"Trump’s Taiwan call wasn’t a blunder. It was brilliant." - Washington Post

[Sultan Of Swing]

Trump’s Taiwan call wasn’t a blunder. It was brilliant.
- Marc A. Thiessen

"Relax.

Breathe.

Donald Trump’s phone call with the president of Taiwan wasn’t a blunder by an inexperienced president-elect unschooled in the niceties of cross-straits diplomacy.

It was a deliberate move — and a brilliant one at that.

The phone call with President Tsai Ing-wen was reportedly carefully planned, and Trump was fully briefed before the call, according to The Post. It’s not that Trump was unfamiliar with the “Three Communiques” or unaware of the fiction that there is “One China.” Trump knew precisely what he was doing in taking the call. He was serving notice on Beijing that it is dealing with a different kind of president — an outsider who will not be encumbered by the same Lilliputian diplomatic threads that tied down previous administrations. The message, as John Bolton correctly put it, was that “the president of the United States [will] talk to whomever he wants if he thinks it’s in the interest of the United States, and nobody in Beijing gets to dictate who we talk to.”"

Read full article here: Trump’s Taiwan call wasn’t a blunder. It was brilliant.

Interesting article. Thoughts?

 

[Revoltingest]

I'm amazed that something so pro-Trump appeared in the Wa Po!

 

[Servant_of_the_One1]

So Trump is now the Messiah that will save White America from the invaders and protect her interest overseas?

 

[Revoltingest]

So Trump is now the Messiah that will save White America from the invaders and protect her interest overseas?

We can't really save one race from invaders without saving the others here too.
It's a package deal.

 

[lewisnotmiller]

Trump’s Taiwan call wasn’t a blunder. It was brilliant.
- Marc A. Thiessen

"Relax.

Breathe.

Donald Trump’s phone call with the president of Taiwan wasn’t a blunder by an inexperienced president-elect unschooled in the niceties of cross-straits diplomacy.

It was a deliberate move — and a brilliant one at that.

The phone call with President Tsai Ing-wen was reportedly carefully planned, and Trump was fully briefed before the call, according to The Post. It’s not that Trump was unfamiliar with the “Three Communiques” or unaware of the fiction that there is “One China.” Trump knew precisely what he was doing in taking the call. He was serving notice on Beijing that it is dealing with a different kind of president — an outsider who will not be encumbered by the same Lilliputian diplomatic threads that tied down previous administrations. The message, as John Bolton correctly put it, was that “the president of the United States [will] talk to whomever he wants if he thinks it’s in the interest of the United States, and nobody in Beijing gets to dictate who we talk to.”"

Read full article here: Trump’s Taiwan call wasn’t a blunder. It was brilliant.

Interesting article. Thoughts?

Thanks for sharing.
I'm yet to be convinced that tweeting is a good idea. But effective foreign policy needs a balance of carrot and stick, so at least economic cooperation between Taiwan and the US makes a lot of sense to me, both practically and diplomatically.

 

[metis]

Based on his many off-the-wall tweets, the last thing I would call any responses would be "brilliant". The irony is that over the weekend we saw many Pub pundits claim as such even though some at least admitted that they don't really know why he took the phone call.

So, between "brilliant" and "clueless" on this matter, I have to at least lean more towards the latter.

 

[Sultan Of Swing]

Based on his many off-the-wall tweets, the last thing I would call any responses would be "brilliant". The irony is that over the weekend we saw many Pub pundits claim as such even though some at least admitted that they don't really know why he took the phone call.

So, between "brilliant" and "clueless" on this matter, I have to at least lean more towards the latter.

The article was written in light of what WaPo discovered yesterday, that the Trump team had been deliberating over this and planning it for months, before Trump was even Republican nominee

 

[metis]

The article was written in light of what WaPo discovered yesterday, that the Trump team had been deliberating over this and planning it for months, before Trump was even Republican nominee

I can't read the article because I have adblocker. However, I did notice it was an opinion piece, so the question I have is are you sure that what was reported in the article is accurate? They cite Bolton in an early paragraph, and I would be VERY reluctant to believe anything that he says based on some of his previous performances plus his political affiliation.

Maybe you can cut and paste from the article where the info comes from because it doesn't mesh with the news that I heard yesterday, including from some Republicans?

 

[Sultan Of Swing]

I can't read the article because I have adblocker. However, I did notice it was an opinion piece, so the question I have is are you sure that what was reported in the article is accurate? They cite Bolton in an early paragraph, and I would be VERY reluctant to believe anything that he says based on some of his previous performances plus his political affiliation.

Maybe you can cut and paste from the article where the info comes from because it doesn't mesh with the news that I heard yesterday, including from some Republicans?

This one isn't an opinion piece, and he links to it

Trump’s Taiwan phone call was long planned, say people who were involved

Excerpt:
"Donald Trump’s protocol-breaking telephone call with Taiwan’s leader was an intentionally provocative move that establishes the incoming president as a break with the past, according to interviews with people involved in the planning.

The historic communication — the first between leaders of the United States and Taiwan since 1979 — was the product of months of quiet preparations and deliberations among Trump’s advisers about a new strategy for engagement with Taiwan that began even before he became the Republican presidential nominee, according to people involved in or briefed on the talks.

