Trump asks secretary of state to investigate foreign ally after watching Tucker Carlson's Fox News segment
Forget for a moment that President Trump is using his Twitter platform to highlight the struggles of white farmers in South Africa ("Translation: Make Apartheid Great Again #MAGA," as one wag on Twitter put it), and marvel that the president of the United States asked the U.S. secretary of state on Wednesday night to devote his energies to investigating something he saw on Tucker Carlson's Fox News show.
"Will Trump try anything in the foreign policy realm to distract from his legal woes?" Daniel Drezner asked at The Washington Post on Wednesday morning, explaining why "wag the dog" tactics are rarely used by normal presidents. "Trump being an anomalous type of leader would probably mean more anomalous types of diversionary foreign policy," he said, suggesting that Trump might try to change the conversation away from Michael Cohen and Paul Manafort's federal criminal convictions with "a ratcheting up of the trade wars with our European allies, more summitry with enduring rival heads of state, and a further pushing of foreign policies that polarize at home." So far, no jacked-up tariffs on Britain or summit with Iran's Ali Khamenei, but Drezner can at least check "white nationalist talking points about 'white genocide'" off his list.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Jeff Bezos: cutting the legs off The Washington PostIn the Spotlight A stalwart of American journalism is a shadow of itself after swingeing cuts by its billionaire owner
-
5 blacked out cartoons about the Epstein file redactionsCartoons Artists take on hidden identities, a censored presidential seal, and more
-
How Democrats are turning DOJ lemons into partisan lemonadeTODAY’S BIG QUESTION As the Trump administration continues to try — and fail — at indicting its political enemies, Democratic lawmakers have begun seizing the moment for themselves
-
Judge blocks Hegseth from punishing Kelly over videoSpeed Read Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth pushed for the senator to be demoted over a video in which he reminds military officials they should refuse illegal orders
-
Trump’s EPA kills legal basis for federal climate policySpeed Read The government’s authority to regulate several planet-warming pollutants has been repealed
-
House votes to end Trump’s Canada tariffsSpeed Read Six Republicans joined with Democrats to repeal the president’s tariffs
-
Bondi, Democrats clash over Epstein in hearingSpeed Read Attorney General Pam Bondi ignored survivors of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and demanded that Democrats apologize to Trump
-
El Paso airspace closure tied to FAA-Pentagon standoffSpeed Read The closure in the Texas border city stemmed from disagreements between the Federal Aviation Administration and Pentagon officials over drone-related tests
-
Judge blocks Trump suit for Michigan voter rollsSpeed Read A Trump-appointed federal judge rejected the administration’s demand for voters’ personal data
-
US to send 200 troops to Nigeria to train armySpeed Read Trump has accused the West African government of failing to protect Christians from terrorist attacks
-
Grand jury rejects charging 6 Democrats for ‘orders’ videoSpeed Read The jury refused to indict Democratic lawmakers for a video in which they urged military members to resist illegal orders
