can ‘figure out what is going on’ after the terrorist attacks in San Bernardino, Calif., an extraordinary escalation of rhetoric aimed at voters’ fears about members of the Islamic faith. A prohibition of Muslims – an unprecedented proposal by a leading American presidential candidate, and an idea more typically associated with hate groups – reflects a progression of mistrust that is rooted in ideology as much as politics.
The New York Times’ Thomas Friedman:
By alienating the Muslim world with his call for a ban on Muslims entering America, is acting as the Islamic State’s secret agent.” “Trump, by alienating the Muslim world with his call for a ban on Muslims entering America, is acting as the Islamic State’s secret agent. ISIS wants every Muslim in America (and Europe) to feel alienated. If that happens, ISIS won’t need to recruit anyone. People will will just act on their own. ISIS and Islamic extremism are Muslim problems that can only be fixed by Muslims. Lumping all Muslims together as our enemies will only make that challenge harder.
NBC News’ Richard Engel: Donald Trump’s Muslim ban “feeds into the ISIS narrative.”
“ISIS says, join the ISIS cause because the world is against Muslims and we, ISIS, are defending Muslims. So, here comes Mr. Trump and says, ISIS is right. Join the ISIS team or join other radicals, or you`re going to be deported, or you`re going to be kicked out of the country. [MSNBC’s The Rachel Maddow Show, 12/7/15]
While Trump assumes that stopping Muslims from entering the U.S. would boost domestic security, experts say such rhetoric bolsters the message of extremist groups like ISIS and, in correlation, increases animosity and potential retribution attacks against the U.S.
Donald Trump’s call for closing America’s door to Muslims is opening a window of opportunity for groups like ISIS.” “Donald Trump’s call for closing America’s door to Muslims is opening a window of opportunity for groups like ISIS, counter-terrorism experts and human rights advocates say.
If the slayings in Orlando were a leadership test for would-be presidents, Donald Trump failed spectacularly.” “Yesterday offered Trump an opportunity of sorts. With the nation stunned by such senseless brutality, the Republican candidate, who speaks frequently about his ability to bring people together, could have taken the high ground and responded to the bloodshed with dignity and empathy. This was Trump’s chance to show that he can dial down the clownish antics, recognize the anguish Americans were feeling, and show that deep down, beneath the television personality, there’s still some honor and decency. Instead, Trump did the opposite. He just couldn’t help himself. If the slayings in Orlando were a leadership test for would-be presidents, Donald Trump failed spectacularly.
The Washington Post editorial board:
He should inspire fear that someone so lacking in judgment and restraint could acquire the powers of the presidency.” “Mr. Trump degrades people, serially insulting women, Latinos, Muslims, immigrants, Jews and others. He erodes the discourse, frequently and flagrantly lying about things such as whether ‘scores’ of terrorists have recently entered the United States as migrants — one of numerous false claims he made in a speech on foreign policy Wednesday. He proposes undermining foundational civic institutions such as the free press. He shows contempt for the separation of powers by threatening the speaker of the House. Where his policy agenda is not thin, it is scary, such as his call to ban Muslims from entering the United States. In short, he should inspire fear that someone so lacking in judgment and restraint could acquire the powers of the presidency.
Former Gov. Mitt Romney described Donald Trump as “unfit” to be president.
‘Friends warned me, ‘Don’t speak out, stay out of the fray,’ because criticizing Mr. Trump will only help him by giving him someone else to attack,’ Mr. Romney said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal—the first time the 2012 GOP nominee discussed in depth his reasons for going after Mr. Trump. ‘They were right. I became his next target, and the incoming attacks have been constant and brutal.’ He said he had no illusions he would alter Mr. Trump’s progress toward the nomination or spark a meaningful independent candidacy. His motivation: ‘I wanted my grandkids to see that I simply couldn’t ignore what Mr. Trump was saying and doing, which revealed a character and temperament unfit for the leader of the free world.’
Tragedy after tragedy, Trump has quickly pivoted from the appearance of mourning to self-aggrandizement or petty attacks.” “Trump’s real-time Twitter reaction to tragedy offers a rare and telling glimpse into the mind of the candidate. Tragedy after tragedy, Trump has quickly pivoted from the appearance of mourning to self-aggrandizement or petty attacks.
The Huffington Post Headline: “Donald Trump Tweets Disgusting Humble Brag After Orlando Massacre”
Donald Trump “faced a backlash” after he congratulated himself for being right on terrorism in the wake of the Orlando massacre. “Donald Trump faced a backlash on Twitter after tweeting his response to the deadly Orlando shooting Sunday morning, when he acknowledged ‘congrats’ for ‘being right’ on terrorism.
New York Times editorial board:
Mr. Trump has demonstrated limited knowledge of foreign trade policy, Middle East issues or geography.” “The campaign promises no less than ‘a clear, consistent long-term foreign policy for making America safe and prosperous.’ That’s sure to be an interesting test, given that until now Mr. Trump has demonstrated limited knowledge of foreign trade policy, Middle East issues or geography. A sometime adviser, Roger Stone, said in an interview released Monday that the presidency ‘is show business’ to Mr. Trump, who Mr. Stone said lacks the bandwidth to read a 40-page briefing book. Whatever persona or good manners Mr. Trump chooses to display from now on, he can’t hide his unfitness for the presidency.
