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Trump and Pompeo's campaign of 'diplomatic vandalism' [View all]
With a week left in power, President Trump and his remaining allies aren’t going gently into the night. In Washington, new impeachment proceedings provoked by Trump’s efforts to overturn President-elect Joe Biden’s election victory add to a growing thicket of urgent legislation awaiting Trump’s successor once he takes office. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has spent recent days planting political land mines for a Biden administration keen to change course on Trump’s foreign policy.
On Saturday, Pompeo announced he was lifting formal restrictions on contacts between U.S. and Taiwanese officials, a sign of Washington’s deepening antipathy toward Beijing but also a curious policy decision for the Trump administration to take in its waning days in power. Successive U.S. administrations have carefully managed their ties with Taiwan, which the United States does not formally recognize because of its relationship with Beijing. In blowing up the status quo, the Trump administration may be forcing Biden into a more direct confrontation with China.
On Sunday, Pompeo confirmed that the State Department would designate Yemen’s Houthi rebels as a foreign terrorist organization, much to the outrage of humanitarian organizations, which have warned of dire consequences for diplomatic efforts and aid operations in the war-ravaged country.
On Monday, the Trump administration opted to classify Cuba as a state sponsor of terrorism, an aggressively ideological decision that further deteriorates relations with Havana and reverses the steps the Obama administration took in delisting Cuba in 2015 as part of a broader thaw.
And on Tuesday, Pompeo declared Iran the “home base” for terrorist group al-Qaeda....
On Saturday, Pompeo announced he was lifting formal restrictions on contacts between U.S. and Taiwanese officials, a sign of Washington’s deepening antipathy toward Beijing but also a curious policy decision for the Trump administration to take in its waning days in power. Successive U.S. administrations have carefully managed their ties with Taiwan, which the United States does not formally recognize because of its relationship with Beijing. In blowing up the status quo, the Trump administration may be forcing Biden into a more direct confrontation with China.
On Sunday, Pompeo confirmed that the State Department would designate Yemen’s Houthi rebels as a foreign terrorist organization, much to the outrage of humanitarian organizations, which have warned of dire consequences for diplomatic efforts and aid operations in the war-ravaged country.
On Monday, the Trump administration opted to classify Cuba as a state sponsor of terrorism, an aggressively ideological decision that further deteriorates relations with Havana and reverses the steps the Obama administration took in delisting Cuba in 2015 as part of a broader thaw.
And on Tuesday, Pompeo declared Iran the “home base” for terrorist group al-Qaeda....
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2021/01/13/trump-cuba-yemen-challenge-biden/
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