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The dominant view of China in both Washington and in American public opinion is that the United States faces an increasingly ruthless Chinese leadership, requiring that U.S. policy restrain if not contain China’s malevolent influence. Biden will have to craft a China policy that will convince Americans, and Chinese leaders, that he can both compete with and where necessary confront China, relying on diplomacy rather than on threats and bluster. China will be a severe test for a new administration whose highest pri...
By now it is an established fact that Donald Trump may, or may not, accept the results of the presidential election. He will definitely accept a win, and he “will have to see” about accepting a defeat. If he is soundly defeated, as the current polls suggest, he may leave the White House quietly. But if the vote is close, there’s no telling how Trump might react — and, more importantly, how his supporters in Washington and nearby Red states might react. In a worst-case scenario, Trump would refuse to step down and launch...
My moniker for this president is Desperate Donald. Now the Mueller report shows the moniker is a good one: It tells us that Trump went bonkers, fearing Mueller’s appointment spelled “the end of my presidency.” In June 2017 Trump told the White House counsel, Don McGahn, to fire Mueller. McGahn refused. Other attempts by Trump to get subordinates to undermine Mueller’s work also failed, the report shows. Publicly, Trump sought to debunk the Russia investigation on an almost daily basis; 1,100 times, to be exact (accord...
In March I wrote about the visit to Washington of Saudi Arabia’s new leader, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. At the time most of the media were reporting uncritically about him and his regime. In fact, most were glowing in their praise of Salman as a “reformer” and “modernizer,” citing his allowing women to drive and his openness to pro-Western cultural change. I thought such views were near-sighted and failed to see not only that Salman was pulling the wool over people’s eyes about reform but also that Trump’s hea...
Jared Kushner’s latest revision of his financial picture reveals a very wealthy man, and couple, who continue to profit enormously from the Trump presidency. But beyond the numbers lies the fact that Kushner, like his father-in-law, seems incapable of telling the truth about either the full extent of his financial empire or the extent of his contacts with foreigners — Russians especially — whose interests are intertwined with his own. Here’s the current picture for Kushner and wife Ivanka Trump: 1. He holds manager...
By MEL GURTOV Contributor Donald Trump’s visit to NATO headquarters last week was consistent with two of his foreign-policy views: the need to pursue close relations with Russia, and skepticism about NATO’s utility. Despite affirmative comments about NATO from his secretary of state and Vice President Mike Pence, Trump persists in accusing NATO members of failing to pay the “massive amounts of money” he says they owe. Rather than reaffirm the US commitment to NATO’s collective-security principle, as its ministers had expected...
How’s this for bad choices? A recent study by a Harvard group contended with the position of U.S. intelligence agencies that tracking possible terrorists was becoming more difficult because there are too many “dark spots” — places where data can be encrypted to prevent tracking. Harvard “reassured” the FBI, CIA and others that new technologies embedded in common objects will provide (or already provide) plenty of additional tracking opportunities. What are these? How about toothbrushes, toys (yes, Barbie dolls), televisions...
