USA TODAY International Edition
Bob Corker has Trump’s ear on foreign policy
Senator sometimes defends Trump but isn’t afraid to scold
Sen. Bob Corker WASHINGTON was clearly frustrated when he told a television interviewer in early May that the Trump administration needed a more consistent foreign policy.
“Thus far,” said the Tennessee Republican, who chairs the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, “it’s not hitting on all eight.”
Fast forward four weeks, and Corker was practically gushing over Donald Trump’s first overseas trip as president — one that most had labeled an outright disaster. “Executed to near perfection,” he said.
Sometimes a defender. Occasionally a scold. It’s the role that Corker, the Senate’s foreign policy leader, has played as Trump’s adviser and confidante, his dinner companion and golf partner.
The relationship between the detail- oriented Southerner and the shoot- from- the- hip Manhattanite has remained steady despite Trump’s rollercoaster presidency. And through it all, Corker said, one thing has been consistent: Trump listens.
“That, to me, I think, would be the greatest surprise to people in Tennessee, whether they are Republican or Democrat, is that this administration — when you talk with them on the phone and you share something with them or you meet with them, they actually take your input into account and think about it,” Corker said. “And you can see the direct effect.”
Corker talks to Trump and his team often. “I can’t remember calling over to talk to the president and not being immediately put through and having a conversation with him,” he said.
Corker was introduced to Trump during last year’s presidential election, when he advised the then- GOP nominee on foreign policy. Trump considered naming Corker as his vice presi- dent and secretary of state. Corker withdrew from consideration for vice president, and Rex Tillerson was offered the secretary of State job.
But because of his foreign policy role, Corker has remained solidly within Trump’s orbit.
Before Trump headed off to the Middle East and Europe in May, his son- in- law, Jared Kushner, came to Corker’s Senate office and briefed him on the upcoming trip. During the nine- day trip, Trump’s maiden presidential journey abroad, Corker talked to the president no less than four times and then went golfing with him upon his return.
A few weeks later, Trump invited Corker to listen in during his phone call with the king of Saudi Arabia to discuss an escalating diplomatic crisis among Persian Gulf nations. A White House photo shows Corker leaning across the Resolute desk and whispering into Trump’s ear as Trump cradles the phone receiver.
“Sen. Corker is one of President Trump’s most trusted advisers,” said Dina Powell, the president’s deputy national security adviser.
Corker and Trump “speak regularly about the critical national security challenges facing our country,” Powell said last week in a text message sent from Paris, where she was traveling with the president. “He is extremely respected by the entire National Security Team.”
Yet Corker has not refrained from publicly taking Trump to task. The senator has said repeatedly that Trump would be better off if he would limit his tweets.
“Statements about foreign policy matters really are best not done through tweets,” Corker said. “They are best done by sitting down with staff and making sure you are sending the right signals, but also trying to meet an objective.”
In May, Corker made headlines when he told reporters the White House was in a “downward spiral” and needed to get “under control” amid reports that Trump had revealed classified information to high- ranking Russian officials during an Oval Office visit.
To outsiders, Corker’s critiques seem born out of the frustration of dealing with a president who’s prone to speaking off the cuff.
“My impression is that he’s trying to be a good team player and hope for the best, but the president keeps going off even the most basic script and causing mini- diplomatic crises,” said Stewart Patrick, a foreign policy analyst with the Council on Foreign Relations.
Corker acknowledges that he sometimes speaks to Trump through the media “because public opinion is something that the president also pays attention to.”