Vladimir Putin Knows More About Donald Trumps Plans Than U.S. Officials Do

[applegrove]

Vladimir Putin Knows More About Donald Trump’s Plans Than U.S. Officials Do

by Nancy A. Youssef at the Daily Beast

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/11/17/vladimir-putin-knows-more-about-donald-trump-s-plans-than-u-s-officials-do.html?via=twitter_page

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To some currently serving U.S. officials, the decision to reach out to foreign leaders is an extension of how Trump ran his campaign: improvised, and more than a little chaotic. If any concrete foreign policy proposals are coming together now, they’re happening, in part, through meetings and calls with U.S. allies and foes alike.

Or as one U.S. defense official explained: “We can’t take every statement literally, even of a president-elect. We just wait and see.”

World leaders seem to understand that now is the time to start shaping U.S. policy under a Trump administration. According to CNN, “a top aide to Abe, Katsuyuki Kawai, said that he’d been told by members of Trump’s transition team that Trump’s previous remarks should not be taken literally.”

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There is no rule that says a president-elect has to consult the administration. But it’s uncommon for the current administration to have no idea what is being negotiated on behalf of the United States, even one with just weeks to serve. With so few details, U.S. national security officials, particularly those who will serve in the next administration, are left reading tea leaves and statements to figure out what’s being negotiated. Pentagon and State Department officials said they were not aware of the calls beforehand.


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[LisaM]

1. That shows an utter lack of disrespect.

Not that I'd expect anything less, but it's not as if we don't have shared national interests. Obama needs to start looking at what he can nail down before he leaves. Now is not the time to be tentative.