National Review Headline: “Trump’s ‘Foreign Policy’: Incoherent and Shallow”
Fresh off a 5-0 primary romp, Donald Trump — self-described GOP ‘presumptive frontrunner’ — unveiled what was supposed to be a ‘serious’ foreign-policy address, quite unlike his typical off-the-top-of-the-head ramblings. Feel free to start laughing, and then to plunge into depression that, despite best efforts, this man who could become commander in chief maintained his standing as a vacuous ignoramus. Trump’s 40-minute speech lived down to expectations, and then some. His nostrums for the world stage were incoherent, internally inconsistent and ultimately dangerous.
Calling this speech an incoherent mess seems almost too simple. It was a Frankenstein’s monster of disjointedness, with bits and pieces of neoconservative ideology, isolationism, jingoism, and conventional wisdom dredged up from the fever swamps of the RedState comments section, understandable only to those who speak fluent wing-nut, all of it grafted onto Trump’s paternalistic, outer-borough tough guy shtick.
ThinkProgress stated Donald Trump had “resigned acceptance to the spread of nuclear weapons.”
For one, he has put forward the idea that, despite U.S. efforts to prevent further nuclear proliferation, it is probably ‘going to happen anyway.’ Trump has suggested that the U.S. is currently too economically and militarily weak to effectively deter allied nations facing regional threats (such as Japan, South Korea, and Saudi Arabia) from developing nuclear weapons of their own. And, he told the New York Times Editorial Board that if the U.S. ‘keeps on its path, its current path of weakness, they’re going to want to have that anyway, with or without me discussing it.’ Arguably worse than his claims of resigned acceptance to the spread of nuclear weapons has been his active support of the further development of such weapons, as well as multiple statements suggesting how he would consider using them.
The Nation said Donald Trump’s foreign policy would leave America “weak and isolated.”
Seeking to ‘make America great again,’ it seems instead likely that Trump would accelerate China’s rise to superpower status and abandon or antagonize US allies, leaving America weak and isolated, its economy devastated by trade wars.
Equally bizarre was Mr. Trump’s casual attitude in endorsing the idea of Japan and South Korea developing their own nuclear weapons, which would reverse America’s longstanding efforts to prevent the number of nuclear-armed states from expanding.
Trump’s multiplying Republican apologists do not deny the self-evident — that he is as clueless regarding everything as he is about the nuclear triad. These invertebrate Republicans assume that as president he would surround himself with people unlike himself — wise and temperate advisers. So, we should wager everything on the hope that the man who says his ‘number one’ foreign policy adviser is ‘myself’ (because ‘I have a very good brain’) will succumb to humility and rely on people who actually know things.
Washington, DC – This evening, George W. Jeb Bush will offer remarks about U.S. foreign policy on “radical Islamic terrorism” including the rise of ISIS.
“If Jeb Bush wants to spread blame for the situation in the Middle East, he doesn’t need to look much further than his next family reunion,” said Brad Woodhouse, President of Correct The Record. “Jeb championed former President George W. Bush’s destructive foreign policy from Day One, from the invasion of Iraq based on faulty intelligence to the strategy regarding ISIS.
“Jeb must have gotten the Bush family discount on foreign policy advisors. He’s stocked his foreign policy team with a who’s-who of neoconservative, throwback, Bush foreign policy veterans including James Baker, Paul Wolfowitz and John Negroponte—folks who have turned breaking the Middle East into a science.
“Recently Jeb confirmed he would have invaded Iraq, even knowing what we know now, and then he reversed his position after days of agonizing confusion. Last week, Jeb claimed he wouldn’t put ‘boots on the ground’ to fight ISIS… but he would send U.S. special forces. Would he make them go barefoot?
“Jeb will swing for the fences on foreign policy tonight in order to distract from his inexperience and blatant hypocrisy. We at Correct The Record say it’s time for Jeb Bush to stop treating U.S. foreign policy like it began in 2009 and begin to acknowledge that his brother broke Iraq.”
19 of the 21 people who advise Jeb Bush on foreign policy “worked in the administrations of his father or brother.” “Former Florida governor Jeb Bush will announce his foreign policy vision in a speech Wednesday in Chicago. Accompanying that speech is a rollout of a slate of experts who will help guide the candidate on foreign policy issues. If Bush’s goal is to present himself as his ‘own man,’ that list of advisers undermines the point somewhat: 19 of the 21 people on it worked in the administrations of his father or brother.” [Washington Post, 2/18/15]
Jeb Bush inherited “the same advisory team” on foreign policy as his brother and father. “Bush has access to a lot of people by virtue of his family’s long history in Washington. That can be a mixed blessing. ‘Each president learns from those who came before — their principles . . . their adjustments,’ Bush plans to say in Chicago. ‘One thing we know is this: Every president inherits a changing world . . . and changing circumstances.’ And, on occasion, they inherit the same advisory team.” [Washington Post, 2/18/15]
Correct The Record is a strategic research and rapid response team designed to defend Hillary Clinton from baseless attacks.
Correct The Record ∙ http://correct2016.wpengine.com/∙ Facebook ∙ @CorrectRecord
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