Our view: Wild swings in policy undermine America’s leadership
President Trump’s erratic approach to foreign policy and trade is certainly, well, interesting.
He announces to great fanfare that he will meet with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un, then cancels the meeting, then announces it will happen after all. A matter of the utmost sensitivity — nuclear diplomacy — is treated with all the consistency of an on-and-off teenage romance.
On trade, Trump declares $50 billion in tariffs on China, has his Treasury secretary announce that those levies are on hold, then says that they are back on again. He bobs and weaves on steel tariffs against U.S. allies in Europe and North America, ultimately deciding to go forward with them despite certain retaliation. Even the Canadians are enraged, which takes some doing.
These confusing policies look a lot like other chaotic aspects of Trump’s 500-day presidency, such as the turmoil in staffing, attacks on law enforcement and the steady stream of false or misleading statements. The cumulative impact is to erode America’s global standing and leadership.
Some foreign policy experts, however, are willing to cut Trump a break, arguing that there could be method to his apparent madness. Some say the best way to get foreign governments to cave on key issues is to break down existing norms of behavior. We don’t buy it.
If Kim ultimately agrees to curb his nuclear arsenal, it won’t be because he is outwitted by Trump’s legendary deal-making prowess. It will be because economic sanctions are biting and the North Korean dictator concludes that he needs to show economic progress to maintain his lifestyle and grip on power.
Similarly, if the goal is to put China on its back foot, the obvious approach was the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a trade alliance that would have linked much of Asia with the United States while locking China out. Trump torpedoed the TPP as one of his first official acts.
The president’s erratic policies do real harm over the long term. Businesses require stability when they make decisions about major investments. Both the United States and its chief allies need the world’s only superpower to act in accordance with consistent principles, not according to the latest whims of a leader who seems to see each day as a new episode of a reality television show.
America’s outsize role in the world comes not just from its military might but also from its alliances and from the advancement of fair, consistent and transparent rules that encourage free enterprise and democracy.
Now along comes Trump, swinging from position to position and attacking America’s allies.
It’s all a bit like the scene in Apocalypse Now when clearly deranged Col. Walter Kurtz asks Capt. Benjamin Willard whether his methods are unsound. After surveying the carnage, Willard replies, “I don’t see any method at all, sir.”