Rss@dailykos.com (joan Mccarter) · Tuesday, December 13, 2016, 7:39 pm
The motivation behind this isn't entirely clear, but Presidential-popular-vote-
Two Trump transition sources told me that a representative of the transition team met late last month with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg in Brussels and delivered a private but deliberate message: The incoming administration would like Stoltenberg to replace Deputy Secretary General Rose Gottemoeller. Gottemoeller, who was nominated for the post by Obama this past March, started her job in Brussels only in October and has a multi-year contract. She works for NATO, not the U.S. government.
If NATO leadership agreed to remove Gottemoeller, it would set a new precedent for U.S. government control over American officials in top NATO positions. If the NATO leadership doesn’t agree, the incoming Trump administration could work to marginalize Gottemoeller and render her ineffective. Either way, her role is set to change when the new U.S. president comes into office. […]
Trump transition sources told me that Stoltenberg agreed to look into how Gottemoeller might be removed. But NATO spokeswoman Oana Lungescu told me there has been no formal request from the Trump transition team for Gottemoeller to be let go and that no process for examining such a move is underway.
"This is not a national appointment, and the selection is made in a competition, based on merit," Lungescu said. "Deputy Secretary General Rose Gottemoeller enjoys the full support of Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and the North Atlantic Council."
Gottemoeller has clashed with congressional Republicans, largely over the fact that they perceive her as "soft on Russia" which is, yes, kind of ironic. So perhaps it's Trump big-footing with NATO, which he made clear during the campaign that he has little use for. Maybe it's Trump trying to mollify congressional Republicans to stave off opposition to his more Russia-cozy nominees.
Those supporting Gottemoeller see this as "a whispering campaign by schoolyard bullies to try to pressure an organization they have already disrespected." That's Ellen Tauscher, former member of Congress who served as undersecretary of state for arms control. That's as likely as anything. Maybe it's just Trump beginning what he foreshadowed he'd have in the debates—a mad-man foreign policy, irrational and unpredictable and inherently dangerous.
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