Senator John McCain (R-AZ) put it best when he described what President Trump is doing with regard to foreign policy, at least, are tactics, not a strategy. To that he said that he would give the president some time but not much because he hasn't seen any sort of strategy as of yet.
The Trump Administration doesn't really have a foreign policy strategy, now. but it did previously - one crafted by chief strategist Steven Bannon. That strategy was to stay out of Syria, get tough on China economically and align with Russia militarily. Then the realities of being president set in versus being on the campaign trail.
Domestically, the president found himself on the losing end of some major battles then met with the King of Jordan and the president of China. He probably figured that it might be advantageous to listen to someone else, anyone else who been involved with these issues. As Andrea Mitchell reminded us, the president likes winning.
But speaking of domestic policy, that is where Trump does have a strategy, rudimentary as it is, and it's being carried out - less regulations, notably environmental, and on immigration. Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly of course didn't use the term 'deportation force' but he did say that they are hiring more people to combat illegal immigration.
On environmental policy, plain and simple - if the United States pulls out of the Paris Climate Agreement to which 190 nations have signed on, we are essentially abdicating our leadership role into the future. And for what? So that a few can profit immensely in the short term. That's what Republican orthodoxy is all about when it comes to environmental policy.
On domestic policy, President Trump has a strategy but seems to be more closed-minded, unwilling to listen to opposing voices, while on foreign policy where he has no experience he's open-minded to what people [read: foreign leaders] have to say.
At this point it's futile to delineate between the president's tactics and on what issues he actually has a strategy because as Mitch McConnell said this week, Mr. Trump is still learning the job. We're coming up on 100 hundred days so right now we'll just have to wait and see. What we do know for certain is that Mr. Trump hasn't been a good student so far.
Panel: Andrea Mitchell, NBC News; Heather McGhee, President of Demos Action; John E. Sununu, fmr. Republican Senator from New Hampshire; Mark Leibovich, The New York Times
Happy Passover and Happy Easter!
One more thing...
The tax day marches... They matter and Donald Trump releasing his tax returns matters, despite what Mr. Sununu said about it not effecting policy. Between this nondisclosure and now not releasing White House visitor logs, Mr. Trump's presidency is rapidly stripping away transparency norms that forgets one big basic premise: He works for the American people and transparency is required.
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