Trump's racism-driven foreign policy.

The absence of American values

TAT readers,

Turning off foreign aid by the Trump administration, is just one more datapoint of many, that clearly demonstrate the level of incompetence in foreign policy. One aspect of this EO/ Executive order also clearly demonstrates willful and cruel racism in Trump and his party, which supports him unconditionally. The announcement was regarding turning off HIV and Malaria funding to over 50 nations, focuses exclusively on nations populated by people of color. His decision is a death sentence for millions and will undermine the security of all nations affected.

Foreign aid in general, is a key component of US national security and foreign policy. It provides us access into nations that can benefit from US and Western engagement rather than their only other true options, China and Russia. For the past decade, the US and most of the world has been in what the Pentagon and Dept. of State call, GPC or Great Power Competition. China especially has filled the void when the US didn’t step up and help out. Via Xi’s China Dream Strategy which depends on the BRI/ Belt and Road initiative, China has beaten the pants off of the US in gaining cooperation around the world in areas critical to our national security, since approximately 2015.

Additional reading on China’s, China Dream Strategy and the BRI

• China's ascension through a narrative lens - Asia Power Watch

• Part I: The roadmap to mitigating Xi’s aggression is called: “Using the BRI as a non-kinetic, Targeting Diagram.

• Part II, Denying Xi, his worst instincts - by Paul Cobaugh

• Part III, Declawing Pooh or... stopping the threat from Xi's global aggression

• In Latin America, our adversaries are playing chess while the US national security community, plays checkers.

I have written and co-written strategies and planning to regain our lost influence, but the morass of Pentagon, US State and Intelligence community bureaucracy, has hobbled any reasonable efforts to move the US forward. To be fair, the Biden administration did pick up some momentum to an extent but had to make up for the disastrous efforts of the first Trump administration. In other words, we are no better off than we were in 2015. To make matters worse, Trump’s first administration engaged in and lost a tariff war with China, which consumers paid the price for. He runs our government like the Mob runs their family, and aggression and intimidation, are the only tools he understands.

Killing off thousands of people of color in Africa, Asia and to some extent, South and Central America, is not only racist, but is as Forest Gump stated so profoundly, “stupid is as stupid does.”

Not only is cutting off foreign aid irresponsible and dangerously stupid, but its cruelty puts a target on the US, by everyone from foreign adversaries to aggrieved family members of the dead, dying and permanently disabled. This is particularly true on the continent of Africa where both China and Russia are light years ahead of the US, regarding productive engagement with the nations vital to the global economy. Just like the Cold War, foreign aid helps to build better relationships with nations than they can find with either Xi or Putin. Murdering people of color, by denying them life-saving aid, is no different than denying them food and water.

We won the Cold War for the simple reason that, Western Democracy was a great deal more attractive than what the Soviets were selling, Communism. With America now representing an authoritarian nation, pledged to further marginalizing millions of human beings around world, just means that we will lose further, precipitously so. Xi’s and Putin’s calling cards are also, intimidation, human rights abuse and predatory financial agreement but at least nations know what they are getting into with them. What Trump is doing is a very clear message, America can no longer be trusted as a reliable and moral partner. Even Xi looks better to them. No one wants Putin, even if he could afford to help at the moment, which he cannot.

Trump’s message to the world is simple, erase the words on the Statue of Liberty’s base and slam the door in anyone’s face, unless they can pay extortion rates. Yup, once again Trump is emulating his lifelong Mob ties and heroes. Just like we have found out in the last few days, America no longer represents our true American values. Under Trump and his henchmen, the US has become what I term, the Four Horsemen of the MAGA Apocalypse, Autocracy, Oligarchy, White Christian Nationalism and Violence. This is not the America that I served for so much of my life. On a personal level, I talk weekly with friends, former colleagues and our allies around the world. and am running out of ways to apologize for what America has become.

Turning off foreign aid is cosmically stupid. Doing it to people of color primarily, is racist. Cruelty and stupidity are not American values, no matter how brainwashed the MAGA GOP is in the Trump era. Cutting off foreign aid and all funding to NIH and CDC research, while forbidding these agencies to communicate with the American people, is simply him to US citizens, the same as he’s doing to others around the world. He and the GOP are holding everyone’s health hostage. If you are not yet ashamed and furious, ask yourself, why not? It only gets worse from here on.

More later in the week,

Paul