The Trump foreign policy thread

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El Guapo
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Re: The Trump foreign policy thread

Post by El Guapo »

LawBeefaroni wrote: Tue Oct 09, 2018 10:28 am
Holman wrote: Tue Oct 09, 2018 10:25 am
LawBeefaroni wrote: Tue Oct 09, 2018 10:19 am
A government watchdog group on Monday called for an investigation into whether U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley violated federal ethics regulations by accepting flights on private planes.

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) sent a letter formally requesting the State Department's inspector general investigate the flights, which Haley acknowledged in her 2017 public financial disclosure report.
In the age of Trump, I can't see an administration official resigning over such a routine scandal.

Haley has been at the U.N. defending U.S. detention of children. Maybe she finally had all the complicity she could stomach?
Timing sure seems suspect.

Call for investigation Monday. Resigns on Tuesday.

Billy's Bones.
There's no way she's resigning *because of* this investigation / scandal. It could be that Trump's people want her out, and this is what they're going to use to push her out. But that seems unlikely, given that Trump tweeted about an announcement with "his friend" Nikki Haley. Maybe they're trying to push her out but at the same time give her some inducement / sweetheart deal to not go negative on Trump. Could also be that she's resigning because she can't take any more Trump, and the investigation is part of "you'd better not start publicly dishing about Trump, or we'll go after you".
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Re: The Trump foreign policy thread

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Everyone is Trump's friend for a little while. At least in his mind. Then they go and do something stupid, like disagree with him.
Covfefe!
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Re: The Trump foreign policy thread

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Well, she's not going negative. Quotes from her presser with Trump include "honor of a lifetime", "great time in the United States" and - and I am not joking here - that Jared Kushner "is such a hidden genius".
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Re: The Trump foreign policy thread

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El Guapo wrote: Tue Oct 09, 2018 11:39 am Well, she's not going negative. Quotes from her presser with Trump include "honor of a lifetime", "great time in the United States" and - and I am not joking here - that Jared Kushner "is such a hidden genius".
Somehow she got "g" confused with "p" and added a "u".
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Re: The Trump foreign policy thread

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El Guapo wrote: Tue Oct 09, 2018 11:39 am Well, she's not going negative. Quotes from her presser with Trump include "honor of a lifetime", "great time in the United States" and - and I am not joking here - that Jared Kushner "is such a hidden genius".
You have to admit, he does a great job of hiding his genius.
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Re: The Trump foreign policy thread

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Defiant wrote: Tue Oct 09, 2018 10:21 am Potentially violated federal ethics regulations? I don't see why she would need to resign from this administration. Promotion would seem more likely, no?
We don't know that won't still happen.
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Re: The Trump foreign policy thread

Post by malchior »

El Guapo wrote: Tue Oct 09, 2018 10:55 am There's no way she's resigning *because of* this investigation / scandal. It could be that Trump's people want her out, and this is what they're going to use to push her out. But that seems unlikely, given that Trump tweeted about an announcement with "his friend" Nikki Haley. Maybe they're trying to push her out but at the same time give her some inducement / sweetheart deal to not go negative on Trump. Could also be that she's resigning because she can't take any more Trump, and the investigation is part of "you'd better not start publicly dishing about Trump, or we'll go after you".
Here is my conspiracy theory! My thought is that Haley is getting ready to run for Graham's seat in a special election after...Sessions is out. Graham will be AG. His audition being the marvelous 'unhinged man' performance at the Kavanaugh hearings. This will all happen shortly after mid-terms.
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Re: The Trump foreign policy thread

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CNN is floating the theory that Trump wants to put Ivanka in the role. I seriously doubt that, to be honest. But she is sleeping with the boss, so who knows.
Covfefe!
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Re: The Trump foreign policy thread

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hepcat wrote: Tue Oct 09, 2018 12:21 pm CNN is floating the theory that Trump wants to put Ivanka in the role. I seriously doubt that, to be honest. But she is sleeping with the boss, so who knows.
There's nepotism regulations in place that could prevent that...not that I expect it would deter this clown show.
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Re: The Trump foreign policy thread

