Trump claims U.S. is ‘respected again’ in the world. ‘Preposterous,’ say allies and diplomats

The following article by Eli Stokols was posted on the Los Angeles Times website June 7, 2018:

French President Emmanuel Macron, President Trump and German Chancellor Angela Merkel at the NATO summit in Brussels in May 2017. Credit: Armando Babani European Pressphoto Agency

Asked on Monday, President Trump’s 500th day in office, what he considers his top foreign policy achievement, Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders quickly replied: “The strengthening of relationships with a number of foreign leaders.” The State Department said the same with a tweet: “After 500 days in office, U.S. leadership is back on the world stage as the result of @POTUS’s policies.”

It’s no surprise that top administration officials have alighted on that claim. The president has been making it at every opportunity — during a rally last week in Nashville, at the U.S. Naval Academy commencement ceremony and in off-the-cuff remarks to White House reporters Friday, just to name the latest audiences. Continue reading “Trump claims U.S. is ‘respected again’ in the world. ‘Preposterous,’ say allies and diplomats”