His own worst enemy
The President Trump set to speak to the United Nations Tuesday must demonstrate the ability not only to enrage America’s enemies, but to engage global allies in constructive common cause. Thus far in his still-young administration, the President has proven himself to be an expert at the former, a novice at the latter.
In April, after Syria’s Bashar Assad used chemical weapons against his people, Trump ordered up a focused attack on a military installation — rightly winning praise from leaders across the world.
In August, as North Korea’s Kim Jong Un rattled sabers and tested ballistic missiles, Trump and his UN Ambassador Nikki Haley impressively won unanimous Security Council support for tough sanctions that are, as we speak, pinching the regime in Pyongyang.
Both reactions demonstrated a healthy focus on punishing rogue regimes for bad behavior.
But mercurial Trump, bowing in far too many ways to his isolationist-nationalist base, has proven himself less capable of wielding U.S. influence when problems are more complex.
Even as he continues to express unfounded optimism about the prospects for Israeli-Palestinian peace, Iran continues to destabilize its region.
Tehran is arming enemies of Israel; threatening key shipping lanes; and using its militias to escalate sectarian tensions in Syria and Iraq.
Trump, who has been obsessively focused on unraveling the Iran deal, must let it stand for now and work more vigorously with Europe and Mideast allies to pressure the mullahs to stop making bloody mischief.
That task and others are made more difficult given that Trump has impulsively backed out of the hard-won Paris climate accord, creating a deep and unnecessary rift with key partners.
By pulling out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership and threatening trade wars north, south, east and west, he has squandered U.S. economic influence.
He has routinely undercut his own secretary of state, muddying America’s message, and has plans to decimate that department’s workforce.
His soft spot for Russia’s Vladimir Putin has weakened NATO and distorted priorities the world over.
All the while, Trump continues to complicate sensitive diplomacy through a steady barrage of undisciplined, often ad hominem tweets.
Which means even an exemplary UN speech can be quickly upended by incoherent and impulsive social media proclamations. Just watch.