Tag: Trump weakening America

Trump ‘is aiding and abetting Putin’s efforts’: HR McMaster

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During an appearance on MSNBC this Thursday, former National Security advisor to President Trump, H.R. McMaster, was asked if President Trump is posing a greater threat to the 2020 election than Vladimir Putin.

McMaster said that he agrees Trump is “aiding an abetting Putin’s efforts” by not directly “calling out Putin for what he’s doing.”

The retired lieutenant general also addressed what many say is President Trump’s refusal to directly condemn white supremacist groups, saying he “missed a huge opportunity” and that it should be “super easy to condemn white supremacists.” Continue reading.

Tumultuous week in US rattles allies around the globe

The Hill logoU.S. allies around the world have reacted with shock at the death of George Floyd and President Trump’s threat to use military force to crack down on protests, dealing another blow to their already bruised relationship with Washington.

Their alarm was illustrated by a press conference Tuesday by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, held one day after Trump used pepper balls and smoke bombs to disperse a crowd protesting Floyd’s death in front of the White House. Asked about his response to the forcible removal of demonstrators, Trudeau paused for 21 seconds before answering.

“We all watch in horror and consternation at what is going on in the United States,” he told reporters. “It is time to pull people together.” Continue reading.

Trump’s Gift to Putin

The President’s Privatized Foreign Policy Is a Boon for Russia

For decades, if not centuries, scholars have debated which matters more in international affairs: structural forces, such as the relative power between states, or the ideas and decisions of individual leaders. But at least as far as the United States is concerned, President Donald Trump may put the debate to rest.

After a slow start, Trump has affected almost every facet of U.S. foreign policy. And the story to date is not an inspiring one. Trump has personalized, privatized, and deinstitutionalized foreign policy to the detriment of the national interest. That trend has accelerated in recent months, culminating in two disastrous missteps vis-à-vis Ukraine and Syria. In the process, the American public has suffered, U.S. allies have lost, and U.S. adversaries have gained—none more so than Russian President Vladimir Putin. Continue reading “Trump’s Gift to Putin”

The Pentagon faces a massive purge after the Gallagher affair

AlterNet logoThere are two misconceptions about President Donald Trump. First, that he runs a totally chaotic administration and there’s no method to his madness. Second, that he is a great supporter of the military. He himself frequently brags that the U.S. military has been rebuilt and is the strongest it has ever been.

The reality is different — and far darker. Trump is degrading and dishonoring the U.S. military. What’s more, he is doing so in a deliberate and systematic way.

That is why the news about Trump intervening in the case of convicted Navy SEAL Eddie Gallagher, overriding his commanding officers and ordering the Pentagon to let him keep his SEAL Trident, the Special Warfare insignia, is so important. What Trump is really signaling with this move goes far beyond pardoning a war criminal.

View the complete November 29 article by Alexei Bayer from The Globalist on the AlterNet website here.

Red flags raised after Trump officials gutted the staff overseeing $1 billion in foreign aid

AlterNet logoIraq is one of the top recipients of American assistance, and the U.S. foreign aid agency manages more than $1 billion in projects there, including funding for Iraqi religious minorities pushed by Vice President Mike Pence. But increasingly, the agency doesn’t have people on the ground to make sure the money is being well-spent.

The U.S. Agency for International Development has been forced to cut nearly 80% of its non-Iraqi staff in Iraq in the last year, even as the agency funds large, ambitious and complex aid projects there. A critical government watchdog report released this week said USAID officials reported the cuts “have had significant adverse effects” on the oversight and management of grants.

As ProPublica detailed this month, Pence’s office has pressured USAID to support local groups representing Iraqi minorities, particularly Christians. The watchdog report released this week said, in the context of the staff reductions and uncertainty, overseeing local groups “is particularly challenging given that awards to local organizations require increased involvement.”

View the complete November 22 article by Yeganeh Torbati from ProPublica on the AlterNet website here.