May 29, 2017
By Saeed Qureshi
It is difficult
to fathom and define the mindset of president Trump. He is in the habit of blowing
hot and cold at the same time. He excels in dishing out contradictory statements:
first issuing those and later contradicting the previous ones. One example is Obama Healthcare Plan. After the first debacle in getting the Trumpcare passed by the
house, he came out with a stunning denial that as to when did he say that Obamacare
should be replaced. It appears as if president Trump wants to undo and demolish
of whatever his predecessor president Obama did.
His recent
visit to Saudi Arabia is in direct contrast to what he has been saying about Islam.
There cannot be more derogatory and repugnant degradation of Islam that what
president Trump portrayed before the elections and afterwards. Then he
proceeded to Saudi Arabia, the bastion of Radical Sunni Islam to build the
bonds of friendship and cohesion between his host country and the USA. It is utterly unbelievable that while Trump
has shown himself to be the strongest and virulent opponent of Islam and
Muslims, yet he chose the orthodox Islamic kingdom of Saudi Arabia as the first
foreign visit among other seven countries.
The president seems
to be in a diplomatic confrontation with Europe and wants to get out of the
pacts that have been in place for decades. His plans for reorientation and
refurbishing of the economy have yet to be initiated and show results. There is
a scare among the immigrant communities mostly refugees who feel that they can
be picked up any time by the relevant agencies and deported.
Even his party members
are disgruntled about his mercurial behavior blowing hot and cold simultaneously.
Nancy Pelosi described the replacement of Obamacare as a “tattoo on the
forehead of the Republicans”. His achievements thus far and particularly in the
first benchmark 100 days as president seems to be insignificant. His happiness
and annoyance over good or not good developments are knee-jerk reactions and
convey the childish attitude. At home turf, he is at war with the media and
judiciary from day one after assuming office of the president in the White House.
On top of that the
president and his colleague are plagued with a plethora of scandals, out of
which the latest is about his son in law Jared Kushner which is quite serious
and if proven may cause colossal harm to his presidency as well as to his cohorts
and even the family. It is for the special committee and the judiciary to find
out the nature of the charges.
President Trump’s
8-day tour abroad seems to be an exercise in futility except inking a massive
deal of 250 billion dollars for sale of military hardware to Saudi Arabia. For
instance, he is non-committal about global emissions deal. Also, he has criticized
NATO allies for failing to meet the defensive alliance's military spending
commitment of two percent of GDP.
He neglected to
publicly endorse the pact's Article Five, which guarantees that member
countries will aid the others they are attacked. It means America may opt out
or curtail its commitment to NATO. It might otherwise be financially beneficial
to United States but it would embitter America’s relation with NATO partners. Describing
German trade practices as "bad, very bad," in Brussels talks last
week, he remarked that Europe's largest economy(Germany) sells too many cars to
the US. This remark is favorable to the domestic American auto industry. Yet
the question is that global trade is mutual. In retaliation, Germany may discontinue
or curtail the import of the American goods or products.
In
response to Donald Trump’s, criticism of major NATO allies and his refusal to
endorse a global climate change accord, German chancellor Merkel said that “the
days when Europe could completely count on others were over”.
Trump’s
National Security Advisor Retired Army Lieutenant General, Michael T. Flynn resigned
for misleading Vice President Mike Pence about the nature of his
telecommunication contacts with the Russian diplomats. It is a serious issue
and an inquiry has been instituted against him. Flynn served briefly as Trump's
national security adviser before being fired in February this year.
Attorney General Jeff Sessions is under intense scrutiny for his alleged
contacts with Russian government officials during the 2016 Presidential
election. He has stepped aside from “any existing or future investigations of
any matters related in any way to the campaigns for president of the United
States” and until the completion enquiry.
But on top of all these crises a recent bombshell has rocked the entire
country. It is about Jared Kushner; the son in law of the incumbent president
of the United States. On May 26, 2017, The Washington Post reported that
U.S. intelligence officials had, in the course of monitoring Ambassador Kislyak
in December 2016, overheard him relaying to Moscow a request from Kushner to
establish a "secret and secure communications channel" with the
Kremlin using Russian diplomatic facilities. It is perceived that “Kushner was
under investigation by the FBI as part of the larger investigation into Russian
interference in the election”. in his several tweets. President Trump, has
dubbed the leaks about Kushner as "fabricated lies,"
The Senate
Intelligence Committee, which is investigating Russia's meddling in the 2016
U.S. presidential election, has requested information and documents from
Trump's campaign dating back to July 2015; the AP and other news outlets
confirmed.
In the
meantime, the Democrats in Congress have demanded to hear directly from top
White House adviser Jared Kushner over allegations of proposed secret back-channel
communications with Russia. They also demanded revocation of the security
clearance of President Donald Trump's son-in-law.
All these
developments indicate that both domestically and globally president Trump is faced
with a host of scandals and serious issues. While the issues concerning NATO
and climate change may be detrimental to the relations between Europe and America,
the local multiple inquiries may turn out to be extremely damaging to president
Trump, his presidency, his cohorts and some of the family members. The issues
of his sexual pursuits and Tax Returns may be revived
It is commonly
believed that by firing the F.B.I. director, James B. Comey president wanted to
stop the FBI’s investigation about the allegations of Trump’s elections team
with Russia. Some legal experts have termed it as obstruction of Justice.
It is also
believed that president Trump doesn’t fit into the mold of a sagacious leader as
to exercise restraint and diplomacy in his remarks and decisions. It ought to
be an utmost and crucial urgency for president Donald Trump and his
administration as well as the retinue of advisors and cabinet members to reset
their sails of governance. Instead of embarking upon the path of belligerency
and confrontation and vitriolic rebuttals, they should be moderate, sober and
accommodating and rather discrete. They should lower and soften their
headstrong outbursts and uncalled-for rebukes and retaliations.
But all said
and done, president Trump can still win the reelection as the 70 percent white population
is with him and their vote bank can bring him back in the White House.
No comments:
Post a Comment