By Max Boot
Columnist
Today at 10:55 a.m. EST
The only thing more cringe-inducing than hearing Trump supporters accuse President Biden of being “divisive” is having them accuse Biden of practicing “appeasement.” Yet that’s just what Republicans are doing when it comes to Russia, Iran, China, even North Korea. In a typical effusion, Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) thunders: “The crisis in Ukraine is in no small part the result of Biden’s appeasement and weakness.”
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I realize this is by now a rote reflex: All Democratic presidents are accused of being budget-busting socialists and lily-livered appeasers, just as all Republican presidents are accused of being heartless skinflints and warmongers. But the lack of self-awareness on the part of Trump supporters is, even by their standards, impressive. If anyone can be accused of being an appeaser, it is the former president, not the current one.
Donald Trump, after all, gave Afghanistan away to the Taliban and even wanted to invite its leaders to the presidential retreat at Camp David. He denied that Russian dictator Vladimir Putin interfered in the 2016 election, praised Putin for having “very strong control over a country” and echoed Russian propaganda by saying in 2016 that “the people of Crimea, from what I’ve heard, would rather be with Russia.” He said he “fell in love” with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un. He praised China’s dictator, Xi Jinping, as “a man who truly loves his country” and, after the coronavirus broke out in China, said, “I think [Xi has] handled it really well.”
Trump never met a dictator he didn’t praise. Yet his fans dare to accuse Biden of appeasement.
Of course, Trump was too incoherent to pursue a consistent policy of appeasement — or anything else. While praising Putin, he also sent arms to Ukraine. While praising Xi, he also launched a trade war with China. And before declaring his love for Kim, he threatened to rain down “fire and fury.” The product of a disturbed mind, Trump’s foreign policy made no sense and produced few positive results. A year later, Biden is still struggling to clean up the mess he inherited.
Only a blinkered partisan would describe Biden’s approach as appeasement. His approach is more accurately characterized as muscular diplomacy. Biden is actually continuing some Trump policies that made sense while avoiding his predecessor’s volatility, incoherence and praise for strongmen.
Republicans bellyache but offer few, if any, alternatives. Indeed, they can’t even get their story straight: At the same time that many Republicans are accusing Biden of being too weak on Russia, Tucker Carlson and the #MAGA grass roots are accusing him of dragging the United States into a needless war with “nuclear-armed Russia.” What a surprise: The Party of Trump is too intellectually incoherent to offer a consistent foreign policy message.
The charge of “appeasement” most nearly applies to Biden’s pullout from Afghanistan — but Trump fans have no standing to criticize given that Biden was merely implementing the one-sided accord that Trump negotiated.
China is another country where Biden’s policy more closely resembles Trump’s than either side would like to admit. Far from appeasing China, Biden has launched a diplomatic boycott of the Beijing Olympics, called out Chinese human rights abuses, strengthened containment with his nuclear submarine deal with Australia and maintained the tariffs Trump implemented.
When it comes to North Korea, Biden is essentially continuing the approach of 2020 Trump (sanctions, deterrence) while eschewing the extremes of 2017 Trump (“fire and fury,” “rocket man”) and 2018-2019 Trump (summits and lavish praise for Kim).
On Iran, Biden has been struggling to undo the disastrous consequences of Trump’s mindless militarism. Trump’s exit from the nuclear accord allowed Iran to turbocharge its nuclear program. The subsequent imposition of sanctions and the killing of military commander Qasem Soleimani did not stop Iran’s imperial expansion; The Post on Friday reported on how Iran is bankrolling a new militia in eastern Syria. So far efforts to revive the nuclear deal have gone nowhere, but what do Republicans propose instead? Even Trump didn’t dare to bomb Iran, and few, if any, Republicans advocate military action.
When it comes to Russia, the main GOP argument seems to be that Biden shouldn’t have suspended sanctions on the Nord Stream 2 pipeline from Russia to Germany. What they ignore is that the pipeline was almost completed despite Trump’s sanctions and that Biden is now preparing a long menu of severe sanctions should Putin attack Ukraine. He is also providing military aid to Ukraine — and not trying to use that aid for domestic political advantage, as Trump did. Most importantly, Biden has achieved a fair degree of unity in NATO in responding to Russia — a welcome contrast from Trump’s attempts to undermine the alliance.
It’s too early to say whether Biden’s foreign policy will be a success or failure. So far he has had both: Afghanistan was a fiasco, the submarine deal with Australia a triumph. But it’s not too soon to reject Republicans’ ridiculous, rote attempts to accuse Biden of “appeasement” while conveniently forgetting how Trump acted. Biden’s foreign policy might be a work in progress, but it’s already a raging success compared with his predecessor’s foreign policy.
