It’s a mark of President Trump’s immaturity that he believes all the answers should come to him – far more than Bush’s infamous “I’m the Decider” remark. Consider Steve Benen’s remark on Trump’s recent meeting with former Colombian Presidents Uribe and Pastrana concerning the treaty with the revolutionary group FARC:
And then there’s the significance of U.S. policy towards Colombia. While Trump hasn’t expressed an opinion about the proposed agreement, what we have here is a group of powerful freelancers: the Miami Herald noted that the former Colombian presidents circumvented diplomatic channels to speak to Trump, and at the same time, Trump appears to have hosted this conversation without coordinating with the U.S. State Department, which is supposed to be responsible for overseeing high-level diplomatic talks.
Indeed, that’s what makes stories like these so interesting to me; the president’s willingness to marginalize the State Department, failing to even consider the agency as an afterthought, is an astonishing development for U.S. foreign policy.
In a normal Administration, this would have gone through the Secretary of State, who would have added his or her years of experience in these matters, along with their subordinates views, as to how to handle the request to meet, as well as the viewpoints of the requestors.
Trump has little to no experience, no demonstrated ability to plan or deeply think, and no willingness to use other people’s advice and judgment. His conception of government, amply demonstrated by his reactions to the blockages of his Executive Orders, is that of the strong man making decisions and the hell with the consequences.
How long will Congress permit this to continue?