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hepcat wrote: Tue Oct 09, 2018 12:21 pm CNN is floating the theory that Trump wants to put Ivanka in the role. I seriously doubt that, to be honest. But she is sleeping with the boss, so who knows.
I find it 100% credible that Trump would want to do that. This is something that the serious minds (such as they were) in the administration would nix for super obvious reasons, but the serious minds are almost all gone, so I expect we'll wind up seeing more and more stuff like this go forward.
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Re: The Trump foreign policy thread

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ImLawBoy wrote: Tue Oct 09, 2018 11:51 am
El Guapo wrote: Tue Oct 09, 2018 11:39 am Well, she's not going negative. Quotes from her presser with Trump include "honor of a lifetime", "great time in the United States" and - and I am not joking here - that Jared Kushner "is such a hidden genius".
You have to admit, he does a great job of hiding his genius.
I don't doubt that he and Ivanka are both intelligent people. It takes more than that to understand and create viable, successful public policy however.
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Re: The Trump foreign policy thread

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Skinypupy wrote: Tue Oct 09, 2018 1:07 pm
hepcat wrote: Tue Oct 09, 2018 12:21 pm CNN is floating the theory that Trump wants to put Ivanka in the role. I seriously doubt that, to be honest. But she is sleeping with the boss, so who knows.
There's nepotism regulations in place that could prevent that...not that I expect it would deter this clown show.
Looks like the penalty for breaking that law is she couldn't accept pay for the job. Since this is all about egos and vanity, I can see her doing that.

But I still don't really think it would happen. That would be like placing a 9 year old in charge of the DoD.
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Re: The Trump foreign policy thread

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hepcat wrote: Tue Oct 09, 2018 2:08 pmThat would be like placing a 9 year old in charge of the DoD.
We already have a toddler in charge of the nation. It'd be refreshing to have someone who's at least beyond the temper tantrum years running something.
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Re: The Trump foreign policy thread

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hepcat wrote: Tue Oct 09, 2018 2:08 pm That would be like placing a 9 year old in charge of the DoD.
And...?

I'm failing to see why that would a barrier of any sort with this administration.
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Re: The Trump foreign policy thread

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I was lamenting the painful issues for others, not the Trumps.
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Re: The Trump foreign policy thread

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GreenGoo wrote: Tue Oct 09, 2018 1:33 pm I don't doubt that he and Ivanka are both intelligent people. It takes more than that to understand and create viable, successful public policy however.
I thought science decided intelligence is primarily genetic, which raises doubt on that first statement.
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Re: The Trump foreign policy thread

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coopasonic wrote: Tue Oct 09, 2018 2:40 pm
GreenGoo wrote: Tue Oct 09, 2018 1:33 pm I don't doubt that he and Ivanka are both intelligent people. It takes more than that to understand and create viable, successful public policy however.
I thought science decided intelligence is primarily genetic, which raises doubt on that first statement.
Perhaps, but my brother is a moron who barely got out of high school and while I'm not up to the standards drumpf has put on genius, I'm a strong academic with good to great understanding of undergrad math and science. Perhaps intelligent is the wrong word, but educated and decent critical thinkers seems to be appropriate for them, as well as a good to great "emotional" intelligence, if there is such a thing. Sure they are tone deaf on occasion, but I chalk that up to privilege and isolation from how the real world works more than a failing of their "smarts".

Whatever the correct word, they seem to be able to put a relatively complex sentence together and have it mean something, which is a step up from her dad.
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Re: The Trump foreign policy thread

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Seems like her comment about Jared being a hidden genius might be a hint that Trump wants to nominate him rather than Ivanka?
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Re: The Trump foreign policy thread

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I remember when Jared was given a wide portfolio to fix the Middle East, restructure the government, end the opioid crisis, and serve as special liaison to China, Mexico, and the U.S. Muslim community.

