Donald Trump

President Trump's Trip Abroad
June 2, 2017

Mark Dillen on the negative image of President Trump's first trip overseas.

The United States is resisting plans to highlight how climate change is disrupting life in the oceans at a U.N. conference of almost 200 nations next week, Sweden's deputy prime minister, who will co-chair the talks, said on Tuesday.President Donald Trump doubts that global warming has a human cause. [...] He tweeted after a Group of Seven summit in Italy on Saturday, "I will make my final decision on the Paris Accord next week!" All other G7 leaders reaffirmed strong commitment to the global deal.

United Nations chief Antonio Guterres said on Tuesday he is trying to convince U.S. President Donald Trump's administration of the value of investing in foreign aid and diplomacy and warned that if Washington pulled back as a global leader, other states would step up. Trump has proposed cutting U.S. diplomacy and aid budgets by about a third, or nearly $19 billion. This includes cutting some $1 billion from U.N. peacekeeping funding and a steep cut to funding for international organizations.

Trump’s trip left a big impression on our European allies. So much, that German Chancellor Angela Merkel turned around and announced at a campaign rally that “the times when we could completely rely on others are, to an extent, over.” Joseph Nye’s theory is that when the citizens of another country have a positive view of the U.S. it improves our chances of being able to achieve our foreign policy goals with that country. This soft power, the power of attraction contrasts with hard power, the power of coercion, such as military might and economic sanctions.

While the agenda for discussion was as academic: 'Actively shaping democracy – taking responsibility at home and abroad', the speakers, Merkel and Obama, were received as if they were rockstars. Obama may not be US president, but he can still pull in the crowds. This was Obama's first public appearance since he left office in January 2017, but the warm reception was quite reminiscent of the kind he would command as president. Germany loves Obama. It was hard to spot a single placard critical of him.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has become the top followed leader on Facebook globally. According to data shared exclusively by the social networking giant with ET, Modi's Facebook Page has more followers than Donald Trump and his official page -PMO India -ranks third followed by Modi page's personal page and President Trump. The data also shows that Digital India, Make in India and Swachh Bharat are the most engaged campaigns that have been run by the government.

In late spring of 1974, Washington newspapers were crammed with headlines about Watergate and impeachment. But President Nixon was 6,500 miles away in Saudi Arabia, in the middle of an ambitious 10-day, seven-stop foreign trip. His ill-fated mission — derided by critics as "impeachment diplomacy" — holds a lesson for President Trump: While successes in foreign policy can help distract from troubles at home, domestic problems can also spill over into foreign policy and have long-reaching consequences.

President Trump Meets with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov

Neal Rosendorf on the turmoil in the Trump White House.

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