Oh, what a difference a week makes. This week’s White House Report Card finds our graders in agreement that President Trump recovered from a wobbly week with a strong performance on the foreign stage.
John Zogby
Never doubt the power of the presidency of the United States to change the subject. Not a soul is talking about Mika Brzezinski, while everyone is fixated on the meeting of the new century — President Trump vs. Russian President Vladimir Putin. While there are no good options for dealing with Little Kim of North Korea, the president is not recoiling from this crisis and the U.S. projects confidence that we have the ICBMs that can intercept any attack.
A Labor Department report that shows that the U.S. produced 222,000 jobs in June and an additional 47,000 jobs in May. Meanwhile, his chief media adversary, CNN, looks very, very small — as in cnn — this week.
Grade B+
Jed Babbin
President Trump spent most of the week on defense and foreign policy matters. The announced $1.4 billion arms sale to Taiwan angered the Chinese but made clear America’s continued commitment to Taiwan’s security. He also reportedly told Xi Jinping that if China didn’t step in to stop North Korean aggression, America would act. On July 4th, North Koreans launched their first ICBM. It flew for forty minutes, bringing Alaska into range. Trump’s promise that North Korea won’t be permitted to develop a missile capable of reaching the U.S. is being directly tested. It’s perfectly clear that North Korea isn’t going to be disarmed of its nukes or missiles peacefully.
Great first day with world leaders at the #G20Summit here in Hamburg, Germany. Looking forward to day two! #USA pic.twitter.com/bLKgZKQemw
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 7, 2017
Before arriving in Hamburg, Germany for the G-20 meeting, the president gave a powerful and very Reaganesque speech to a cheering audience in Poland. He reaffirmed our commitment to NATO, and heavily criticized Russia, saying the West will never fall. Trump called on Russia to end its destabilizing activities in Ukraine and its support for Iran and Syria. (The Poles agreed to purchase Patriot anti-missile systems from us.)
Trump took advantage of the G-20 meetings for private sessions with Russia’s Vladimir Putin and China’s Xi Jinping. In his two-hour meeting with Putin, Trump reportedly raised the problem of Russian “hacking” in the 2016 electoral process (which Putin, of course, denied) and made an agreement with Putin on a partial cease-fire in the six-year old Syrian war.
Grade B+
John Zogby is the founder of the Zogby Poll and senior partner at John Zogby Strategies. His latest book is and author of We are Many, We are One: Neo-Tribes and Tribal Analytics in 21st Century America. Follow him at @TheJohnZogby
Jed Babbin is an Examiner contributor and former deputy undersecretary of defense in administration of former President George H.W. Bush. Follow him @jedbabbin
Paul Bedard, the Washington Examiner’s “Washington Secrets” columnist, can be contacted at [email protected]
