Is President Trump A Turning Point In World Politics?

U.S. President Donald Trump addresses the 74th session of the United Nations General Assembly at U.N. headquarters in New York City, New York, U.S., September 24, 2019. REUTERS/Carlo Allegri

Joseph S. Nye, Jr., Project Syndicate: Is Trump a Turning Point in World Politics?

Will Donald Trump’s presidency mark a major turning point in world history, or was it a minor historical accident? Trump's electoral appeal may turn on domestic politics, but his effect on world politics could be transformational, particularly if he gains a second term.

CAMBRIDGE – As the United States enters the home stretch of the 2020 presidential election campaign, and with neither party’s nominating convention featuring much discussion of foreign policy, the contest between President Donald Trump and Joe Biden apparently will be waged mainly on the battleground of domestic issues. In the long run, however, historians will ask whether Trump’s presidency was a major turning point in America’s role in the world, or just a minor historical accident.

At this stage, the answer is unknowable, because we do not know if Trump will be re-elected. My book Do Morals Matter? rates the 14 presidents since 1945 and gives Trump a formal grade of “incomplete,” but for now he ranks in the bottom quartile.Top-quartile presidents like Franklin D. Roosevelt saw the mistakes of America’s isolationism in the 1930s and created a liberal international order after 1945. A turning point was Harry S. Truman’s post-war decisions that led to permanent alliances that have lasted to this day. The US invested heavily in the Marshall Plan in 1948, created NATO in 1949, and led a United Nations coalition that fought in Korea in 1950. In 1960, during the administration of Dwight D. Eisenhower, the US signed a new security treaty with Japan.

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WNU Editor: Disagree with much of what the above commentator is saying. But I do agree that if President Trump does win a second term, he will accelerate his policies to prioritize US interests over "global interests", continue the withdrawal of US military forces from the forever wars that are raging in places like Afghanistan and the Middle East, and focus on bilateral relations over multi-relations. I always like to say that Washington did not change President Trump, but President Trump has certainly changed Washington DC. Will a second term result in President Trump changing the role that the US plays on the global stage? My gut tells me yes.

Will President Trump Drop Out Of This Year's Presidential Election?

Image: U.S. President Donald Trump sits behind his desk as he announces a bilateral trade agreement with Mexico to replace the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) at the White House in Washington, U.S., August 27, 2018. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque/File Photo

John Harris, Politico: Why Trump Might Quit

There is logic behind saying to hell with reelection.

The purpose of the nationally televised Oval Office address was to announce new peace initiatives in Vietnam, but Lyndon B. Johnson saved the most startling news until the end of his speech on March 31, 1968. With his country badly divided over a grinding war, he didn’t believe as president he “should devote an hour or a day of my time to any personal partisan causes.” He was dropping out of the presidential campaign.

Now there was a president who knew how to shake up the plot.

Among Donald Trump’s problems in his long, hot and mostly housebound summer is that he has lost his once unparalleled gift for changing the story. He still can stir outrage, but even among his supporters he no longer has much capacity to surprise. “Every hero,” wrote Ralph Waldo Emerson a century before the president was born, “becomes a bore at last.”

But here is a way Trump could demonstrate that an old master still knows how to tear up the script and leave the audience gasping. It is late but not too late to pull an LBJ.

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WNU Editor: Talk about wishful thinking. What is more revealing in the above post are the reasons why the author believes President Trump may "quit". Bottom line. John Harris has no idea on who President Trump is or what has motivated him to run for the Presidency in the first place.

World Leaders Are Hoping That Bided Wins The Presidency In November

Marc Champion and Nick Wadhams, Bloomberg: World Leaders Face Dilemma: Deal With Trump or Hang On for Biden

(Bloomberg) -- America’s allies and rivals face a tough choice as Donald Trump trails in polls ahead of November’s presidential election: Wait to see if he loses to presumptive Democratic candidate Joe Biden, or cut deals now to avoid negotiating with an emboldened second-term Trump.The president addressed that dilemma himself in a tweet celebrating the release of an American prisoner, Michael White, from Iran earlier this month.

“Don’t wait until after U.S. Election to make the Big deal,” Trump wrote. “I’m going to win. You’ll make a better deal now!”

