Trump’s unhinged and dangerous “major policy speech”

Mr. Trump claims he is not an isolationist and wants to ‘make America great again.’ It is hard to see how he achieves that when he describes a completely unhinged view of international engagement that denigrates Muslims and other foreigners and international organizations, including the United Nations. Mostly, his vision of cooperation with allies depends largely on how much they would pay the United States for protection.

AS DONALD Trump observed during a visit to The Post on Monday, we have been critical of his candidacy, so give him credit for agreeing to sit down with us and answer questions for more than an hour. Unfortunately, the visit provided no reassurance regarding Mr. Trump’s fitness for the presidency. ‘I’m not a radical person,’ he told us as he was leaving. But his answers left little doubt how radical a risk the nation would be taking in entrusting the White House to him.

Inexplicably, Trump declared that ‘America First’ would be the overarching theme of his administration. A non-interventionist approach might have its merits in certain situations. But the America First movement got its name espousing an isolationist approach at exactly the wrong moment, urging the United States to stay out of World War II as Adolf Hitler was rampaging through Europe.

“Mr. Trump claims he is not an isolationist and wants to ‘make America great again.’ It is hard to see how he achieves that when he describes a completely unhinged view of international engagement that denigrates Muslims and other foreigners and international organizations, including the United Nations. Mostly, his vision of cooperation with allies depends largely on how much they would pay the United States for protection.

Republican leaders have for years failed to think about much of anything beyond winning the next election. Year after year, the party’s candidates promised help for middle-class people who lost their homes, jobs and savings to recession, who lost limbs and well-being to war, and then did next to nothing. That Mr. Trump was able to enthrall voters by promising simply to ‘Make America Great Again’ — but offering only xenophobic, isolationist or fantastical ideas — is testimony to how thoroughly they reject the politicians who betrayed them.

Donald J. Trump called on Monday for the United States to bar all Muslims from entering the country until the nation’s leaders can ‘figure out what is going on’ after the terrorist attacks in San Bernardino, Calif., an extraordinary escalation of rhetoric aimed at voters’ fears about members of the Islamic faith. A prohibition of Muslims – an unprecedented proposal by a leading American presidential candidate, and an idea more typically associated with hate groups – reflects a progression of mistrust that is rooted in ideology as much as politics.

By alienating the Muslim world with his call for a ban on Muslims entering America, is acting as the Islamic State’s secret agent.” “Trump, by alienating the Muslim world with his call for a ban on Muslims entering America, is acting as the Islamic State’s secret agent. ISIS wants every Muslim in America (and Europe) to feel alienated. If that happens, ISIS won’t need to recruit anyone. People will will just act on their own. ISIS and Islamic extremism are Muslim problems that can only be fixed by Muslims. Lumping all Muslims together as our enemies will only make that challenge harder.

“ISIS says, join the ISIS cause because the world is against Muslims and we, ISIS, are defending Muslims. So, here comes Mr. Trump and says, ISIS is right. Join the ISIS team or join other radicals, or you`re going to be deported, or you`re going to be kicked out of the country. [MSNBC’s The Rachel Maddow Show, 12/7/15]

While Trump assumes that stopping Muslims from entering the U.S. would boost domestic security, experts say such rhetoric bolsters the message of extremist groups like ISIS and, in correlation, increases animosity and potential retribution attacks against the U.S.

Donald Trump’s call for closing America’s door to Muslims is opening a window of opportunity for groups like ISIS.” “Donald Trump’s call for closing America’s door to Muslims is opening a window of opportunity for groups like ISIS, counter-terrorism experts and human rights advocates say.

If the slayings in Orlando were a leadership test for would-be presidents, Donald Trump failed spectacularly.” “Yesterday offered Trump an opportunity of sorts. With the nation stunned by such senseless brutality, the Republican candidate, who speaks frequently about his ability to bring people together, could have taken the high ground and responded to the bloodshed with dignity and empathy. This was Trump’s chance to show that he can dial down the clownish antics, recognize the anguish Americans were feeling, and show that deep down, beneath the television personality, there’s still some honor and decency. Instead, Trump did the opposite. He just couldn’t help himself. If the slayings in Orlando were a leadership test for would-be presidents, Donald Trump failed spectacularly.

He should inspire fear that someone so lacking in judgment and restraint could acquire the powers of the presidency.” “Mr. Trump degrades people, serially insulting women, Latinos, Muslims, immigrants, Jews and others. He erodes the discourse, frequently and flagrantly lying about things such as whether ‘scores’ of terrorists have recently entered the United States as migrants — one of numerous false claims he made in a speech on foreign policy Wednesday. He proposes undermining foundational civic institutions such as the free press. He shows contempt for the separation of powers by threatening the speaker of the House. Where his policy agenda is not thin, it is scary, such as his call to ban Muslims from entering the United States. In short, he should inspire fear that someone so lacking in judgment and restraint could acquire the powers of the presidency.

