The Trump Doctrine, our president’s unique brand foreign policy, is alive and well:
President Trump, arriving in Japan on Thursday, opened his latest foreign trip much as he did his last one, lashing out at America’s allies, including his hosts, just before sitting down with them to talk through differences on issues like security and trade. In the hours before and after leaving for an international summit meeting, Mr. Trump assailed Japan, Germany and India.
….By contrast, Mr. Trump said nothing critical about the fourth leader on his diplomatic schedule for Friday, President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia….Nor did he say anything negative about his breakfast date for Saturday morning, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia.
For years, Republicans insisted that President Obama was harsh toward our friends and friendly with our enemies. This was nonsense driven mostly by Obama’s neutral attitude toward Israel, but now we have a president who really and truly does this. But Trump likes Israel, so I guess it’s all OK.
And speaking of Israel, I’ve noticed some befuddlement over the fact that Cory Booker and Amy Klobuchar were lukewarm toward the Iran deal at last night’s debate. This was one of President Obama’s premier achievements, so why the shade? The answer, I think, is that Booker and Klobuchar are both strong supporters of Israel, and Israel never liked the Iran deal. Does anybody have a better explanation?