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WNU Editor: Xi, Merkel, Trudeau .... it is easy to know who wants President Trump gon, and they are going to do what they can to make sure he is gone. As for the others, they are nervous that even if they get a deal on an issue with President Trump, it will be rescinded by a Biden administration.

Ending The U.S. Invovlement In The Afghan War Is President Trump's Next Priority

President Trump in Afghanistan (YouTube)

Don Surber: Ending the Afghanistan War may be next

Having fixed the economy, won a trade war battle with Red China, appointed 1/4th of the appellate judges, rolled back regulations, and cut taxes, what is next for President Donald John Trump?

My guess is he will end the Afghanistan War next.

Business Insider reported, "Months after taking office in 2017 and hoping to get a better understanding of America’s longest war, President Donald Trump began taking meetings with enlisted US service members who deployed to Afghanistan.

"'I want to sit down with some enlisted guys that have been there,' Trump told advisers, according to the national security journalist Peter Bergen’s latest book, Trump and His Generals: The Cost of Chaos.

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WNU Editor: He now has the ceasefire that he had demanded .... Taliban Council Agrees To A Temporary Ceasefire In Afghanistan.

Is President Trump The Dealmaker-In-Chief?

China's Vice Premier Liu He listens to U.S. President Trump as they meet in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, U.S., April 4, 2019. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

Washington Post: Trump says he's the dealmaker-in-chief, but his record lists mostly incompletes

WASHINGTON - Sitting in the Oval Office alongside senior Chinese officials this month, President Donald Trump declared that the United States had reached "a substantial phase one deal" with China - a development that could ease an intensifying trade war that has roiled global markets and hurt many U.S. businesses and consumers.

Within days, however, "the greatest and biggest deal ever made" turned out to be at best a work in progress. Chinese officials signaled they want another round of talks before signing anything, while adding that Trump should scrap a tariff hike scheduled for December before talks proceed.

Nearly three years into his tenure, the president who promised to bring his "Art of the Deal" business savvy to foreign and trade policy has few substantive deals to his name - and is running short on time to deliver big-ticket agreements ahead of Election Day next year.

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WNU Editor: Trade deals take a long time to negotiate. And when they are done, such as the new NAFTA deal with Mexico and Canada, Congress will not give a victory to President Trump by passing it. And as for a Chinese trade deal. China's focus is on seeing President Trump impeached by Congress in the coming months, and then defeated in 2020. They are not going to commit to any trade deals until after 2020, and even then they are primarily hoping that a new Democrat President will return to the status quo before Trump was elected. As a result President Trump is using the only lever that he has, which is issuing executive orders .... Trump outstripping Obama on pace of executive orders (AP). And in my opinion issuing executive orders is not the "Art of The Deal".

Will President Trump’s Decision To Call An Armistice In America's Trade War With China Guarantee His Re-Election?

David P. Goldman, Asia Times: Trump may have secured re-election today

President’s decision to call armistice in trade war with China could be milestone on his way to second term.

Investors greeted a prospective US trade deal with China by bidding for stocks that had suffered the worst in this year’s economic slowdown, including energy equipment, retail and transportation names. The small-capitalization Russell 2000 Index, which had lagged the S&P 500 all year, handily outperformed. The stock market is saying that the economy’s problem during the past year was the trade war, and that a resolution of trade will lead to faster economic growth.

It’s not over until it’s over, but President Donald Trump might have secured his re-election on Friday by calling an armistice in his trade war with China.

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WNU editor: Too early to make any predictions.

Is This The Presidency That President Trump Wants?

U.S. President Donald Trump sits for an exclusive interview with Reuters journalists in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, U.S. December 11, 2018. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

Nancy Cook, Politico: An unshackled Trump finally gets the presidency he always wanted

No longer hemmed in by aides, Trump has bent the presidency into the mold of the Trump Organization.

The China trade war, talks with the Taliban, the response to Iran after Saudi attacks, gun control, new tax legislation and a long list of other policy issues are up in the air and awaiting decisions from President Donald Trump — and him alone — heading into the 2020 election season.

In many ways, it’s the presidency Trump has always wanted.

He’s at the center of the action. He’s fully in command. And he’s keeping world leaders on edge and unsure of his next moves, all without being hemmed in by aides or the traditional strictures of a White House.

