The president’s speech at his political rally in Phoenix Tuesday night was a disjointed ping-pong between a prepared address and Donald Trump’s own extemporaneous comments. In other words, it was a typical Trump campaign speech.
The pre-written remarks, which for the most part bookended the 77-minute long speech, focused on themes of unity. Trump echoed the introductory remarks he made during his Monday night address on Afghanistan, seemingly responding to criticisms of his reaction to the recent violent demonstration in Charlottesville, that “loyalty to our nation demands loyalty to one another.” He also ticked off a list of accomplishments, including the successful nomination of Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court.
But in the vast middle of his speech, Trump returned to the form he perfected on the campaign trail. He strayed from his teleprompter for a long disquisition about the dishonest news media. He complained about the Senate’s inability to repeal Obamacare, peppering his speech with a mantra of “one vote!” to note the margin of defeat.
Trump spent a big chunk of time relitigating his response to Charlottesville, claiming that the news media did not accurately report or treated unfairly his initial statement. He read from his statement on Saturday in which he said he condemned “in the strongest possible terms this egregious display of hatred, bigotry and violence.” But in his recital of this statement in Phoenix, Trump cut off the most important part: “on many sides.” That’s what drew the most criticism—at a moment when a neo-Nazi and far-right demonstration grew violent and resulted in the death of one person and the injury of several others, and when many of those who organized and participated believed they were doing so in Trump’s name and in service to his presidency, Trump had an obligation to call out that group specifically.
There were also thinly veiled attacks on Arizona’s two Republican senators, John McCain and Jeff Flake, who have criticized Trump. McCain was one of the deciding votes against the Senate’s Obamacare repeal legislation, while Flake has vocally opposed Trump since before the election. Earlier this week Trump expressed enthusiasm on Twitter for one of Flake’s Republican challengers in next year’s Senate primary, but the president did not mention Kelli Ward’s name in Phoenix.
Mark It Down—“Personally, I don’t think we can make a deal. So I think we’ll end up probably terminating NAFTA at some point.” – President Trump, August 22, 2017.
Almost entirely absent from Trump’s Phoenix remarks were references to the speech he gave the night before, which clarified several elements of the administration’s Afghanistan and South Asia policy. According to the president, we’re sending more troops and staying in the fight against the Taliban and al Qaeda in Afghanistan. We’re remaining in the war not to do “nation-building” but to “kill terrorists,” and our involvement will be based on conditions, not timetables. We’re getting tougher on Pakistan and willing to use the leverage of nearly $1 billion in aid to change that country’s behavior on harboring terrorist groups and the Taliban’s command structure.
But there remains confusion on exactly what our policy is on the Taliban. As my colleague Stephen Hayes points out, White House talking points on the new South Asia strategy identify the Taliban as a terrorist group. In his speech, Trump grouped the Taliban with other “terrorist organizations” given safe haven in Pakistan. The president sounded skeptical of the ability for the Afghan government to settle peacefully with the Taliban.
“Someday, after an effective military effort, perhaps it will be possible to have a political settlement that includes elements of the Taliban in Afghanistan, but nobody knows if or when that will ever happen,” he said. I’m told that was a late addition to Trump’s remarks, one that contradicts what the administration had been saying both in the lead up to the speech and afterward.
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said immediately after the speech Monday, “The Taliban has a path to peace and political legitimacy through a negotiated political settlement to end the war. We stand ready to support peace talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban without preconditions.” On Tuesday, Tillerson reiterated this viewpoint. “This entire effort is intended to put pressure on the Taliban to have them understand: you will not win a battlefield victory,” he said at a State Department briefing. “We may not win one, but neither will you. At some point, we have to come to the negotiating table and find a way to bring this to an end.”
I asked a White House official to clarify the administration’s policy toward the Taliban. Is it a terrorist organization that ought to negotiate with the Afghanistan government with the facilitation of the United States? The official declined to give a straightforward answer. “We’d like to see reconciliation between various Afghani parties,” said the official.
Mark It Down II—“I’ll make a prediction, I think he’s going to be just fine.” —President Trump, on whether he will pardon former Maricopa (Arizona) County sheriff Joe Arpaio, August 22, 2017.
The next big legislative hurdles facing Congress when it returns from its August recess are the need to pass both a budget resolution to keep the government open and a bill to raise the debt ceiling. As it had been for the Trump era so far, the question isn’t if Republican majorities will keep the government open, but how—either “cleanly” or, as House conservatives will push, with some sort of conditions on border security and/or spending cuts.
A White House source predicts there will be a last-minute, clean continuing budget resolution, extending funding for two or three months to prepare for a bigger fight down the road over border security funding. Why not have that fight in September, especially on something the White House would very much like to see?
“I don’t think Congress is ready for that battle,” said the source.
Mark It Down III—“If we have to close down our government we’re building that wall.” —President Trump, August 22, 2017.
The divide between President Trump and Senate majority Mitch McConnell has gone from bad to worse. Jonathan Martin and Alex Burns at the New York Times have some juicy details of the two Republicans’ rapidly decaying relationship.
“In a series of tweets this month, Mr. Trump criticized Mr. McConnell publicly, then berated him in a phone call that quickly devolved into a profane shouting match,” the Times reports. “During the call, which Mr. Trump initiated on Aug. 9 from his New Jersey golf club, the president accused Mr. McConnell of bungling the health care issue. He was even more animated about what he intimated was the Senate leader’s refusal to protect him from investigations of Russian interference in the 2016 election, according to Republicans briefed on the conversation.”
The Times also reports McConnell has “mused about whether Mr. Trump will be in a position to lead the Republican Party into next year’s elections and beyond.” Yikes.
Feature of the Day—“Fake Polls Are a Real Problem”
A welcome is in order for Gregg Easterbrook, who has brought his long-running (and recently on hiatus) football column Tuesday Morning Quarterback to THE WEEKLY STANDARD. Here’s a taste of Gregg’s first TMQ for TWS:
Song of the Day—“Hold On” by Alabama Shakes.
