[ad_1]
HELSINKI (AP) – Many US presidents have created turmoil in their travels abroad, but not as much as President Donald Trump
The tumultuous journey of the president through the Europe, according to historians, has broken the conventions of American leaders.
Mr. Trump's approach to foreign policy "America at first" seemed to him to accept the word of a hostile power over his own intelligence agencies, insulting him. its allies and sowing doubts about its commitment to the NATO alliance. "Never has a president gone abroad and not only made speeches to our NATO allies, but also embarrbaded them," said Russian expert William Pomeranz , Deputy Director of the Kennan Institute at the Wilson Center. "We have never made our president leave for a tour abroad and categorize our allies as enemies, and our president has never organized a joint press conference with a Russian leader where he blamed both sides for his point of view. "
While former presidents have had difficult trips abroad and have been criticized for their highs with Soviet leaders, Trump's behavior has little parallel, in the opinion of presidential historians and long-time observers of Russia.
Franklin Roosevelt was accused of "selling" to Joseph Stalin at the Yalta conference in 1945, John F. Kennedy and his collaborators admitted that he had not been prepared for his 1961 summit in Vienna with Nikita Khrushchev, the Reykjavik summit between Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev in 1986 was seen at the time to have succeeded at the ec and George W. Bush was mocked for telling reporters in 2001 after meeting Putin that he had "looked man in the eye" and "found him very outspoken and dignified.
Trump's trip was different.
"Frankly, I do not think these American presidents went in pursuit of the security interests of the United States because they were supported by the Soviet leader that they met," said Alina Polyakova, Foreign Policy Officer at the Brookings Institution. "I think even the meeting of President George W. Bush, where he had this famous quote to look in the eyes of Putin and see in his soul – this summit eclipses that of a thousand thousand."
Indeed, even before leaving Washington, Trump made it clear that he wanted to fight. He criticized NATO members, the decades-old military alliance, for not spending enough on defense and suggested that he would no longer be interested in "paying for protection European ". In Brussels, he went after German Chancellor Angela Merkel, claiming that Germany was "totally controlled" by Russia and asked later on Twitter, "What's the use of NATO?" . The summit ended with a proclamation by the president that NATO was stronger than ever, claiming that he had obtained new commitments in defense spending, which was challenged more later by the participants
. , UK His first official visit was overshadowed by the fallout from the rhetorical grenade that he had dropped on British Prime Minister Theresa May before his arrival. In a tabloid interview, he criticized May's Brexit plans, said that he might no longer be open to a trade deal with the UK, and said that one of the political rivals of May would be an excellent prime minister.
Then came another interview, this one from one of his golf courses in Scotland, in which Trump categorized the European Union as a geopolitical "foe".
Nothing, however, had prepared the world for Trump's comments in Helsinki after hours of meetings with Russian President Vladimir Putin, whom the government, US intelligence officials have concluded, interfered in the 2016 elections, hacked e-mails from the Democratic Party and disseminated them. Beside a man accused of complicity in an attack on the very foundation of American democracy, Trump said his intelligence "think it's Russia, I have President Putin, he just said that it was not Russia, I say that, I do not see why it would be.It also attacked his Justice Department, calling his investigation into Russia's efforts and the potential collusion. with Trump's campaign of "disaster for our country."
An astonishing comment by an American president.hours later accusing a grammatical glitch.But he did not withdraw from it. a number of his other comments giving credence to the denials of Putin's electoral interference
"Trump 0 – Putin 1", made the front page of the Finnish newspaper Kauppalehti
Douglas Brinkley, presidential historian. at Rice University compared Trump to "a tau water bearing his own porcelain shop with him. "
" Just standing and selling your country on foreign soil in front of your opponent – there is no precedent for such shameful and irrational behavior Pomeranz said that Trump had itself done political damage by suggesting that both sides were responsible for the Russian investigation that harmed US relations with Moscow, as Trump did when he blamed both sides in responding to the violent white supremacy. protests in Charlottesville, Virginia.
Pomeranz said the damage caused by Trump in describing the EU "
" I think that's what will be remembered this week, "he said
___
Follow Colvin on Twitter at https: // twitter. com / colvinj
[ad_2]
Source link