The call also reflects the views of hard-line advisers urging Trump to take a tough opening line with China, said others familiar with the months of discussion about Taiwan and China.

Trump and his advisers have sought to publicly portray the call the president-elect took from Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen on Friday as a routine congratulatory call. Trump noted on Twitter that she placed the call."

 

[metis]

This one isn't an opinion piece, and he links to it

Trump’s Taiwan phone call was long planned, say people who were involved

Excerpt:
"Donald Trump’s protocol-breaking telephone call with Taiwan’s leader was an intentionally provocative move that establishes the incoming president as a break with the past, according to interviews with people involved in the planning.

The historic communication — the first between leaders of the United States and Taiwan since 1979 — was the product of months of quiet preparations and deliberations among Trump’s advisers about a new strategy for engagement with Taiwan that began even before he became the Republican presidential nominee, according to people involved in or briefed on the talks.

The call also reflects the views of hard-line advisers urging Trump to take a tough opening line with China, said others familiar with the months of discussion about Taiwan and China.

Trump and his advisers have sought to publicly portray the call the president-elect took from Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen on Friday as a routine congratulatory call. Trump noted on Twitter that she placed the call."

Thanks for this but does it say what's the source? It definitely wasn't covered on the nightly news I watched yesterday evening.

 

[Sultan Of Swing]

Thanks for this but does it say what's the source? It definitely wasn't covered on the nightly news I watched yesterday evening.

I think the Washington Post is just asking you to trust their journalistic integrity

This is their investigative piece, they did the legwork, this is the source.

 

[Laika]

Trump’s Taiwan call wasn’t a blunder. It was brilliant.
- Marc A. Thiessen

"Relax.

Breathe.

Donald Trump’s phone call with the president of Taiwan wasn’t a blunder by an inexperienced president-elect unschooled in the niceties of cross-straits diplomacy.

It was a deliberate move — and a brilliant one at that.

The phone call with President Tsai Ing-wen was reportedly carefully planned, and Trump was fully briefed before the call, according to The Post. It’s not that Trump was unfamiliar with the “Three Communiques” or unaware of the fiction that there is “One China.” Trump knew precisely what he was doing in taking the call. He was serving notice on Beijing that it is dealing with a different kind of president — an outsider who will not be encumbered by the same Lilliputian diplomatic threads that tied down previous administrations. The message, as John Bolton correctly put it, was that “the president of the United States [will] talk to whomever he wants if he thinks it’s in the interest of the United States, and nobody in Beijing gets to dictate who we talk to.”"

Read full article here: Trump’s Taiwan call wasn’t a blunder. It was brilliant.

Interesting article. Thoughts?

This is a refreshingly different point of view(if only for its optimism). Maybe its not the worst idea to explore settling the fate of Taiwan now given that only the oldest members of the Chinese Communist Party will remember before 1949 and the division between communist and nationalist China. There might be an oppurtunity to settle it as memories fade. Thats Quite a foreign policy coup if Trump could pull it off honestly. Plus it would make the Republican base happy pushing against Communist China and supporting a threatened Democracy.

I'll believe it when I see it though.

 

[Parchment]

So Trump is now the Messiah that will save White America from the invaders and protect her interest overseas?

No- he's the Anti-Christo!

 

[David1967]

We can't really save one race from invaders without saving the others here too.
It's a package deal.

Well you just saved me from having to respond to that post. I will have to go back and at least leave a face palm though.

 

[David1967]

So Trump is now the Messiah that will save White America from the invaders and protect her interest overseas?

 

[Riders]

That undereducated tacky rascist, how fu*king dare him talk about China!Well start a revolution for China here, we love China Trump the rump.

 

[columbus]

The article was written in light of what WaPo discovered yesterday, that the Trump team had been deliberating over this and planning it for months, before Trump was even Republican nominee

Is this the same Trump team who planned the Twitter battle with Machado, or a new and different one?

In a somewhat less snarky mode,
why would you believe that this was planned months in advance? As opposed to the Trump team spinning popular Tweets into plans and spinning tweets like "Flag burning should be an actionable offense." into something everybody should forget about because The Donald just says stupid things sometimes?
Tom

 

[Sultan Of Swing]

Is this the same Trump team who planned the Twitter battle with Machado, or a new and different one?

In a somewhat less snarky mode,
why would you believe that this was planned months in advance? As opposed to the Trump team spinning popular Tweets into plans and spinning tweets like "Flag burning should be an actionable offense." into something everybody should forget about because The Donald just says stupid things sometimes?
Tom

It is suggested there is purpose even in the wilder tweets, like the flag-burning one, and the rant against Hamilton, in distracting the media from other more serious negative press:

Stop Being Trump’s Twitter Fool

The New Rules for Covering Trump

And why I'd believe it was planned months in advance is just based on trusting WaPo and their journalism, and the multiple people they interviewed who would have corroborated it.

 

[columbus]

t is suggested there is purpose even in the wilder tweets, like the flag-burning one, and the rant against Hamilton, in distracting the media from other more serious negative press:

Ah.
Trump is working the "post factual" media.
We'll see if the rest of the planet buys into the Trump world, or if he just mucks things up as I predict he will.
Tom

 

[BSM1]

That undereducated tacky rascist, how fu*king dare him talk about China!Well start a revolution for China here, we love China Trump the rump.

You sure you're not looking for the joke forum?