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WNU Editor: When he was elected he found himself in Washington without the Republican establishment behind him, and with many actively going against him. There were also many who felt that he would not last, and being tied with him would impact their own careers and future. As a result he had to pick people literally on the fly and/or on the recommendations of others. Those people are mostly gone now (no surprises there), and he has had the time to pick people that he felt comfortable with and who would follow his policies and directions. Will this last, I am not sure. But he has gotten even the New York Times speculating if he thinks that he is now invincible .... Trump’s Ukraine call reveals a president convinced of his own invincibility (New York Times).

Is President Trump Putting National Security At Risk?

U.S. President Donald Trump sits for an exclusive interview with Reuters journalists in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, U.S. December 11, 2018. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

Washington Post: Trump’s erratic policy moves put national security at risk, experts warn

Three policy turnarounds by President Trump this month have underscored his freewheeling governing style, an approach that some experts warn sends mixed messages and puts U.S. national security at risk.

Trump’s approach on three issues — U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids, Mexican tariffs and Iran — is politically risky for the president, who is increasingly employing brinkmanship in an effort to achieve key policy goals.

On Sunday, Trump’s defenders, including Vice President Pence, argued that the president showed admirable caution in refusing to move forward with a military strike on Iran in light of the potential casualties.

“The president demonstrated the restraint that the American people, I know, admire and are grateful for,” Pence said on CNN’s “State of the Union.”

He added: “Iran should not mistake restraint for a lack of resolve. All options remain on the table.”

But the president’s critics are trying to turn his often erratic approach into an issue for voters.

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WNU Editor: These are the same "experts" who got America involved in numerous wars and conflicts, massive trade deficits, millions of manufacturing jobs lost because they went overseas, a broken border that is facing an unprecedented migration crisis, and a defense and security environment where many U.S. allies did not feel the need to allocate resources because they felt that the U.S, would cover for them. And now they are telling us that President Trump's method of pursuing his agenda has put national security at risk?!?!?!?

There are many policies that I disagree with President Trump .... arming Ukraine, missile buildups in eastern Europe, keeping U.S. forces in Syria, Yemen, the Afghan war, budget deficits, his lack of focus to nominate quality officials to run the government, etc. etc. etc., but his style is not one of them. Critics say he is erratic .... I say that he purposely projects unpredictability, and behind this behaviour there is always a deep strategic purpose behind it. This is how he won the Republican primaries. The U.S. election. Overcome a special console probe. Numerous personal attacks. And more importantly .... having his agenda move forward and court picks accepted. And I know that he will continue to succeed because his opponents and critics fail to take the time and effort to understand the man, his mannerisms, philosophy, views, and personal history. But I will leave the best to the last in describing President Trump with a quote from Don Corleone in The Godfather ....

.... There is no greater natural advantage in life than having a friend underestimate your virtues and an enemy overestimate your faults.

Has President Trump Taken The Democrat's Top Foreign Policy Issues?

U.S. President Donald Trump delivers remarks regarding the Administration's National Security Strategy at the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center in Washington D.C., U.S. December 18, 2017. REUTERS/Joshua RobertsReuters

Michael Hirsh, Foreign Policy: How Trump Stole the Democrats’ Best 2020 Foreign-Policy Stances

From trade to troop drawdowns, some Dem presidential contenders may have a hard time contrasting their views with the president’s.

Like U.S. President Donald Trump, Joe Biden once wanted to get the United States out of Afghanistan as fast as possible—or at least to dramatically scale down the U.S. presence there. Indeed, back in 2009 it was one of the few arguments that Biden, then a freshly minted vice president, lost with his boss, President Barack Obama. In internal discussions Biden argued forcefully against Obama’s troop surge and in favor of a pared-down approach to Afghanistan that no doubt would have gratified Trump’s isolationist instincts 10 years later. Biden wanted to discard Washington’s costly, troop-intensive counterinsurgency policy and its pretensions of democratic transformation, admit that the Afghan government was all but useless, and focus mainly on killing terrorists with special operations and drones. His approach even had a name: the “Biden Plan.”

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WNU Editor: I do not think President Trump "stole the Democrats best 2020 foreign-policy issues", but there are many positions where both sides are in agreement.

