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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region Forums'It Could Have Been Any of Us': Disdain for Trump Runs Among Ambassadors
Ask members of the Washington diplomatic corps about the cables that Sir Kim Darroch, the British ambassador who resigned Wednesday, wrote to London describing the dysfunction and chaos of the Trump administration, and their response is uniform: We wrote the same stuff.
Yes, yes, everyone does, Gérard Araud, who retired this spring as the French ambassador, said on Wednesday morning of his own missives from Washington. But fortunately I knew that nothing would remain secret, so I sent them in a most confidential manner
With a few exceptions including the ambassadors from Israel and the United Arab Emirates, who have supported Mr. Trumps every move foreign diplomats in Washington these days describe living in something of a black hole.
Decisions that directly affect their nations trade relationships or troops are delivered with no notice. Their contacts inside the State Department, the Treasury and Congress freely tell them they have little idea what decisions Mr. Trump may make, or what he may reverse.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/10/world/europe/kim-darroch-trump.html
smirkymonkey
(63,221 posts)that was so wrong.
Skittles
(152,963 posts)he was just telling the truth, saying what most of them (and us) think......it's the leak that is upsetting
at140
(6,110 posts)It was not what she did wrong, it was her honesty.
basically he can't do the job anymore cause of the leak
Caliman73
(11,690 posts)When it has been made known that you believe that your counterparts are incompetent fools.
Mind you, I do not disagree with Darroch's assessment at all. Trump and his administration hacks are the worst in modern history. The problem is that even if there is some tension or adversarial quality in the relationships between ambassadors and their hosts, there can be a respect between the officials who are representing the respective interests of their countries. It would be hard for Darroch to have a meeting to discuss trade, or anything else while knowing he thought you were a complete idiot.
Imagine meeting with a co-worker for a project and you find out that they had just told the manager that they thought you were a complete idiot and they dreaded working with you. How productive would your project be?
smirkymonkey
(63,221 posts)He's only made the mistake of leaking what every other diplomat is thinking. It's kind of sad when the opinion of an absolute buffoon like Donald Trump has this much bearing on a person's job.
Caliman73
(11,690 posts)I often have discussions with my wife about the difficulty of being a journalist or diplomat in the era of Trump. I would likely not last more than a day as a reporter covering him. I would get fired for pressing him and acting "disrespectfully".
The problem is that he deserves no respect. He has sullied the office to the point where the office, as long as he is in it, deserves no respect either.
gratuitous
(82,849 posts)Why should our historic allies expect to know what we're about on any given subject from day to day? Those damn foreigners are practically taking us for granted! They think we'll be on the side of human rights, and justice, and opposed to crimes against humanity, and our allies are just way too complacent about that. Better we shake them up with a bunch of contrarian and frankly ridiculous pronouncements on foreign policy. It'll keep them on their toes. Hostile countries can feel free to laugh at the nation's fecklessness, just so long as they flatter the president with empty praise.