Wall Street Journal (August 17)
North Korea’s “spree of weapons tests—six in just three weeks, including one Friday—carry a potential downside for Pyongyang: diminished returns…. Its provocations don’t appear to be working. The shock value from the North’s military flourishes seems to be lost on President Trump, the key figure in the cash-strapped country’s campaign to shed economic sanctions.”
Tags: : diminished returns, Cash-strapped, Downside, North Korea, Provocations, Pyongyang, Sanctions, Spree, Trump, Weapons tests
New York Times (June 23)
President Trump has made a mess of Iran. His “decision to withdraw from the nuclear deal and impose crippling sanctions, when Iran was in full compliance, was foolish and, predictably, has backfired.” Still, “we are where we are” and fortunately that’s not yet full-scale war. “Finding a way to leverage his massive mistakes while demonstrating the will and capacity to climb down is our least bad option.” If he can act rationally, “with uncharacteristic clarity and resolve,” the President “now has an opening to restart talks on Iran’s nuclear program.”
Tags: Backfired, Compliance, Foolish, Iran, Mess, Mistakes, Nuclear deal, Opening, Sanctions, Trump, War, Withdraw
Reuters (February 8)
“With his ratings down and state funds needed to hedge against new Western sanctions and raise living standards, Russian President Vladimir Putin cannot afford to get sucked into a costly nuclear arms race with the United States.” The tell could be seen after Donald Trump pulled out of the Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF). Putin indicated Russia would do the same thing, but he “did not up the ante.”
LA Times (November 5)
Though the “Trump administration slapped tough U.S. sanctions on Iran’s energy, banking and shipping industries,” there are “gaping holes” as the White House “granted waivers to the six largest importers of Iranian oil.” China, India, South Korea, Turkey, Italy and Japan accounted for “more than 75% of Iran’s oil exports last year.”
Tags: Banking, China, Energy, Exports, India, Iran, Italy, Japan, Oil, Sanctions, Shipping, South Korea, Trump, Turkey, U.S., Waivers
Wall Street Journal (October 17)
“Facing U.S. trade sanctions, the world’s largest exporting nation, China, is cultivating a new image—as an importer.”
Time (September 26)
“President Trump’s efforts to isolate Iran at the U.N. backfired.” “The fiery speeches against Iran,” instead, revealed the “divisions… between the U.S. and its closest allies.” Most “foreign nations have opted to defend the agreement” with Iran, “rather than join America’s outbursts against it.” In fact, Russia, China, Germany, Britain, and France agreed “to set up legal entity to circumvent U.S. sanctions.”
Tags: Allies, Backfired, Britain, China, Circumvent, France, Germany, Iran, Outburst, Russia, Sanctions, Trump, U.N., U.S.
The Economist (May 19)
Unless European “companies or their governments take the fight all the way to the White House, they have little choice but to abide by the long—and sometimes wrong—arm of American law.” America’s threat of sanctions on companies doing business with Iran impacts major players including Total, Airbus, Peugeot, Renault and SWIFT. Still, it remains to be seen if “there is the stomach for such a battle.”
Tags: Airbus, European, Fight, Governments, Iran, Law, Peugeot, Renault, Sanctions, Swift, Threat, Total, White House
USA Today (March 8)
“Chances are slim that anything has changed, but Trump is right to agree to meet. We have to talk.” Still, “most of this seems to be too good to be true…. Trump is to be credited for his effective international sanctions campaign against North Korea, but it is very hard to believe that it has brought Pyongyang to its knees so quickly. Nor is it credible that Kim has turned into a nice guy so fast.”
New York Times (February 17)
“The question is whether Mr. Trump will at last accept the fact of Russian interference and take aggressive measures to protect American democracy. For starters, he could impose the sanctions on Russia that Congress overwhelmingly passed, and that he signed into law, last summer. Of course, this would require him to overcome his mysterious resistance to acting against Russia and to focus on protecting his own country.”
Tags: Congress, Democracy, Elections, Interference, Resistance, Russia, Sanctions, Trump, U.S.
New York Times (August 10)
“Mr. Trump has again made himself the focus of attention, when it should be Kim Jong-un, the ruthless North Korean leader, and his accelerating nuclear program.” His “threats have also diverted attention from a genuine accomplishment, the new Security Council sanctions.” This is a time for “prudent, disciplined leadership…. Rhetorically stomping his feet, as he did on Tuesday, is not just irresponsible; it is dangerous.”
Tags: Attention, Dangerous, Disciplined, Diverted, Irresponsible, Kim, Leadership, North Korea Nuclear program, Prudent, Ruthless, Sanctions, Security Council, Threats, Trump
