May 02, 2017
US China Envoy Likely to See Responsibilities Grow Asia-Wide
They say “personnel is policy.” In foreign relations, U.S. President Donald Trump largely has neither. Key national security posts across the government remain empty, and many of the appointments he has made seem as likely to burn out as they do to eventually shape global affairs.
Mike Flynn became the shortest-serving national security advisor in history, and White House advisor Steve Bannon, while still exerting nationalist influences, has reportedly faded. Hapless Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, a much-vaunted international dealmaker from the private sector, has suffered significant missteps abroad and is hemorrhaging credibility.
As a result, this week the Senate is considering an unlikely heir for Trump’s entire foreign policy in Asia: the mild-mannered and mustachioed Iowa Governor Terry Branstad.
Read the full article at The Diplomat.