Why President Trump Broke With His National Security Officials Over Syria

President Donald Trump walks with U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Michael Howard, commander of Joint Force Headquarters, at Arlington National Cemetery, May 29, 2017. Behind them are Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis and U.S. Marine Gen. Joseph Dunford, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. (Flickr/CreativeCommons/DOD photo by U.S. Air Force Tech. Sgt. Brigitte N. Brantley)

Gareth Porter, American Conservative: Trump Scores, Breaks Generals’ 50-Year War Record

His national security team had been trying to box him in like every other president. But he called their bluff.

The mainstream media has attacked President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw U.S. troops from Syria as impulsive, blindsiding his own national security team. But detailed, published accounts of the policy process over the course of the year tell a very different story. They show that senior national security officials and self-interested institutions have been playing a complicated political game for months aimed at keeping Trump from wavering on our indefinite presence on the ground in Syria.

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WNU Editor: I would not be surprised if this is the definitive account on what led to President Trump making his decision to pull out of Syria. I would also not be surprised if this is what is happening with Afghanistan right now. This is my must read post for today.

Is President Trump Becoming More Assertive In His Role As Commander In Chief?

James George Jatras, Strategic Culture: Did Someone Slip Donald Trump Some Kind of Political Viagra?

This has been an extraordinary week. After two years of getting rolled by the Washington establishment, it seems that President Donald Trump woke up and suddenly realized, “Hey – I’m the president! I have the legal authority to do stuff!”

* He has announced his order to withdraw US troops from Syria.

* His Defense Secretary James Mattis has resigned. There are rumors National Security Adviser John Bolton may go too. (Please take Secretary of State Mike Pompeo with you!)

* He announced a start to withdrawing from Afghanistan.

* He now says he will veto a government funding bill unless he gets $5 billion for his Wall, and as of 12:01 AM Washington time December 22 the federal government is officially under partial shutdown.

All of this should be taken with a big grain of salt. While this week’s assertiveness perhaps provides further proof that Trump’s impulses are right, it doesn’t mean he can implement them.

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WNU Editor: President Obama also became far more assertive as President at the beginning of his third year, especially after the passage of Obamacare during the lame duck Congress. But while President Trump may be more assertive in the Oval Office on what he wants, he will be facing a Democrat controlled Congress that is more focused on impeaching him, and a reluctant Republican controlled Senate that has shown great reluctance to support him.Either way .... it is going to be an interesting two years.

Could U.S. Secretary of Defense James Mattis's Resignation Spawn A Crisis?

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump stands with retired Marine Gen. James Mattis following their meeting at the main clubhouse at Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, New Jersey, U.S., November 19, 2016. REUTERS/Mike Segar

Peter Feaver, Business Insider/Foreign Policy: Mattis' resignation isn't a crisis yet — but it could easily become one

* Mattis' resignation could become a crisis if the administration mishandles the next several weeks.
* In normal circumstances, senior military leaders are obliged by the norms of civil-military relations to give their personal professional opinion to their civilian bosses, Trump and Congress, and should not resign.
* Mattis resigned in protest following Trump's decision to withdraw from Syria, and he was able to do so without immediately sparking a crisis because he is a political appointee — not a military one.
* But, the departure of the most respected administration voice on national security—and the reckless moves that led to his departure—will mean policymaking will get harder, not easier.
* The civilian side of the national security house was already pretty weak in the Trump administration. Mattis's departure makes it even weaker.

US Secretary of Defense James Mattis's resignation in protest has triggered the most serious civil-military challenge the Trump administration has yet faced.

It is not a full-blown crisis but could easily turn into one if the administration mishandles the next several weeks or if adversaries take advantage of the policy chaos and make focused attacks on U.S. interests at home and abroad.

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WNU editor: I have been covering Washington politics and its impact on the Pentagon for years. People come and go .... and this is nothing new. Conflicts on war and defense issues are also something that is not new. Many in Washington have a vested interest in America's ongoing wars in the Middle East and Afghanistan, and they do not support President Trump's desire to disengage from the region. This is a repeat on what happened when President Obama was elected. President Obama was elected on a platform to disengage from Iraq, and did so with much grief and objections from the Pentagon and intel community. He resolved the situation by installing his own people who supported his policies, and retiring his critics. The criticisms of President Obama's decision to withdraw quickly faded after that .... until ISIS came storming from the desert resulting in a war that last over 3 years. Flash forward to today .... President Trump is doing the same thing. But ISIS is a shell of its former self, and it is not going to come back as we know it. And like President Obama .... after two years in Washington President Trump now has a very clear idea on who he wants in the Department of Defense. When U.S. Secretary of Defense James Mattis was appointed, he was the right man at the right time. But that time has now passed, and President Trump wants a fresh face with fresh ideas. Especially on how to handle the Afghan war, which from my vantage point is now becoming something far worse than the disaster that it has been for the past 17 years.

