The Daily 202: Europe trip shows how the Trump Doctrine is situational and always in flux
By James Hohmann July 7 at 7:24 AM
THE BIG IDEA: Just seven weeks ago, in Saudi Arabia, President Trump assiduously avoided using the term “radical Islamic terrorism.” Not long ago, he vociferously attacked Barack Obama for not uttering those very words. But pragmatists in the administration, such as National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster, warned the commander-in-chief that this rhetoric is counterproductive.
The term made a comeback in Poland on Thursday. “We are fighting hard against radical Islamic terrorism, and we will prevail,” Trump said in Warsaw.
Comparing the president’s two major foreign policy speeches reveals the extent to which the Trump Doctrine is forever in flux and offers a window into the internal maneuvering to define it.
“This is not a battle between different faiths, different sects, or different civilizations,” Trump told Arab leaders in Riyadh. “This is a battle between barbaric criminals who seek to obliterate human life and decent people.”
In Warsaw, though, Trump referred 10 separate times to a clash of civilizations. “The fundamental question of our time is whether the West has the will to survive,” he told a crowd that included people who had been bused in by the ruling party to cheer for him. “Do we have the confidence in our values to defend them at any cost? Do we have enough respect for our citizens to protect our borders? Do we have the desire and the courage to preserve our civilization in the face of those who would subvert and destroy it?” The president concluded by confidently declaring that “the West will never, ever be broken”: “Our values will prevail, our people will thrive and our civilization will triumph.”
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https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/paloma/daily-202/2017/07/07/daily-202-europe-trip-shows-how-the-trump-doctrine-is-situational-and-always-in-flux/595e8cf9e9b69b7071abcaad/
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