Center on the United States and Europe

Everyone knows there’s like two different Trump foreign policies...There’s the official foreign policy, and then there’s the president’s, and normally they exist in tension. But the point in which the president’s one is strongest is on foreign trips. That’s when he is front and center.

[The transcript of the House Foreign Affairs Committee’s interview with Secretary Rex Tillerson is] a significant document [that] confirms suspicions about dysfunctions in Trump’s foreign policy...If there was anything that said, "It’s better than it looks," that would be new...But that was not [in the transcript]. It was really, "It’s as bad or worse than you think."

Trump himself wants diplomacy...But it's been sort of bewildering to all of us as to what those talks would actually look like.

The progressive [2020 Democratic presidential candidates] seem to be suggesting you can significantly cut the budget while confronting Russia and China, which is wishful thinking at best, at least if one looks at the next four years.

Since 2014, Russia has only stepped up its repressive behavior at home and aggressive actions abroad. The decision to allow Russia back into the Council [of Europe] sends the message that this behavior is acceptable. It’s a dangerous precedent for others.

The decision [by the the Council of Europe to reinstate Russia's voting rights] sends the message that it's back to business as usual with Russia, even though Moscow hasn't done anything to change its aggressive behavior...The idea is that it's better to have Russia in the Council because it gives some leverage. But this is a false assumption given that Russia invaded Ukraine and committed numerous human rights offenses before that, while it was a member.

We’re entering the third phase of the Trump administration’s foreign policy...Now comes the reckoning—in which [President Trump] is facing up to the consequences of his own choices and the contradictions within them...I think he had a bit of leeway because America has been as strong as it is, but on Iran and China and Venezuela and a variety of other issues, he’s facing tougher choices.