In this quote from Sen. Bob Corker — the Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman who, says the Washington Post, has "yet to hear from Trump or other administration officials about impending action in Syria" — is written the history of the Trump administration:
I have no idea. So far, it appears to me to be bluster. Then I saw a tweet come out about us working with Russia right after we’re getting ready to bomb them, so I mean, who knows? Unfortunately, there are a lot of things announced by the administration that never come to pass or evolve.
Of course it's not at all "unfortunate" that a lot of Trumpy things never come to pass; in fact, inaction is our one big hope. But we can allow the senator one misusage when his thrust is so accurate — that thrust being a presidential "tweet" in which we'll work with Russia right after we've bombed them. Nothing so perfectly reflects the shambolic workings of Donald Trump's mind.
In Max Boot's latest, he ponders this phenomenon at some length. "It is not just that Trump changes his mind often, although he does. It is also that when he speaks his mind, it is often impossible to figure out what he’s saying." Boot then provides an example — Trump's March 29 remarks on the U.S.-South Korea trade deal — that will keep you guessing: "So we’ve redone it, and that’s going to level the playing field on steel and cars and trucks coming into this country. And I may hold it up till after a deal is made with North Korea. Does everybody understand that? You know why, right? You know why? Because it’s a very strong card."
I recall Trump saying that and I also recall wondering what in God's name he was talking about. It seems I wasn't alone. Boot: "I have asked numerous Korea experts what this is supposed to mean, and no one has any idea." An aside: the U.S.-South Korea trade deal was a "very strong card" for only South Korea; it effectively changed nothing in our trade relations. It's unclear if Trump understands this or if he is, once again, merely swindling his base.
But, back to the WaPo article, "Trump chooses impulse over strategy as crises mount." It's a must-read, whose byline is from Jeff Bezos. (Just kidding.) The beauty of such exposés is that their sheer objectivity is far more powerful than any personal animus, such as mine or Max Boot's. Take, for instance, this segment of straight reporting from WaPo's article: "Officials at the White House and Pentagon … were blindsided by Trump’s pronouncement at a rally in Ohio in late March that U.S. troops would be leaving Syria 'very soon.'" Among aides, the loose time modifier was up for debate until Trump enlightened them: He "initially told aides that he wanted U.S. soldiers and Marines to leave in 48 hours."
A middle-schooler would better grasp that proposition's feasibility. Nonetheless, there you go — America's foreign policy "thinking" at the very highest level. It's somewhat reminiscent of Hitler in early 1945 ordering around — to the utmost consternation of his generals — Wehrmacht divisions that didn't exist.
This sort of Oval Office dementia can't go on much longer without our paying a huge price. At some point, Trump will insist on the insanely impossible and his aides won't be able to stop or limit his destructively unhinged wish. The catastrophe might come in the Middle East, it might come in Europe or the South Pacific — but come it will.
