The Trump administration struggles to defend its foreign policy unduly

The first clue of a turbulent day in US foreign policy appeared in a statement issued by e-mail Wednesday afternoon. Just a week after President Trump invited Russian President Vladimir Putin to a second summit in Washington this fall, the White House announced that the meeting was postponed. "The President believes that the next bilateral meeting with President Putin should take place after the end of the witch hunt in Russia, so we agree that it will be after the first of the year", said Councilor John Bolton. In a statement,

the administration had been criticized by both Republicans and Democrats over the invitation, especially when the details are still insufficient on what happened at the first summit in Helsinki on 16 July. Putin's proposed visit to the Oval Office would also have been on the eve of mid-term elections in the United States, where the Russians have again been ingested. Last week, the director of national intelligence, Dan Coats, warned against "the constant and sustained efforts" of the Russians to "undermine our democracy". More broadly, questions have proliferated since Helsinki and other recent Trump summits with North Korea. -7 economic allies, and the other twenty-eight NATO countries about Trump's undisciplined foreign policy. Washington's optics are not good

Minutes after Bolton's declaration, Bob Corker, a Tennessee Republican and chairman of the Senate's External Relations Committee, reprimanded President Trump during a speech in Washington. a hearing with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. The president had "appeared submissive and deferential" with Putin, Corker said. He deliberately "used false information to transform public opinion" against the military alliance of NATO cornerstone of US security. During a meeting with Kim Jong Un of North Korea, Mr. Corker said the president had legitimized "one of the most ruthless leaders on the planet". He had also taken action against the fundamental principles of the world order. For months, Trump has "upset our friends and appeased those who clearly wish us sickness." The Helsinki summit is "perhaps the most troubling example of this emerging reality," he said. declared. , who is retiring, adds: "It seems that the White House wakes up every morning and catches up with it as it goes." The leading US lawmakers, he warns, "are full of serious doubts" about the conduct of US foreign policy. He appealed to Pompeo saying, "Help us to convince ourselves that the White House knows what they do" and "I can not say it more forcefully. We really need a clear understanding of what is going on.

Senator Bob Menendez, the Democrat on the Senate Committee, insisted that, ten days after the summit in Helsinki, the United States. Lawmakers had heard more about what happened in the private session between Trump and Putin than Russian statements that White House information sessions. "We do not know what the truth is because no one else was in the room where it happened," said the New Jersey Democrat. In three hours of grilling, Pompeo has repeatedly claimed that the president had informed him completely. But he offered little ideas and dodged direct questions about exactly what Trump and Putin discussed.

The White House seems to be struggling to prove that it has a coherent foreign policy. An hour before Pompeo testified on the Hill, the State Department issued the "Crimean Declaration." The United States, said, will not recognize the strategic annexation of Crimea, in 2014, after its invasion of Ukraine. Citing the United Nations Charter dating back seven decades, the State Department noted: "No country can change the borders of another by force."

This statement contradicts what Trump has suggested several times since his first public election in 2016 At last month's G-7 summit in Canada, he reportedly stated that the majority of Crimean residents "would prefer to be with Russia".

The administration is also mocking the Russian elections in the United States. On Sunday night, the president tweeted that allegations of Moscow's interference in the 2016 US elections are "a huge hoax" – rejecting the unanimous conclusions of US intelligence agencies and the Coats statement last week. On Wednesday, in his testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Pompeo insisted that Trump fully accept the intelligence reports on Russian interference in 2016. He has "a complete and correct understanding of what's going on." has passed, "said Pompeo. "I know, I have informed him for more than a year," when he was head of the CIA

. Now the highest American diplomat, Pompeo claimed that the administration had taken a "staggering" series of punitive actions against Russia, including deportation. sixty Russian spies, closing Russian consulates, and selling defensive military equipment to Ukraine. The president is "well aware of the challenges that Russia poses" today, said Pompeo. (Neither the Secretary nor the drafters of the State Department took the erroneous reference in his opening statement to more than 200 US sanctions imposed "on Russian entities and individuals in the Trump administration . ")

appearing more severe with respect to Putin might actually be a response to Russian reluctance. On Tuesday, the Kremlin showed lukewarm interest for the invitation to a second summit. "It seems to me that, for the moment, it would be good to wait until the dust settles before having a professional discussion of all the issues," said Yury Ushakov, foreign policy advisor. from Putin to the Interfax news agency. "But not now."

Russia is not Trump's only foreign policy problem facing issues. On Wednesday, Pompeo had a difficult exchange with several senators on issues ranging from Syria to arms control treaties. The Administration has a hard time proving that its bold decision to meet with the North Korean leader in Singapore last month is leading to progress. Until now, there is still no formal agreement on what "denuclearization" really means. Boosting the fact that North Korea continues to advance its nuclear capabilities, Pompeo refused to answer the question – or to say publicly that Pyongyang has at least frozen its weapons program. Massachusetts Democrat Edward Markey accused that "there is no verifiable evidence" that North Korea is keeping its promise.

"I am afraid that the United States, the Trump administration, will not be taken for a ride," said Markey Pompeo, who has traveled to Pyongyang three times since Easter to take the lead in diplomacy, replied: "Do not be scared, senator." But he offered little detail to counter the White House's frustration with North Korea's tactics – after almost three hours, here's my delivery. " said Menendez at the end of the session. "This administration is becoming less and less transparent, it is not transparent as to what is happening at these summits … I really do not believe, Mr. Secretary, that you know what has happened. spent during the two-hour conversation with President Putin, and I really do not know much about the summit after sitting here for three hours as before. "

The Administration did interim progress on Wednesday to avoid a trade war with America's closest allies in Europe. Surprisingly, Trump and the President of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, announced new negotiations on trade barriers and a commitment, for the moment, to postpone new tariffs. "While we are working on this, we will not go against the spirit of this agreement unless one of the parties ends the negotiation," he said. Trump at a meeting organized with Juncker

. Putin, however, the agreement with the European Commission on tariffs contains a great idea, but is still short of details-with difficult negotiations ahead. The Administration still has to sign a final agreement to solve any major problem.