The president has started off the new year in his own inimitable fashion. Diplomacy, according to Donald Trump, is something conducted in the middle of the night through social media with no consideration of future implications.
That’s why today, out of the blue, the president decided to tweet about Pakistan, citing U.S. aid to the country as a point of contention, because of the “lies and deceit” we’ve received in return. While American-Pakistani relations are a valid area of concern and there is much that can be done, an early morning tweet is hardly the best way to fix the extant problems.
The question is does he not realize how useless his behavior is, or does he simply not care? One tends to lean towards the latter increasingly. The president tweeted:
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The United States has foolishly given Pakistan more than 33 billion dollars in aid over the last 15 years, and they have given us nothing but lies & deceit, thinking of our leaders as fools. They give safe haven to the terrorists we hunt in Afghanistan, with little help. No more!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 1, 2018
It’s hard to overemphasize how uniquely unfit for office Donald Trump is at moments like this. International diplomacy is a careful art, one which people study to master their entire lives. The problem is that Trump is a man who’s never had to consider something seriously his entire life, and now he’s the single person responsible for the world’s most important considerations. It’s a nightmarish pairing.
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But he wasn’t done there. Trump decided Twitter was also the means by which he would resolve American-Iranian relations, while also taking a shot at President Obama. With the eyes of the world on the Persian nation, the president of the United States concocted a message: “TIME FOR CHANGE.” How that change will occur, and what kind of change it will be are specifications better left to other men apparently. Trump tweeted:
Iran is failing at every level despite the terrible deal made with them by the Obama Administration. The great Iranian people have been repressed for many years. They are hungry for food & for freedom. Along with human rights, the wealth of Iran is being looted. TIME FOR CHANGE!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 1, 2018
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The new year is off to a Trumpian start. Let’s hope it has better things in store than 2017.
