The Art of the (Foreign) Deal
Like most of us, the president has spent the end of the year tying up loose ends and tidying up. Unlike the rest of us, President Donald Trump’s end-of-year to-do list apparently includes creating a workable peace plan for Ukraine, pushing Israel and Hamas toward the next phase in their deal, and potentially forcing out the leader of Venezuela.
Case in point was this past Sunday and Monday, when Trump pivoted from hosting Ukraine’s leader and chatting multiple times with Vladimir Putin, to spending the next day trying to ensure a fragile deal in the Middle East doesn’t fall apart.
As if that weren’t enough, there were recently quick bombings in Venezuela, plus strikes in Syria and Nigeria.
Critics see a lack of focus on domestic issues, where the president’s deal-making has been much less on display (prediction markets are saying there’s about a 30% chance of another government shutdown).
“Zelensky today. Netanyahu tomorrow. Can we just do America?” Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) posted on X.
The focus elsewhere is “a kind of classic move for an administration that might not be doing so well,” Richard Meagher, a political science professor at Randolph-Macon College, told my colleague Mica Soellner. “If they don’t have a good response to what people are complaining about, they might try to say, ‘here’s an area of strength for us. I don’t have good affordability answers, but I sure am a strong commander in chief and foreign policy negotiator.’”
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