It would take a genius to handle all that. I presume it's all better now?
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Re: The Trump foreign policy thread

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Yeah, it's definitely all fixed. You probably just didn't hear about it because the lamestream media refuses to report about it.
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Re: The Trump foreign policy thread

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Re: The Trump foreign policy thread

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Of course he runs for cover by going to FOX for questions. Really good call to obliterate the State Department.
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Re: The Trump foreign policy thread

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I love that he said he understood that senate needs to move on nominations, then asked who had been nominated.

That's the kind of push back the president needs. Unfortunately if he gets push back, he's just going to retreat completely and never speak to the press. Which is totally normal and appropriate for the leader of a democratic country.
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Re: The Trump foreign policy thread

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Enough wrote: Thu Oct 11, 2018 2:22 pm
Looks like the start of a new Abbott and Costello routine.
Who has been nominated to be the new ambassador to Turkey, and who has been nominated to be the new ambassador to Saudi Arabia?.....You're sure someone's been nominated for both positions?
"Wait, so is the diplomat who's been nominated to be the new ambassador of both Turkey and Saudi Arabia named "Who" or is it "Someone"? Whatever their name is, they sure get around a lot."

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Re: The Trump foreign policy thread

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BBC
The US has announced plans to withdraw from a 144-year-old postal treaty, which the White House says lets China ship goods at unfairly low prices.

Under the treaty, a UN body sets lower international rates for packages from certain countries, a move originally designed to support poorer nations.

But the US says the discounts put American businesses at a disadvantage.
...
The BBC's Asia business correspondent Karishma Vaswani says the move to pull out of the treaty is aimed at forcing the Chinese to give up the developing nation status they had when they first entered the pact back in 1969.
...
The US wants changes to the postal treaty to allow countries to set their own rates for parcels weighing under 2kg (4.4lbs). They are already allowed to do so for bigger packages.
...
The US Postal Service and companies such as Amazon and FedEx have complained about the discounts for foreign shippers for many years.
It's almost as if people are the problem.
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Re: The Trump foreign policy thread

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Isgrimnur wrote: Thu Oct 18, 2018 2:45 pm BBC
The US has announced plans to withdraw from a 144-year-old postal treaty, which the White House says lets China ship goods at unfairly low prices.

Under the treaty, a UN body sets lower international rates for packages from certain countries, a move originally designed to support poorer nations.

But the US says the discounts put American businesses at a disadvantage.
...
The BBC's Asia business correspondent Karishma Vaswani says the move to pull out of the treaty is aimed at forcing the Chinese to give up the developing nation status they had when they first entered the pact back in 1969.
...
The US wants changes to the postal treaty to allow countries to set their own rates for parcels weighing under 2kg (4.4lbs). They are already allowed to do so for bigger packages.
...
The US Postal Service and companies such as Amazon and FedEx have complained about the discounts for foreign shippers for many years.
So that's what that Fox-babbling idiot was talking about today.
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Re: The Trump foreign policy thread

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Nuclear arms races are good, and easy to win.
President Donald Trump said Washington would withdraw from a landmark Cold War-era treaty that eliminated nuclear missiles from Europe because Russia was violating the pact, triggering a warning of retaliatory measures from Moscow.

The Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, negotiated by then-President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev in 1987, required elimination of short-range and intermediate-range nuclear and conventional missiles by both countries.

“Russia has not, unfortunately, honored the agreement so we’re going to terminate the agreement and we’re going to pull out,” Trump told reporters on Saturday after a rally in Nevada.
It's kind of weird to be using Russia to distract everyone from Saudi Arabia. :coffee:
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Re: The Trump foreign policy thread

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Max Peck wrote: Sun Oct 21, 2018 12:40 pm It's kind of weird to be using Russia to distract everyone from Saudi Arabia. :coffee:
High-larious. Haven't people been telling me how poor Russia is and how poorly their nuclear arsenal is maintained? But, yeah, no, you go ahead and pull out of that Reagan era 30+ year agreement because *Russia* is not honoring it.

