A two year old quote from an anonymous Indian diplomat is making the rounds again for obvious reasons:
An unnamed Indian diplomat told Bobby Ghosh, the editor-in-chief of the Hindustan Times: “We regard Ivanka Trump the way we do half-wit Saudi princes. It’s in our national interest to flatter them.”
He later added: “Yes, it is a shame that the US should be compared to a kingdom. But that is America’s shame, not Modi’s, or India’s.”
The event that occasioned that remark was Princess Complicity’s participation in a the Hamburg G-20. This weekend’s embarrassing antics in Japan and the Korean peninsula are all of a piece.
Of course, we’ve only seen or heard snippets of world leaders’ reactions to having a father-funded knock-off bag-and-shoe peddler and her failed real estate scion husband thrust so pointlessly on the world stage. How much don’t we know?
It’s safe to assume the people at these events who know what they’re doing are running circles around the Trumps. Whatever the Trumps collect in the way of ego inflation and photo-ops is more than paid for in costs to this country’s foreign policy and trade objectives. Not to mention the reputational hit we’ll bear for generations for allowing the Bargain Basement Borgias to seize power in the first place.
Does it follow that the Democratic Party’s nominee needs to have strong foreign policy experience? Arguably, yes. On the other hand, literally anyone — you, me, either of my dogs, etc. — could walk into the Oval Office on day one and appoint educated, experienced and motivated people to represent America and start cleaning up the mess, and that would be huge.
Anyhoo. Open thread.