Questions for President Trump: Foreign Policy

This column will pose three of the many questions President Trump should be pressed to answer regarding foreign policy.

1. America’s Allies and Adversaries

Mr. President, when interacting with allied leaders, you have made demeaning gestures and offered highly public insults. For example:

You threw starburst candy at Chancellor Merkel of Germany and said, “ Here, Angela, don’t say I never gave you anything”;

Recently ,you publicly called Prime Minister Trudeau of Canada “two- faced”;

In contrast you have called Putin (Russia) a terrific person, Xi Jinping (China) “ an incredible friend. You said that Kim Jong un ( North Korea) “ has a great a beautiful vision for his country .. and he does not want to disappoint his friend, Donald Trump.”

You have insulted the democratically elected leaders of allied countries and praised the autocratic or dictatorial leaders of adversaries. How does that make America great in either moral or national security terms?

2. Israel: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has publicly declared that he plans to annex to Israel a section of the West Bank that contains most of the Jewish settlements. Annexation would mean that any territory left over would be so small and non-contiguous as to obviate the possibility of a viable Palestinian state in the West Bank.

Your Administration recently declared that the Jewish settlements are not illegal in the opinion of the United States. Netanyahu now claims that he has the tacit support from the Trump Administration for his planned annexation. Further, Netanyahu has said that he discussed this issue with Secretary of State Pompeo at their recent meeting in Lisbon. According to Netanyahu, only the timetable for the annexation was not part of the conversation. According to the Times of Israel, the time table Netanyahu had in mind was the end of this year. That may be deferred pending the outcome of Israel’s elections scheduled for March 2020.

Mr. President, annexation of a large peace of the West Bank would mean the end of any realistic possibility of peace between Israel and the Palestinians based on a Two-State Solution (a Jewish State of Israel living in peace next to an Arab State of Palestine).

Please clarify the position of the US government: Has your Administration in fact indicated to Israel that annexation of the Jewish West Bank settlements is acceptable to you? If so, what possible justification do you have?

The House of Representatives recently passed a resolution explicitly backing a two state solution and implicitly opposing Netanyahu’s annexation planWill you announce support for that resolution? If not, will you tell Netanyahu in some other way that annexation will not be tolerated by the US?

3. NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization): Mr. President, you probably know that the NATO alliance has been a cornerstone of America’s relationship with Europe since it was established in 1949. At the time, NATO’s purpose was to counter the military power of the Soviet Union. Although the Soviet Union no longer exists, Russia still presents a military threat. Do Do you that that the NATO alliance is still important to America’s security interests? you that that the NATO al

Your position regarding NATO and mutual defense is unclear.

In 2018 you stated  that the US would come to the aid of NATO allies only if they “fulfill their obligations to us.”  The obligations you have repeatedly cited are the failure of most NATO member countries to live up to their commitment to spend 2% of their Gross Domestic Product on defense. You complained about this at the December 2019 NATO conference in London.

Given your criticism that most NATO countries have not lived up to their defense commitment, do you think that our country should remain committed by treaty to defend them ?

Should the US still defend those countries that have met their defense spending commitment ( Greece, Poland and the Baltic states)?

The New York times reported that you discussed leaving NATO completely with some of your aides.  

The British newspaper The Guardian reported that our allies fear that your re-election could sound death knell for NATO.

President Trump, do you believe that NATO is still important for the national security of the US? Do you have any plans to leave that alliance?

Before you answer, consider these two facts: NATO has invoked Article 5, the alliance’s commitment to mutual defense, only once in its history: in response to the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States.r More than 1,100 non- US NATO troops have been killed in Afghanistan.

We as American citizens have a great deal at stake. Foreign policy issues are frequently complicated and the outcome of decisions is often not as anticipated. Unless the United States is involved in a high-casualty military conflict, domestic issues may be more important to many of us. Nevertheless, foreign policy effects our nation’s security and our public finances. It also reflects our moral values. Let’s ask the presidential candidates pointed questions even if the candidates are less than candid with their answers.