| November 8th, 2016

Donald Trump and the Horrible, Terrible, No Good Very Bad Foreign Affair

By: journeymagazine

Words By: Brittany Mobley

He is vindictive, overly emotional, unpredictable, and narcissistic; not the best qualities for an ex-boyfriend, let alone a presidential hopeful. During campaign trails, Donald J. Trump has opened his mouth without much thought – inevitably making enemies out of our allies, and allies out of our enemies.

He has depicted the United States as this dark and dangerous place that he insists only he “can make great again.” He consistently berates the United States and belittles our active president every chance he gets. Back in August, he even went as far as suggesting that President Obama founded prominent terrorist threat, ISIS.

“ISIS is honoring President Obama,” said Trump. “He is the founder of ISIS. He founded ISIS,” he insisted.

He’s referred to Mexicans as “rapists,” managed to put our national security at risk, and has threatened to abandon NATO (the North Atlantic Treaty Organization).

According to its website, “NATO’s essential purpose is to safeguard the freedom and security of its members through political and military means.” It was formed in 1949 to keep peace in post-World War II Europe, and currently has 28 member countries.

America specifically benefited from this alliance after several terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, with NATO invoking Article 5 for the first time – a principle that considers any armed attack against one or more of its members an attack against them all.

However, when asked about defending NATO allies if they are attacked, Trump made it very clear that if he becomes president, U.S. participation in Article 5 would depend on whether the ally under attack had “fulfilled their [monetary] obligations” to the U.S.

Trump has accused our NATO allies of “not paying their fair share,” handling our country affairs like his poor business deals.

“That means we are protecting them, giving them military protection and other things, and they’re ripping off the United States. And you know what we do? Nothing,” said Trump during a campaign stop in Racine, Wisconsin.

“Either they have to pay up for past deficiencies or they have to get out. And if it breaks up NATO, it breaks up NATO,” he concluded.

In an interview with MSNBC, Willie Brown, former state assembly speaker told reporters: “The idea that every day of the week you can rely upon Trump no matter how bad off you are; if you are Hillary, in terms of things you’ve said or you’ve done or been accused of, Trump will give you an exit. And that’s what he does every time he opens his mouth. And that would be incredibly dangerous for this country.”

The problem with words is that you can’t take them back once they’re said or read. So even if Trump doesn’t win the election, the damage of what he has said and done is irreversible.

“The reality is that in politics, just talking about this kind of thing, as a candidate who isn’t even elected yet, already has an impact on people’s expectations and on the relationship in the ‘now’ as opposed to in November or in January,” said Constanze Stelzenmüller, an expert on German, European, and transatlantic foreign and security policy and strategy.

“It is damaging the transatlantic relationship which is based on trust and the assumption that we have a broad commonality of interests and values now because Europeans understand that Trump is not a singular phenomenon, he is a symptom of a broader mood,” she continued.

G.O.P. National Security Officials have even jumped ship to endorse Trump’s opponent, Hillary Clinton.

In an open letter – amongst many other concerns – the officials stated that Trump “has little understanding of America’s vital national interests, its complex diplomatic challenges, its indispensable alliances, and the democratic values on which US foreign policy must be based.

At the same time, he persistently compliments our adversaries and threatens our allies and friends. Unlike previous presidents who had limited experience in foreign affairs, Mr. Trump has shown no interest in educating himself.”

“We are convinced that in the Oval Office, he would be the most reckless president in American history,” the letter concluded.