Is President Trump The Most Honest President In Modern American History?

Image: U.S. President Donald Trump sits behind his desk as he announces a bilateral trade agreement with Mexico to replace the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) at the White House in Washington, U.S., August 27, 2018. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque/File Photo

Marc Thiessen, Fox News: Trump could be the most honest president in modern history

Donald Trump may be remembered as the most honest president in modern American history.

Don't get me wrong, Trump lies all the time. He said that he "enacted the biggest tax cuts and reforms in American history" (actually they are the eighth largest) and that "our economy is the strongest it's ever been in the history of our country" (which may one day be true, but not yet). In part, it's a New York thing -- everything is the biggest and the best.

But when it comes to the real barometer of presidential truthfulness -- keeping his promises -- Trump is a paragon of honesty. For better or worse, since taking office Trump has done exactly what he promised he would do.

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WNU Editor: He is not the most honest President in modern history. But he has kept many of his promises, which explains why many of his opponents are "beyond upset right now" .... Trump’s list: 289 accomplishments in just 20 months, ‘relentless’ promise-keeping (Washington Examiner).

When Will President Trump Make His First Visit To A War Zone Where U.S. Soldiers Are Fighting?

President Donald Trump discusses current military operations with Gen. Joseph Votel, commander of U.S. Central Command Commander, and Gen. Raymond A. "Tony" Thomas, U.S. Special Operations Command Commander at MacDill, AFB, FL, Feb. 6, 2017. (DoD photo by D. Myles Cullen/Released)

Business Insider: Trump talks tough about the military, but he hasn't visited a war zone where US troops are fighting — unlike his predecessors

* President Donald Trump repeatedly portrays himself as a gung-ho supporter of the US military, but a year and a half into his tenure the president has yet to visit American troops in a war-zone.
* The vast majority of Trump's commander-in-chief predecessors dating all the way back to World War II visited troops in war zones, including George W. Bush and Barack Obama.
* Both Bush and Obama met with US troops in combat zones soon into their first terms.

President Donald Trump repeatedly portrays himself as a gung-ho supporter of the US military, but over a year and a half into his tenure the president has yet to visit American troops in a war zone.

Since Trump took office, American troops have been killed everywhere from Somalia and Niger to Yemen and Iraq. In 2018 alone, five US soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan.

But Trump has yet to visit Afghanistan, Iraq, or Syria, among other places where US troops are putting their lives on the line to execute his orders.

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WNU Editor: As Commander in Chief it is now expected for a President to visit a warzone not only for the optics of morale, but also to send a message to the American public and to our allies (and foes) abroad on the U.S. commitment to these conflicts. But this is an unconventional President. And as  long as there is no public outcry for him to go, I expect him to be more focused on his domestic and trade agenda than on conflicts in places like Afghanistan. Personally .... I think this is a mistake.

Hat tip to Fred for the above story.

Donald Trump Is Not Millard Fillmore Or James Buchanan

Reuters

Conrad Black, National Interest: No, Donald Trump Is Not Millard Fillmore or James Buchanan

Trumps is successfully and actively pursuing his own agenda, unlike those two previous U.S. Presidents.

The treatment of Trump’s foreign policy in the July-August issue of The National Interest by Dimitri K. Simes and Dov S. Zakheim were remarkably different. Mr. Simes offered thoughtful analysis with valuable insights into the current president’s thinking, whereas Mr. Zakheim undertook an almost inexpressibly implausible effort to find some resemblance between President Trump and his distant and relatively undistinguished predecessors, Millard Fillmore and James Buchanan. Mr. Simes noted that President Trump sees the possibility of settling differences with Russia, which seems to be based on acknowledging that country’s repossession of the Crimea—which was only awarded to Ukraine by the Ukrainian Khrushchev, in 1955—in return for Russia desisting in its incursions in Ukraine. Furthermore, Mr. Simes believes Trump sees a potential partition of Syria between sponsored groups with Assad retaining half the country, especially with his Alawites, while the western-supported secular factions co-exist in their cantons.

