Round One to Hillary (but not by a knockout)
The candidates for the White House went head to head for the first time and clashed over issues from ISIL to Iran. Hillary Clinton landed most blows but Donald Trump is still in the ring. Taimur Khan reports
ABU DHABI // For unsettled American allies and partners around the world anxiously watching the home stretch of the US presidential elections, Hillary Clinton’s strong performance in the first debate will probably bring some relief.
In perhaps the most anticipated debate in contemporary US presidential history, Donald Trump did little to clarify his positions on foreign policy topics.
The candidates clashed over global issues during the portion on “keeping America secure”, including the fight against ISIL, the Iran nuclear deal, cyber security and Russia.
The two are in a virtual tie in the latest polls, with Mr Trump inching ahead of his Democratic rival in the key swing state of Ohio.
Political observers were nearly unanimous in their verdict that Mrs Clinton dominated the first of three debates, but it remains unclear how much the showdown at Hofstra University in New York swayed undecided voters.
Mr Trump started the debate, which mainly focused on domestic economic issues, in a staid and controlled fashion, but he quickly reverted to the off-the-cuff style that has in part propelled him to the brink of the presidency by appealing to a base of disaffected white voters. But Mrs Clinton’s prepared and deliberate debate style that focused on policy details while also attacking Mr Trump led to the Republican candidate soon losing his temper and his way.
Mrs Clinton scored points over issues such as his refusal to disclose tax returns, support for the Iraq war and his racist political tactics, such as questioning Barack Obama’s citizenship. In response, Mr Trump launched highly personal attacks, questioning her stamina and lauding himself for not bringing up her family.
Mrs Clinton showed that she could deviate from her studied answers and counterpunch on the fly, at one point saying: “I think Donald just criticised me for preparing for this debate. And, yes, I did. And you know what else I prepared for? I prepared to be president. And I think that’s a good thing.” Mr Trump struggled the most on foreign policy, dodging some of the moderator’s questions, while diverging on unrelated tangents, and often contradicted himself. When Mrs Clinton said he initially supported the invasion of Iraq in 2003, which he did in a 2002 interview, he berated the “mainstream media nonsense put out by her” and questioned why no reporters had tried to interview Fox News’s Sean Hannity, who he said could confirm that he opposed the war. Mr Trump also sought to tie Mrs Clinton to the rise of ISIL in Iraq. He claimed the extremist group “wouldn’t have even been formed if you left some troops behind” in Iraq while she was secretary of state during Mr Obama’s first term. He added that the US should have taken Iraq’s oil, which would have prevented the formation of ISIL. His underlying message was that Mrs Clinton represents the tried and failed US political class that is responsible for what he claimed was a country in terminal decline, powerless in the face of domestic and global challenges such as terrorism. “You’re telling the enemy everything you want to do. No wonder you’ve been fighting ISIS your entire adult life,” he said, defending the ambiguity of his own plans.
Mrs Clinton laid out her strategy to defeat the group, which was similar to Mr Obama’s current approach, although she said she would intensify air strikes and “support our Arab and Kurdish partners to be able to actually take out ISIS in Raqqa”. She called for working with Middle East and European governments on an “intelligence surge”.
Mrs Clinton called Mr Trump’s baiting of Muslims during his campaign dangerously counterproductive. “Donald has consistently insulted Muslims abroad, Muslims at home, when we need to be cooperating with Muslim nations and with the American Muslim community,” she said. Mr Trump said he did not want to give away the details of his plan, but said he wanted to work with Nato and Middle East partners to “knock the hell” out of ISIL and “do it fast”.
His position on Nato seemed to be a step back from his criticism of the treaty members, who he said should pay the US more or risk Washington’s withdrawal from Nato.
Mrs Clinton, by contrast, sought to stress her foreign policy experience and reassure allies.
Mr Trump’s performance will have done nothing to reassure Washington’s traditional partners and allies in the Arabian Gulf and the wider region. “We’ve been working with them for many years and we have the greatest mess that anyone’s ever seen,” he said.
“You look at the Middle East, it’s a total mess.” He also reiterated his call for US partners around the world to pay the US or risk losing its security cooperation, including Saudi Arabia.
Donald consistently insults Muslims, at home and abroad, when we need to be cooperating Hillary Clinton The two are in a virtual tie in the latest polls, with Mr Trump inching ahead in the key swing state of Ohio Look at the Middle East, it’s a total mess, under your direction to a large extent Donald Trump