Josh Earnest to Trump: Take Advantage of State Dept Expertise

It’s not the worst advice, especially when you consider how little Trump knows and his willingness to fall into blunder after blunder, then covering it over with a series of manic tweets.

Advertisement

Josh Earnest, White House press secretary, fielded questions about Trump’s call to Taiwan, and just what it means for diplomatic relations between America and China.

“Whenever you are talking about the president-elect interacting with foreign leaders, it’s incredibly important. It has profound consequences for our country and for our national interests around the world,” Earnest said in response to a reporter’s question about whether Trump is “winging” his discussions with foreign leaders.

“Last week, we had some conversations about a conversation the president-elect had with the prime minister of Pakistan, and I noted in answering questions about that telephone call that President Obama, over the course of his eight years in the White House, has benefited significantly from the expertise, advice and experience of career diplomats at the State Department,” he said. Earnest said that expertise is currently available to Trump and “will continue to be available to him when he enters the Oval Office.”

And this is where Trump loyalists start lurching and screeching about swamp draining and their disgust with “career politicians.”

They want Trump to do all the things he’s never had any experience doing, based on his promises from the campaign trail.

Advertisement

These are the same people who would insist that their child’s open heart surgery be performed by a fry cook, because, as a fry cook, he’s not corrupted from a life as a career surgeon.

Aren’t they?

Unfortunately, even those in Trump’s cabinet can’t keep the lies straight.

Vice President-elect Mike Pence said over the weekend the conversation between Trump and Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen was simply about his election victory, contradicting senior aides to the incoming Republican president who told The Washington Post on Monday the phone call was part of a strategy regarding Trump’s attitude toward U.S.-China relations.

And if Trump’s own team can’t figure out what he’s doing from moment-to-moment, or at least coordinate on their stories, how are the rest of us supposed to feel?

I’m no fan of the Obama administration, by a long shot, but at some point, maybe somebody from his State Department should take it upon themselves to approach the incoming president and give him the elementary version of why he shouldn’t be running ahead of his staff on delicate issues of diplomacy.

Recommended

Join the conversation as a VIP Member

Trending on RedState Videos