Washington: President Donald Trump has shattered norms and niceties on the world stage in his nearly three years in office. Entering an election year, Trump is unlikely to slow down as he seeks what has largely eluded him — a headline-grabbing victory.
Trump closes 2019 with a stain as the third president in US history to be impeached yet also with perhaps his two biggest achievements on the international stage — the US commando raid that killed the leader of the Islamic State group, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, and a new trade pact with Canada and Mexico. But the year was also full of tosses and turns for the tycoon turned president. On his ambition to end the war in Afghanistan, he startled Washington by inviting the Taliban to talks, then declaring the talks dead, and finally resuming them.
On North Korea, where Trump has hoped to broker a landmark accord, a highly anticipated summit with leader Kim Jong Un ended in stalemate. Trump later jump-started talks with a hastily arranged new meeting, but he ends the year with North Korea firing rockets and threatening a “Christmas gift” unless the United States offers concessions.
His efforts on Venezuela have had less whiplash but also little to show, with the United States leading Western and Latin American powers in January in declaring the illegitimacy of leftist leader Nicolas Maduro — who remains in power despite concerted US support for the opposition and sanctions. On one especially tumultuous issue, the trade war with China, tensions eased at year’s end with a “phase one” mini-deal in which Trump backed off on some tariffs and Beijing pledged to buy more US goods.
But the underlying feud remains unsolved between the world’s two largest economies, with the United States expected to press hard in 2020 on key concerns such as China’s state subsidies. In a rare issue that has drawn criticism from his Republican allies, Trump also sent mixed messages on Turkey, ordering a US troop withdrawal from Syria that paved the way for Ankara to attack US-allied Kurdish fighters before Trump pressured the NATO ally with sanctions. Beyond the hotspots, Trump may have broken the most ground with his style, hobnobbing with some of the world’s most autocratic leaders even as he clashes with many close allies, as seen in his testy exchanges at the December NATO summit.
He has torn through the international consensus by withdrawing from the Paris climate accord and a European-backed denucleari-zation pact with Iran, and by unabashedly seeking to boost Israel’s right-wing leader, Benjamin Netanyahu. In a mirror of his domestic agenda in which slashing immigration is a top priority, Trump has cast himself as the unique leader who stands up to the long-accepted status quo. Heading on his NATO trip, Trump’s first words were not on the security challenges of Russia, Syria or Afghanistan but of allies he says contribute less than their fair share.
The 2020 White House campaign opens under the shadow of Trump’s impeachment on December 18, when House Democrats voted overwhelmingly that Trump abused his power by pressuring Ukraine to dig up dirt on domestic rival Joe Biden. Democratic presidential candidates have meanwhile focused on health care and other domestic issues. (PTI)