It's a non-stop race to the bottom for this guy. I'm sure there are those who are enjoying the anarchy. I'm not sure how many of them are American however.
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Re: The Trump foreign policy thread

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"Reagan was a loser! Practically a Democrat! Never as tough on Russia as me!"
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Re: The Trump foreign policy thread

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Obama's State Dept found Russia in violation of the treaty in 2014. Russia has been making noises about withdrawing for years because its neighbor China is not a signatory, and it accuses Washington of non-compliance as well. So this treaty has been in trouble for some time. Source

One would prefer that the treaty be renegotiated and expanded...certainly our European allies would prefer to see that, since these intermediate-range weapons primarily target their theater. But Trump, of course, don't give a shit. I'm sure this will end well.
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Re: The Trump foreign policy thread

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Weird that President Deals doesn't want to negotiate a new deal on a treaty that restricts the ability to make new, great, big, long, strong......... medium range missiles.
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Re: The Trump foreign policy thread

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Pence
Vice President Mike Pence on Tuesday endorsed President Donald Trump's unsubstantiated claim that a migrant caravan approaching the U.S. southern border includes "Middle Easterners," the White House's latest step to stoke concern about the migrants ahead of the midterm elections.

Asked at a Washington Post event about Trump's claim that "unknown Middle Easterners" are part of the caravan that originated in Central America, Pence said that "it's inconceivable that there are not people of Middle Eastern descent in a crowd of more than 7,000 people." Pence added that the caravan is "an issue in this election," linking the group of migrants to "traffickers" who are "taking advantage of not only our porous border but loopholes in our laws."

No evidence exists for Trump and Pence's claims about Middle Easterners in the caravan, which began heading north from Honduras in recent days and has picked up members from other Central American nations — including families, reportedly traveling in the large group to avoid gang activity.
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Re: The Trump foreign policy thread

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Trump uses the old lawyer tactic of proclaiming something loudly so that the jury can't unhear it. Doesn't matter if it's true or relevant.
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Re: The Trump foreign policy thread

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Re: The Trump foreign policy thread

Post by Defiant »

When Trump Phones Friends, the Chinese and the Russians Listen and Learn

Then again, I would think that continually listening to Trump has the risk of lowering their IQ a few points and like 90% of what he says are lies, inaccuracies or just plain boasting anyway, so joke's on them. :P
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Re: The Trump foreign policy thread

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Defiant wrote: Wed Oct 24, 2018 10:53 pm When Trump Phones Friends, the Chinese and the Russians Listen and Learn

Then again, I would think that continually listening to Trump has the risk of lowering their IQ a few points and like 90% of what he says are lies, inaccuracies or just plain boasting anyway, so joke's on them. :P
They said they had further confidence he was not spilling secrets because he rarely digs into the details of the intelligence he is shown and is not well versed in the operational specifics of military or covert activities.
I'm sure that "the intelligence he is shown" is a subset of the intelligence that he could be shown, and he can't parse most of what they do let him know. So the danger of him leaking real secrets is low. As for learning how his mind works, I agree with you. It's likely a garbage-in, garbage-out situation.
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Re: The Trump foreign policy thread

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Defiant wrote:When Trump Phones Friends, the Chinese and the Russians Listen and Learn

Then again, I would think that continually listening to Trump has the risk of lowering their IQ a few points and like 90% of what he says are lies, inaccuracies or just plain boasting anyway, so joke's on them. :P
They probably break out the recordings at secret intelligence meetings to liven up.the room and get a good laugh.
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The Trump foreign policy thread

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At least we know there is no secret evidence of extraterrestrial life because Trump would tweet it immediately.

The ratings would be YUGE!
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Re: The Trump foreign policy thread

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The best people...

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Re: The Trump foreign policy thread

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Making America Great Again by fighting against our dead and defeated enemies -- except Russia.
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