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WNU Editor: Regular readers of this blog know that I like to post stories that are counter to the current conventional wisdom. So here is one .... Contra Pundits, Donald Trump Did Not Have a Bad Day Yesterday (Erick Erickson, The Maven). When all is said and done President Trump is still the President. He is still pushing his agenda, signing legislation, and appointing people to the courts and government. And .... in the eyes of his supporters, and chagrin from those who despise him, delivering results .... Why Trump’s supporters won’t care about Cohen and Mana (Salena Zito, NYPost).

President Trump Made It Very Clear Today In Helsinki That There Will Be No Cold War II

President Donald Trump addresses reporters alongside Russian President Vladimir Putin following Monday's summit in Helsinki © Kevin Lamarque, Reuters

Pat Buchanan, WND: Trump calls off Cold War II

Pat Buchanan responds to John Brennan vitriol with Patrick Henry quote

Beginning his joint press conference with Vladimir Putin, President Trump declared that U.S. relations with Russia have “never been worse.”

He then added pointedly, that just changed “about four hours ago.”

It certainly did. With his remarks in Helsinki and at the NATO summit in Brussels, Trump has signaled a historic shift in U.S. foreign policy that may determine the future of this nation and the fate of his presidency.

He has rejected the fundamental premises of American foreign policy since the end of the Cold War and blamed our wretched relations with Russia not on Vladimir Putin, but squarely on the U.S. establishment.

In a tweet prior to the meeting, Trump indicted the elites of both parties: “Our relationship with Russia has NEVER been worse thanks to many years of U.S. foolishness and stupidity and now, the Rigged Witch Hunt!”

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WNU Editor: Here is an easy prediction. In the coming days the vitriol that has been directed at President Trump is going to intensify when the realization on what happened in Helsinki settles in. There will be no Cold  War II, and President Trump will do what every President since President Roosevelt has done since the Second World War .... to sit down with the leader of the Kremlin to find common ground and to avoid war. As a result of pursuing this policy, I have witnessed something that I have never seen before in all of my years of watching the U.S.. The sheer hatred that came from the main stream media, the Democrats, never-Trumpers, and many others in Washington on a U.S. President pursuing a policy that would lessen tensions with a nuclear superpower has been quite a sight to see .... and yes .... frightening on every level. Today a former CIA Director accused President Trump of committing treason ....Ex-CIA Director Brennan Accuses President Trump of 'Treason', and not to be undone a Democrat Congressman called for the military to intervene ....

....

Where are our military folks ? The Commander in Chief is in the hands of our enemy! https://t.co/3eF7OLKEdN

— Steve Cohen (@RepCohen) July 16, 2018

This is what many in Washington are saying publicly ..... I can only imagine what they are saying privately. I also expect this rhetoric to get even worse. As for President Trump .... my advice to him is to double his secret service protection. The emotional hatred that has been pumped up today has put his life in grave danger (as if it was not already in danger).

Why President Trump's Critics Have Crossed The Line When They Compare Him To Hitler

Allan Richarz, The Hill: The strategic blunder of ‘Trump-as-Hitler’

You knew it was coming. Eighteen months into the Trump administration and the president’s ostensibly serious critics have finally broken the glass on the “Trump-is-a-Nazi” line of attack.

To be certain, there were previous allusions to this from media, Democrats and “Never Trumpers” — accusations of authoritarianism meant to implicitly draw the connection between President Donald Trump and Nazi Germany. Apart from the “over-woke,” under-informed Hollywood set, however, critics largely managed to avoid making the explicit comparison.

Until now, that is, with the issue of family separations at the U.S. border dominating headlines.

But overwrought comparisons to the Nazis are both historically illiterate and an extreme strategic misstep. The president’s critics have crossed a rhetorical line from which there can be no turning back.

