Trump About to Suffer One Last Foreign Policy Loss on His Way Out the Door

[DonViejo]

The signature foreign policy accomplishment of the Trump presidency, such as it is, is the Abraham Accords, which saw the normalization of relations between Israel and the UAE. Part of the deal (and some have gone so far as to call this a bribe) was that the administration agreed to sell 50 F-35 aircraft, a big stockpile of missiles, and 18 Reaper drones to UAE. The members of Congress, Democratic and Republican, are largely not thrilled to drop so much extra firepower into the middle of that region, especially since Israel would have to be given additional planes/arms, thus potentially triggering an arms race. So, it appears that the sale is going to be rejected. How Trump, or the UAE, will respond to this development is anyone's guess.

It is going to be very interesting to see how Trump's foreign policy will be judged, long term. There may be no aspect of the presidency that requires more diligent, painstaking work than conducting foreign policy. Trump does not do "diligent" or "painstaking," so he went for quick and easy scores, like the photo-ops with Kim Jong-Un, or the killing of Qasem Soleimani. The problem with quick and easy foreign policy is that it tends to be ephemeral, and has little long-term impact. Surely, Trump will leave office having done less of substance, foreign policy-wise, than any president since World War II. So, on a scale of 1 to 10, he might be a 1 or a 2, right? Except that while he didn't do much that was highly positive, he also didn't do much that was highly negative. He didn't effectively cook up a war in Vietnam (like LBJ) or one in Iraq (like Bush 43). He didn't illegally bomb Cambodia (like Nixon), or overthrow the legally elected leader of Iran (like Eisenhower). So, does the absence of big, red debits on his foreign policy résumé push Trump up to a 3 or 4 on that scale of 1 to 10? It is a good question. (Z)

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https://www.electoral-vote.com/evp2020/Pres/Maps/Dec02.html#item-4

[Blue Owl]

1. The Loathsome Loser's Last Lump

Yank him!

[OregonBlue]

2. Note that the "highly negatives" are all GOP presidents.