Many world leaders may duck dealing with Trump [View all]

[left-of-center2012]

The litany of offenses allegedly committed by members of the Trump administration continues to grow. As a result of President Trump's own conversation coming to light and the whistleblower complaint, leaked communications and congressional inquiries, the world is learning more about Trump and his closest advisers.

Convincing our global counterparts that the administration was fully focused on their day jobs was a hard sell at any point in this presidency -- but it's even harder now. In light of these new revelations, even if members of the Trump White House are now ready to dive into national security work with their counterparts overseas, it is unlikely that their peers and allies are willing to work with them as substantively.

One of the most important things the national security team can do right now is to convince Trump not to speak with any foreign leaders. His track record of asking foreign powers to investigate his 2020 political rival -- whether it be with Ukraine or China or Australia -- means his phone calls have become a liability, rather than an opportunity to advance US foreign policy objectives.

And leaders, at least ones from healthy democracies, will likely shy away from speaking with Trump for fear of being embroiled in any abuses of power or criminal activity. They'll also be wary of the possibility that any communication with Trump will end up as part of a congressional inquiry or leaked to the media. This means that Trump will likely end up speaking with leaders who only want to manipulate him and diminish his credibility further.

https://www.cnn.com/2019/10/06/opinions/ukraine-call-donald-trump-world-leaders-duck-vinograd/index.html