Clown Car Diplomacy
Maybe Trump’s developer friends should stick to real estate
We tend to digest the news in small bites because, as has been said, the news is the first draft of history. But sometimes we need to step back and take a look at the wide shot to understand the broader implications of what is going on and why.
The president was elected by followers who bought the whole “make America great” scheme hook, line, and sinker. That hasn’t happened. Instead of a country in the throes of greatness, most economic indicators are pointing in the same direction as the president’s approval rating — straight down. Meanwhile, beyond our borders, chaotic is a charitable description of America’s international relations.
Less than a year into the second Trump term, the long view of American foreign policy, if you can even call it by such sober terminology , is a confusing jumble of transactional moves with no through line.
It’s guided by the whims du jour of our allegedly “America First” president. Even if you don’t agree with his isolationist stance, it is a definable policy, but one that he seems to have abandoned on a whim.
This president – aided by his business cronies with no diplomatic or foreign policy experience – has systematically put this country in the precarious position of being less safe than it was on Inauguration Day.
The United States has long relied on trust and credibility in diplomatic relations. Don’t look now, but most world leaders are laughing at the idea that the United States is a reliable partner. The one-sided attempt to end the Russia-Ukraine war is an example of an administration that has lost its way and its reputation around the world.
For months, the president has been trying to broker a “peace” deal between Ukraine and Russia. Just a reminder, it was Russia that illegally invaded the sovereign nation of Ukraine in February 2022. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky agreed to a ceasefire months ago, one that Russian President Vladimir Putin has continued to violate. And now Putin believes he is entitled to a myriad of concessions from Ukraine and the world.
“Peace” plan is the Trump administration’s nomenclature. It is not a peace plan, it is a surrender plan being foisted on the Ukrainians, the victims, who have not even been invited to the negotiating table.
The back-and-forth over the plan and who is actually leading the negotiations is dizzying. Reuters reported on Wednesday that the origins of the U.S.-sanctioned 28-point plan, which was made public last week, came directly from Russia.
How did it get handed off to the Americans? By way of Steve Witkoff, a billionaire New York real estate developer whose son is a co-founder of Trump’s cryptocurrency company, and the president’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, who was supposed to be out of government affairs. In October, they met with Kirill Dmitriev, the head of Russia’s sovereign wealth fund. Over several days in Miami, they crafted the Russia-Ukraine plan and discussed future business deals, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Let that sink in. This enormously important deal, to end a horrific war that has vast implications for the security of Ukraine, Europe, and the rest of the world, was written by a Putin stooge and two pro-Russia American billionaires whose goal in life is to enrich themselves, not by the Secretary of State.
The actual Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, who apparently didn’t know about the draft of the deal, is now trying to insert himself into the process, but with little success.
Hold on. There’s more. Today Bloomberg reported, and the White House didn’t deny, details of a leaked phone call between Whitkoff and Dmitriev, instructing the Russian on how to coach Putin to sell the deal to Trump. You can’t make it up!
A Republican in Congress said Whitkoff can’t be trusted to lead the negotiations. Rep. Don Bacon from Illinois admonished, “Would a Russian paid agent do less than [Witkoff]? He should be fired.”
This is the same Witkoff who has been heavily involved in Middle East peace negotiations. The United Nations reports both sides have violated the recently agreed-upon Gaza ceasefire hundreds of times.
One of the most concerning aspects of the possible Russian plan is what it means for NATO, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Founded in response to the atrocities of the Second World War, NATO is an alliance of 32 countries whose core principle is collective defense. An attack against one member is considered an attack against all.
Europe is still stinging from the administration’s anti-European rhetoric. From JD Vance’s attacks on U.S. allies at a security conference in Germany, to Trump and Vance bullying Zelensky in the Oval Office, to Trump’s devastating tariffs, which are jeopardizing $9.5 trillion in annual trade, the administration’s actions send a clear message: the U.S. is no longer loyal to its European partners.
And those partners are rightfully nervous. The German Foreign Minister warned this week his country’s intelligence assessments point to Russia planning to invade a NATO country by 2029. Who really thinks Putin will stop in Ukraine? Moscow must be giddy over Trump 2.0.
Trump has further damaged American interests abroad by boycotting two international summits. The first, the G20 Summit, an economic forum of the world’s top economic powers, was held in Johannesburg, South Africa last weekend.
Trump’s stated reason for not going is the widely discredited claim that South Africa’s white farmers are victims of discrimination , the same logic he employed to give preferential treatment to white South Africans in the U.S.’s greatly diminished refugee program.
Besides showing the world just how racist he is, absenting the U.S. from such an important meeting is a gift to our biggest rival, China. The same can be said about Trump’s decision to skip COP30, the annual United Nations climate change conference. It was the first time in 30 years that the U.S. government has not attended.
A quote often credited to famed former Texas governor Anne Richards is more than apropos in this moment: “If you’re not at the table, you’re on the menu.”
As Trump continues to rack up losses at home, his desire to assert himself abroad grows by the day. We are seeing it play out in the chaos he is causing in South America, pushing for regime change in Venezuela.
The administration has designated the Cartel de los Soles, which it claims is headed by President Nicolás Maduro, a foreign terrorist organization. This gives U.S. law enforcement broader powers to combat it. The only problem is, the cartel reportedly doesn’t actually exist. The Cartel de los Soles is a name Venezuelan journalists use to label corrupt members of their country’s military.
The efforts to oust Maduro are further rankling Trump’s America First-MAGA loyalists and threatening the stability of the region. But when it comes down to it, what Trump really wants is Venezuela’s oil.
The amount of self-serving corruption that the Trump administration has brought to American foreign policy in just 10 months is staggering in its width and depth . With no guard rails and his two closest lieutenants, Vance and Rubio, jockeying for position of heir apparent, there is no reason to think things are going to improve.
And all this doesn’t dwell on tariffs, especially with China. Since “liberation day” last April, Trump’s tariffs have pushed prices in the U.S. higher. That’s what tariffs do. But we’ll save that for another time. For the moment, we’ll just note that early indications suggest that China is the big winner in Trump’s tariff wars, and that America is fast losing respect and influence around the world. We are weaker internationally than we were when this president first took office.
As we pause to celebrate Thanksgiving, I’d like to take a moment to say thank you. I’m so proud of the Steady community for your engagement, passion, and love of our country.
Your comments fill my heart and keep me going.
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Dan
I can remember when peace deals were brokered by trained diplomats, not a NYC real estate broker who doesn’t speak Russian nor use a State Department interpreter. What could possible go wrong?/s
This is what happens when you turn this over to amateurs. This government is replete with them.