To claim that Donald Trump knows absolutely nothing about foreign relations is a major understatement. Saying that he “knows more than the generals,” or our diplomats, doesn’t make it a fact. Trump believes in a policy of isolationism; his only concern is financial reform at the cost of losing our friends around the world and placing them in perilous situations.
Trump believes that we should remove our military presence from all nations, including those who are in danger from our enemies. He had this to say about the 28,000 troops we have in South Korea.
“And we’ve got our soldiers sitting there watching missiles go up. And you say to yourself, ‘Oh, that’s interesting.’ Now we’re protecting Japan because Japan is a natural location for North Korea. So we are protecting them, and you say to yourself, ‘Well, what are we getting out of this?’”
I must ask, and I mean this honestly; is Trump suicidal? Has he no concern for the safety of our nation? He is obviously disinterested in the fate of our friends.
Trump says that we must “deal” with our allies and demand that they pay for our protection. He just doesn’t get it. That said, I guarantee that he will support the same bloated defense budget, most of which is wasted, as his Republican friends.
I must admit that he has a small, valid point. We have unnecessary bases in nations which have no need for them, including France, Italy, and Germany. But that’s not what he’s referring to.
When New York Times writer David Sanger asked him about the attempted coup in Turkey, Trump said that he admired President Erdogan for “turning it around;” supporting his actions without being aware of Erdogan’s despotic rule. But when Sanger asked about the reported 50,000 people who are now incarcerated, including educators, violating their civil rights, Trump offered a typical Trump response and talked around the issue.
“I think right now when it comes to civil liberties, our country has a lot of problems, and I think it’s very hard for us to get involved in other countries when we don’t know what we are doing and we can’t see straight in our own country. We have tremendous problems when you have policemen being shot in the streets, when you have riots, when you have Ferguson. When you have Baltimore. When you have all of the things that are happening in this country — we have other problems, and I think we have to focus on those problems. When the world looks at how bad the United States is, and then we go and talk about civil liberties, I don’t think we’re a very good messenger.”
Once again Trump openly displayed his racism by attacking Black Lives Matter, without directly naming the activist organization.
Trump offers no facts for his rants. What may be most frightening is the fact that he will not listen to anyone else. Throughout the interview, Sanger asked Trump about meetings he had with experienced diplomats, and said he disagreed with them.
We’ve already seen that his running mate, Mike Pence, is no more than an attempt to gain votes from conservatives and evangelicals. On “60 Minutes” Pence was allowed to speak less than 10 percent of the time. He would not be a party of a Trump Administration; he would be a tool for Trump to play with.
He obviously won’t need a cabinet; Trump will be a fascist dictator.
Op-Ed
By James Turnage
The Truth With No Restrictions 