Rss@dailykos.com (mark Sumner) · Monday, December 05, 2016, 10:53 am
Donald Trump can pretend that what happened in his chat with Taiwan’s president was “a courtesy call,”
“To be honest with you, the waters here seem like a little bit of a tempest in a teapot,” Pence said, arguing the media had stirred up any controversy.
But his actions represent both an astounding, willful ignorance and an intentional effort to wreck U.S.—China relations.
Donald Trump’s protocol-breaking telephone call with Taiwan’s leader was an intentionally provocative move that establishes the incoming president as a break with the past, according to interviews with people involved in the planning.
The historic communication — the first between leaders of the United States and Taiwan since 1979 — was the product of months of quiet preparations and deliberations among Trump’s advisers about a new strategy for engagement with Taiwan that began even before he became the Republican presidential nominee, according to people involved in or briefed on the talks.
Trump has made the assumption that he can just wheedle, bully, threaten, and lie his way through conversations with foreign leaders. After all, it’s how he’s functioned in every other aspect of his life. And he means to push China into a corner and force a confrontation.
China’s Foreign Ministry said on Saturday it had lodged “stern representations” with what it called the “relevant U.S. side,” urging caution on the issue.
And while Trump surrogates were out trying to make this sound like much ado about nothing, Donald Trump was doing what he does when challenged on any subject: making things worse.
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