‘Friends warned me, ‘Don’t speak out, stay out of the fray,’ because criticizing Mr. Trump will only help him by giving him someone else to attack,’ Mr. Romney said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal—the first time the 2012 GOP nominee discussed in depth his reasons for going after Mr. Trump. ‘They were right. I became his next target, and the incoming attacks have been constant and brutal.’ He said he had no illusions he would alter Mr. Trump’s progress toward the nomination or spark a meaningful independent candidacy. His motivation: ‘I wanted my grandkids to see that I simply couldn’t ignore what Mr. Trump was saying and doing, which revealed a character and temperament unfit for the leader of the free world.’

Tragedy after tragedy, Trump has quickly pivoted from the appearance of mourning to self-aggrandizement or petty attacks.” “Trump’s real-time Twitter reaction to tragedy offers a rare and telling glimpse into the mind of the candidate. Tragedy after tragedy, Trump has quickly pivoted from the appearance of mourning to self-aggrandizement or petty attacks.

Donald Trump “faced a backlash” after he congratulated himself for being right on terrorism in the wake of the Orlando massacre. “Donald Trump faced a backlash on Twitter after tweeting his response to the deadly Orlando shooting Sunday morning, when he acknowledged ‘congrats’ for ‘being right’ on terrorism.

Mr. Trump has demonstrated limited knowledge of foreign trade policy, Middle East issues or geography.” “The campaign promises no less than ‘a clear, consistent long-term foreign policy for making America safe and prosperous.’ That’s sure to be an interesting test, given that until now Mr. Trump has demonstrated limited knowledge of foreign trade policy, Middle East issues or geography. A sometime adviser, Roger Stone, said in an interview released Monday that the presidency ‘is show business’ to Mr. Trump, who Mr. Stone said lacks the bandwidth to read a 40-page briefing book. Whatever persona or good manners Mr. Trump chooses to display from now on, he can’t hide his unfitness for the presidency.

Fresh off a 5-0 primary romp, Donald Trump — self-described GOP ‘presumptive frontrunner’ — unveiled what was supposed to be a ‘serious’ foreign-policy address, quite unlike his typical off-the-top-of-the-head ramblings. Feel free to start laughing, and then to plunge into depression that, despite best efforts, this man who could become commander in chief maintained his standing as a vacuous ignoramus. Trump’s 40-minute speech lived down to expectations, and then some. His nostrums for the world stage were incoherent, internally inconsistent and ultimately dangerous.

Calling this speech an incoherent mess seems almost too simple. It was a Frankenstein’s monster of disjointedness, with bits and pieces of neoconservative ideology, isolationism, jingoism, and conventional wisdom dredged up from the fever swamps of the RedState comments section, understandable only to those who speak fluent wing-nut, all of it grafted onto Trump’s paternalistic, outer-borough tough guy shtick.

For one, he has put forward the idea that, despite U.S. efforts to prevent further nuclear proliferation, it is probably ‘going to happen anyway.’ Trump has suggested that the U.S. is currently too economically and militarily weak to effectively deter allied nations facing regional threats (such as Japan, South Korea, and Saudi Arabia) from developing nuclear weapons of their own. And, he told the New York Times Editorial Board that if the U.S. ‘keeps on its path, its current path of weakness, they’re going to want to have that anyway, with or without me discussing it.’ Arguably worse than his claims of resigned acceptance to the spread of nuclear weapons has been his active support of the further development of such weapons, as well as multiple statements suggesting how he would consider using them.

Seeking to ‘make America great again,’ it seems instead likely that Trump would accelerate China’s rise to superpower status and abandon or antagonize US allies, leaving America weak and isolated, its economy devastated by trade wars.

Equally bizarre was Mr. Trump’s casual attitude in endorsing the idea of Japan and South Korea developing their own nuclear weapons, which would reverse America’s longstanding efforts to prevent the number of nuclear-armed states from expanding.

Trump’s multiplying Republican apologists do not deny the self-evident — that he is as clueless regarding everything as he is about the nuclear triad. These invertebrate Republicans assume that as president he would surround himself with people unlike himself — wise and temperate advisers. So, we should wager everything on the hope that the man who says his ‘number one’ foreign policy adviser is ‘myself’ (because ‘I have a very good brain’) will succumb to humility and rely on people who actually know things.