"Trump's chaotic foreign policy."
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Russ Roberts (https://trendsingeopolitics.blogspot.com).
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March 17, 2025 |
Hello, everyone. Today at WPR, we’re covering U.S. President Donald Trump’s chaotic foreign policy and Europe’s economic policy pivot. |
But first, here’s our take on today’s top story: |
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| President Donald Trump meets with President Nayib Bukele of El Salvador at the InterContinental Barclay New York hotel during the United Nations General Assembly, in New York, Sept. 25, 2019 (AP photo by Evan Vucci). |
United States: The administration of President Donald Trump ignored a federal judge’s order Saturday temporarily barring the president’s use of the 1798 Alien Enemies Act to deport alleged Venezuelan gang members. The judge also ordered any planes that had already taken off carrying immigrants under the act turn around. |
However, flight records show that at least one plane took off after the judge had already made his order, while two more that were already in the air at the time continued, although it remains unclear which of the planes were carrying immigrants deported under the act. All three planes landed in El Salvador, where the deported migrants were taken to the country’s infamously brutal “Terrorism Confinement Center.” (Washington Post) |
Our Take: White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt made two arguments in her statement yesterday denying that the Trump administration had refused to comply with the judge’s order. The first is that... |
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U.S. President Donald Trump’s foreign policy is chaotic. This may be by accident or else the result of stupidity. But it is also partially by design. In his ghost-written books about business, Trump describes the benefits of keeping the other side off guard with unexpected negotiating tactics. |
Similarly, beyond the world of business negotiations, Trump believes in the “madman theory” of foreign policy, in which being less predictable helps him gain concessions because other foreign leaders do not know how credibly to take his threats. In other words, the chaos is part of the policy. Leaders outside the U.S. must prepare for that, columnist James Bosworth writes. |
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During the first week of March, a major transformation in European economic policymaking took place within the short span of 48 hours. It started in Brussels, where European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced an €800 billion “ReArm Europe” plan. |
On its own, that announcement would have signaled a major shift in thinking about the role of economic tools in advancing the EU’s global interests. Yet a second striking contribution to this sea change in European fiscal policy came the following day in Berlin, where the likely next governing coalition called for a massive spending plan for defense and infrastructure. |
Both plans must still be approved by EU member states and Germany’s parliament, respectively, with the latter looking likely to pass as soon as tomorrow. But if they are, they will usher in an entirely new era for European defense and economic policy, Peter S. Rashish writes. |
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Question of the Day: Who is the new chair of the African Union commission? |
Find the answer in the latest WPR Weekly Quiz, then read Afolabi Adekaiyaoja’s briefing on the new chair and what his election means for the AU. |
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The collapse of a dam at a Chinese-owned copper mine in Zambia last month unleashed 50 million liters of acidic waste into a stream connected to the Kafue River, the country’s most important waterway. The collapse has already shut down the water supply of a nearby city that is home to more than half a million people, and environmental experts fear the contamination could affect millions more. |
China is the dominant player in Zambia’s mining industry, but Chinese mining companies have become known for cutting costs by flouting environmental regulations, not to mention labor laws. As Ben Kallas and Glenn Chafetz wrote last year, that is one of many reasons why Western investors shouldn’t assume that China’s economic dominance across many sectors in Africa is irreversible. |
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The U.S. is expelling South Africa’s ambassador to Washington, Ebrahim Rasool, the State Department said. The proximate cause for the decision appears to be comments Rasool made criticizing Elon Musk at a think tank-sponsored webinar on Friday. But the move comes after weeks of attacks by Trump administration officials on South Africa. |
The Trump administration’s attacks have often focused specifically on a land reform law in South Africa that went into effect in January. But as Matthew M. Kavanagh wrote recently, the sudden pivot in Washington’s policy toward Pretoria comes against the backdrop of more long-standing tensions in the U.S.-South Africa relationship over multilateralism, human rights and the role of rising powers in the global order. |
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A new poll suggests that a candidate from the far right is likely to win the first round of Romania’s presidential election rerun in May, but falter in the expected runoff. Several hard- and far-right candidates have jumped into the race after pro-Russian populist Calin Georgescu, who won the voided first round held in December, was disqualified from running again. Read more on the controversial decision, and U.S. support for Georgescu, in this column by Amanda Coakley. |
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Angola will host peace talks tomorrow between Congo and the M23 rebel group, which is backed by Rwanda and has quickly captured key areas in eastern Congo in recent months. Read more about the M23 offensive and the various dimensions of the conflict in this edition of the Daily Review from January. |
More from WPR |
Read all of our latest coverage here. |
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