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This Friday, April 13, President Trump was supposed to leave on his first official trip to Latin America to attend the Summit of Americas. The president claims that his cancellation is due to wanting to focus on the alleged chemical attack in Syria. Despite this possible excuse, many find it suspicious that the announcement came only one day after the FBI raided the office and hotel room of Trump's personal lawyer, Michael Cohen. Trump seemed greatly upset by this, going so far as to calling the action an "attack on our country." On Tuesday morning, the White House press secretary, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, stated that Trump will remain in America and manage the US's reaction to the deadly crisis in Syria and "to monitor developments around the world." On Monday, Trump met with military leaders to examine possible options, promising a swift response to Syria. Moments before that meeting, the president was infuriated to learn of the federal raid on Cohen, in which documents were seized, and deemed the raids a "disgraceful situation."
Discussion Questions:
1. Was canceling the trip to Latin America was the best choice Trump could have made for our country? What the positive and negative effects of his decision?
2. Do you believe that the President remained in the US because of the crisis in Syria, as he claims, or because of a reason related to the FBI raids on Michael Cohen? Does Trump's reaction illicit suspicion?
3. What should Trump's next step regarding the suspected chemical attack in Syria be?
I don't think canceling the trip to Latin America was the best choice because even though there are major issues in Syria, there is a crisis in Venezuela as well. In the past, Trump has blamed Latin American countries for illegal gangs and immigrant problems, so his approval rating is very low. Trump's presence in the conference would show his respect of Latin America countries, and his absence insulting. I think Trump's reaction is suspicious, even though he is unpredictable, his head economic adviser didn't know. Also, when he ordered missile strikes on Syria last year, he was on vacation, so it only makes sense that he should be able to take part in an important conference as well as deal with Syrian problems.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Abby that the cancellation is not a good idea as it could very well further strain US relations with Latin American countries, who may take the cancellation as a sign that the U.S. places more weight on the concerns of other countries than them. However, with Trump, his stated reasons may not what he intends and it is highly likely that this is retaliation for the Cohen raids, although he would never concede that to the public. As for what to do about Syria, increased military pressure or sanctions are good solutions and preferable to more strikes, which could inflame tensions more.
ReplyDeleteI agree with both Kevin and Abby that cancelling the trip to Latin America was not the best choice because it showed them the order of priorities he has for them. Trump has clearly stated that Syria is the more important issue and his approval ratings has dipped even further as he has already blamed these countries for illegal gangs and immigrant problems. Trump's idea to cancel his trip was a bit misleading because his head adviser did not know about it either. The thing is now that he has declared war with Syria there are plans and strategies Trump needs to focus more on. Hopefully he rearranged a date for meeting with the Latin American countries.
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