Trump’s troubling choices
The president-elect is not inspiring confidence
Important developments are underway around the world, including the Italian referendum, the Austrian presidential elections and, in the United States, the decision by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to back off further confrontation with Native Americans over the Dakota pipeline, but considering some of the nominations and appointments being made by President-elect Donald J. Trump, it would be negligent not to comment on them.
Probably the most nakedly dangerous, as yet largely unremarked in the media, is Mr. Trump’s nomination of Elaine L. Chao, the wife of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, as secretary of transportation. That is because it might be intended to inoculate Mr. Trump against any attempt to impeach him.
Given Mr. Trump’s many conflicts of interest, it likely won’t take long for some members of Congress to try to have him removed from office. The process begins with impeachment by the House of Representatives, followed by conviction by the Senate. Employing the presidency for personal gain is a clear reason for impeachment, and Mr. Trump seems likely to fall victim to this charge sooner or later.
Republicans in Congress will be reluctant to seek Mr. Trump’s impeachment — no matter what he does — given their contentment at having at least a nominal Republican in the White House. The presence of Mr. McConnell’s wife in the Cabinet might serve to mobilize Mr. McConnell and other senators to work against any movement to impeach Mr. Trump. It is a hard way of looking at Ms. Chao’s nomination, but it is a problem. To prevent the development of that scenario, her nomination should not go forward.
Other scary appointments include that of Steven Mnuchin, a 17-year veteran of the notorious Wall Street firm Goldman Sachs, as treasury secretary. I suppose we’ll be asked to believe that the leopard will change its spots and that Mr. Mnuchin will henceforth advocate for the “forgotten people” of the Rust Belt and Appalachia who voted for Mr. Trump in hopes of change.
Wilbur L. Ross, nominated to be secretary of commerce, has a long history of vulture capitalism — taking over failing companies, eliminating jobs and squeezing out their assets. Here, too, we can hope that he will have seen the errors of his previous ways, saving rather than destroying American jobs.
Two more troubling choices for Mr. Trump’s team are retired Lt. Gen. Michael T. Flynn as national security adviser and retired Gen. James N. Mattis as secretary of defense.
Gen. Flynn has made clear in his previous posts that he favors the United States going to war with Iran. He reportedly even tried, unsuccessfully, to cook the intelligence when he was director of the Defense Intelligence Agency to tie Iran to the Benghazi incident in Libya.
America does not need a war with Iran. We already have wars going in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Syria and Yemen. If Mr. Trump is going to have one leftover nickel to spend on America’s infrastructure, which would create jobs at home, and other promised endeavors, we need fewer wars, not more. As things stand now, to avoid a war, the United States, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United Kingdom are proceeding with a step-bystep process by which economic sanctions are being lifted on Iran as it dismantles the facilities it would need to build nuclear weapons.
Gen. Flynn’s appointment brings to mind Americans’ eerie recollections of the George W. Bush administration cranking up a war with Iraq to assure the re-election of Mr. Bush in 2004 as a wartime president. We will not want to see a repeat of that, organized by Gen. Flynn, as the 2020 elections approach.
As for Gen. Mattis, the soundly based principle of maintaining civilian control of the military is manifested in having a civilian as secretary of defense, not a current or recently retired military officer. We are not a banana republic. Even most of the banana republics now have civilian leaders.
There is nothing wrong with Gen. Mattis, who seems to be a reasonable fellow. But U.S. generals and admirals do have some bad habits. One is an unending quest for public money to fund their endeavors and acquisitions. They are sophisticated at working Congress and the public to fill their budgets in the name of “national defense” or “security.” They also are adept at rounding up post-retirement jobs in the industries that profit from their arms purchases.
None of this means they aren’t good at their jobs or that they shouldn’t pursue adequate resources for defense. Nevertheless, a civilian should be in charge of the Pentagon, not a general or admiral. Not Gen. Mattis.
Finally, there is Mr. Trump’s phone call with the president of Taiwan and his follow-up anti-China, postmidnight tweets. Mr. Trump isn’t president yet, and, in principle, he gets a free ride for what he does until he’s inaugurated next month. So, if we choose to, we could interpret what he’s doing as a mere indulgence. (President Warren G. Harding once banged a Cabinet member’s head on the floor without suffering substantial political damage.)
Mr. Trump should be careful with the Chinese, however. We owe them well over a trillion dollars. They have an army of 2.3 million and are expanding their military influence throughout Asia. China also is a huge trading partner. Walmart would be empty without its products.
Wilbur L. Ross, nominated to be secretary of commerce, has a long history of vulture capitalism — taking over failing companies, eliminating jobs and squeezing out their assets. Here, too, we can hope that he will have seen the errors of his previous ways, saving rather than destroying American jobs.