Columnist
Today at 10:55 a.m. EST
The only thing more cringe-inducing than hearing Trump supporters accuse President Biden of being “divisive” is having them accuse Biden of practicing “appeasement.” Yet that’s just what Republicans are doing when it comes to Russia, Iran, China, even North Korea. In a typical effusion, Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) thunders: “The crisis in Ukraine is in no small part the result of Biden’s appeasement and weakness.”
Opinions to start the day, in your inbox. Sign up.
I realize this is by now a rote reflex: All Democratic presidents are accused of being budget-busting socialists and lily-livered appeasers, just as all Republican presidents are accused of being heartless skinflints and warmongers. But the lack of self-awareness on the part of Trump supporters is, even by their standards, impressive. If anyone can be accused of being an appeaser, it is the former president, not the current one.
Donald Trump, after all, gave Afghanistan away to the Taliban and even wanted to invite its leaders to the presidential retreat at Camp David. He denied that Russian dictator Vladimir Putin interfered in the 2016 election, praised Putin for having “very strong control over a country” and echoed Russian propaganda by saying in 2016 that “the people of Crimea, from what I’ve heard, would rather be with Russia.” He said he “fell in love” with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un. He praised China’s dictator, Xi Jinping, as “a man who truly loves his country” and, after the coronavirus broke out in China, said, “I think [Xi has] handled it really well.”
Trump never met a dictator he didn’t praise. Yet his fans dare to accuse Biden of appeasement.
Of course, Trump was too incoherent to pursue a consistent policy of appeasement — or anything else. While praising Putin, he also sent arms to Ukraine. While praising Xi, he also launched a trade war with China. And before declaring his love for Kim, he threatened to rain down “fire and fury.” The product of a disturbed mind, Trump’s foreign policy made no sense and produced few positive results. A year later, Biden is still struggling to clean up the mess he inherited.
Only a blinkered partisan would describe Biden’s approach as appeasement. His approach is more accurately characterized as muscular diplomacy. Biden is actually continuing some Trump policies that made sense while avoiding his predecessor’s volatility, incoherence and praise for strongmen.
Republicans bellyache but offer few, if any, alternatives. Indeed, they can’t even get their story straight: At the same time that many Republicans are accusing Biden of being too weak on Russia, Tucker Carlson and the #MAGA grass roots are accusing him of dragging the United States into a needless war with “nuclear-armed Russia.” What a surprise: The Party of Trump is too intellectually incoherent to offer a consistent foreign policy message.
The charge of “appeasement” most nearly applies to Biden’s pullout from Afghanistan — but Trump fans have no standing to criticize given that Biden was merely implementing the one-sided accord that Trump negotiated.
China is another country where Biden’s policy more closely resembles Trump’s than either side would like to admit. Far from appeasing China, Biden has launched a diplomatic boycott of the Beijing Olympics, called out Chinese human rights abuses, strengthened containment with his nuclear submarine deal with Australia and maintained the tariffs Trump implemented.
When it comes to North Korea, Biden is essentially continuing the approach of 2020 Trump (sanctions, deterrence) while eschewing the extremes of 2017 Trump (“fire and fury,” “rocket man”) and 2018-2019 Trump (summits and lavish praise for Kim).
On Iran, Biden has been struggling to undo the disastrous consequences of Trump’s mindless militarism. Trump’s exit from the nuclear accord allowed Iran to turbocharge its nuclear program. The subsequent imposition of sanctions and the killing of military commander Qasem Soleimani did not stop Iran’s imperial expansion; The Post on Friday reported on how Iran is bankrolling a new militia in eastern Syria. So far efforts to revive the nuclear deal have gone nowhere, but what do Republicans propose instead? Even Trump didn’t dare to bomb Iran, and few, if any, Republicans advocate military action.
When it comes to Russia, the main GOP argument seems to be that Biden shouldn’t have suspended sanctions on the Nord Stream 2 pipeline from Russia to Germany. What they ignore is that the pipeline was almost completed despite Trump’s sanctions and that Biden is now preparing a long menu of severe sanctions should Putin attack Ukraine. He is also providing military aid to Ukraine — and not trying to use that aid for domestic political advantage, as Trump did. Most importantly, Biden has achieved a fair degree of unity in NATO in responding to Russia — a welcome contrast from Trump’s attempts to undermine the alliance.
It’s too early to say whether Biden’s foreign policy will be a success or failure. So far he has had both: Afghanistan was a fiasco, the submarine deal with Australia a triumph. But it’s not too soon to reject Republicans’ ridiculous, rote attempts to accuse Biden of “appeasement” while conveniently forgetting how Trump acted. Biden’s foreign policy might be a work in progress, but it’s already a raging success compared with his predecessor’s foreign policy.
