In negotiations with foreign diplomats—especially our allies—it is normal to threaten negative consequences against a country if it acts contrary to U.S. demands. Donald Trump’s unique innovation is to threaten personal consequences against individual diplomats and their families.
Politico reports:
Eight envoys, officials and civil society observers from Europe, granted anonymity to describe the fractious closed-door discussions and protect their relationships with those involved, confirmed national delegates had reported they had been threatened with personal consequences if they went against Washington.
“Our negotiators had never seen this before in any international talks,” said one European official, who had spoken to negotiators. “People being summoned to the U.S. Embassy in London—intimidation, threats of cessation of business, threats of family members losing visas.”
Another European Commission official added that diplomats returned home rattled after the meetings: “We had feedback from a number of people involved in the negotiations about the pressure they faced.” …
The U.S. strategy was laid out publicly ahead of the meeting, with a press release signed by the U.S. secretaries of state, transportation, and energy. On top of threats of tariffs, port fees and visa restrictions on crews, the U.S. said it would also look at “sanctions on officials sponsoring activist-driven climate policies.”
To offer personal threats and incentive for a government official to put his personal interests above the interests of the country he represents is the very definition of corruption. Yet rule by bribes and threats is Trump’s view of the normal operation of government, and it is what he is asking his minions to establish as the basis for American diplomacy.
The Executive Watch is a project of the Institute for the Study of Modern Authoritarianism, and its flagship publication The UnPopulist, to track in an ongoing way the abuses of the power of the American presidency. It sorts these abuses into five categories: Personal Grift, Political Corruption, Presidential Retribution, Power Consolidation, and Policy Illegality. Click the category of interest to get an overview of all the abuses under it.
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