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WNU Editor: What better way to ensure President Trump and his allies will coast to victory in the Congressional midterms and in the 2020 General election by comparing him and his supporters to Nazis. From Hillary Clinton comparing Putin to Hitler .... Former U.S. Secretary Of State Kerry Confirms What War News Updates Posted 4 Years Ago (June 2, 2018), to today's debate on open borders and how migrants should be treated .... the Hitler-Nazi card is now being widely used by progressives/Democrats/never-Trumpers/etc. in labeling those that they oppose. And while this is nothing new .... I heard this same line of argument used against President Reagan and President George Bush .... it is now reaching a fever pitch that I have never heard before. Will it work .... no. It will only galvanize those who have been labeled as such to go to the polls on election day .... and the funny thing about all of this is that President Trump knows it, while his opponents are oblivious of the consequences on what they are saying.

Is President Trump ‘Undermining’ The World Order That The U.S. Created?

The Hill: Top EU figure: Trump is ‘undermining’ world order the US created

A top European Union figure said Friday that President Trump is “undermining” the U.S.-led international order.

“The rules-based international order is being challenged ... not by the usual suspects but by its main architect and guarantor, the U.S.,” Donald Tusk, president of the European Commission, told reporters at a news conference according to The Washington Post. The conference took place ahead of the Group of Seven summit in Canada.

“We will not stop trying to convince our American friends and President Trump that undermining this order makes no sense at all, because it would only play into the hands of those who seek a new, post-West order, where liberal democracy and fundamental freedoms would cease to exist," he said.

Tusk spoke just hours after Trump had suggested Russia be reinstated into the group — a suggestion that garnered bipartisan condemnation.

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Update: Remarks by President Donald Tusk before the G7 summit in Charlevoix, Canada (Council of the European Union).

WNU Editor: Endless wars. Government mortgaging the future with massive deficits. Trade deficits and imbalances that are not sustainable. The "World Order" is definitely not working for a lot of Americans .... and I would also add even more so for many in Europe.

Is President Trump 'Going For Broke' When It Comes To Implementing His Policies?

One of the Americans formerly held hostage in North Korea gestures next to President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump, upon their arrival at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland. Photo by Jonathan Ernst/Reuters

WNU editor: The AP believes that President Trump's doctrine is risky .... Trump’s high-risk doctrine? Swing for the bleacher seats (Catherine Lucey, Jonathan Lemire and Ken Thomas, AP). My take is a little different .... he is trying to implement the policies that he promised in the last election. Where it becomes risky is if he should decide to break this bond with his supporters .... which I do not see happening at this moment of time. But I will admit that I did not expect President Trump to be as successful as he has been in implementing his policies. While the media has been focused on Russia-Gate, impeachment, Stormy Daniels, etc. .... President Trump has more or less eliminated many of the policies that President Obama passed via through executive action, while having many of his own policies implemented via through Congress. For a high risk doctrine .... it is working for him, and it is frustrating his opponents.

Who Will President Trump Fire Next?

U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during an interview with Reuters at the White House in Washington, U.S., January 17, 2018. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

Vanity Fair: “Trump Wants Them Out of There”: After Swinging the Axe at Tillerson, Trump Mulls What to Do with McMaster, Sessions, Jared, and Ivanka

With tariffs done, Trump’s sights are now on the Iran deal—and, possibly, the Russia investigation. “The president is finally realizing he is the president,” a former White House official told me. “He’s just making these decisions on his own.”

From the moment Donald Trump appointed Chief of Staff John Kelly last summer, he vented to friends and advisers that Kelly was too overbearing, preventing him from acting on his instincts and impulses, the things that got him elected president. To truly be himself, Trump turned to Twitter and Fox & Friends. But over the past week, even though Kelly is still nominally on the scene, his presidency has entered a new phase—one in which Trump feels emboldened to throw off the shackles that have thus far constrained him.

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WNU Editor: This is a good post from Vanity Fair. President Trump is definitely on a roll, and when the cameras are on him one can tell that he is now truly enjoying his role in the office. As to personnel changes .... the Tillerson firing was a red flag for everyone. President Trump is not that insecure and overwhelmed person when he won the election .... he has found his comfort zone and he now wants people who think like him to be in positions of power. I originally expected these changes to occur in the half-way mark of his Presidency .... no more now .... I expect more changes in the coming weeks/months.

Update: Yup .... Tillerson fall shows Trump learning game of politics (Peter Apps, Reuters).