[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 186 (Tuesday, November 14, 2017)]
[Senate]
[Page S7189]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                        President's Trip to Asia

  As President Trump returns from his week-long trip to several Asian 
nations, it is worth asking: What did America get out of his trip?
  Did he forcefully confront the Chinese leaders about our imbalanced 
and unfair trade system, where we play by the rules and the Chinese do 
not? No. He said that China's behavior was not their fault and blamed 
American leaders instead for China's trade abuses.
  Even if he believes that, what is the point of saying it? He is 
encouraging China to keep doing what they have been doing all along if 
he thinks they are not to blame--letting them off the hook. Why? 
Because Xi gave him a red carpet?
  I have never been so ashamed of a foreign trip in my years. It is 
just inside out. We attack our friends, and the people who have given 
us the most trouble--China and Russia--we mollycoddle. That is so bad 
for the future of this country.
  Did President Trump engage the various regional powers in a project 
of great importance, curtailing and containing the rogue North Korean 
regime? No. He settled for a sophomoric exchange of insults on Twitter, 
far below the dignity of the office. Then he came back and bragged 
about the great ceremony and how well he was treated. Xi played the 
President. He played the President. Every American should be 
embarrassed.
  I heard one commentator say this morning that this trip cemented 
China as the leading power of the world, not because they have more 
economic power, not because they have greater intellectual ideas, not 
because they are better people but because Xi is dominating and smart, 
and the President so susceptible to flattery. It is demeaning to the 
United States and its role in the world.
  Then, to add insult to injury, he seems to have a love for dictators. 
In the Philippines, where a strongman leader is engaged in a vicious 
campaign of extrajudicial killings, did Trump admonish him? Did Trump 
uphold the beacon of the United States as the noblest power in the 
world? No. He lectured and unsettled our allies while emboldening our 
adversaries, like China and Russia, by treating them with kid gloves 
and making it clear that all they have to do is say a few flattering 
words and the United States will drop the interests that our people are 
so dependent on.
  All in all, President Trump's trip was a colossal flop and 
embarrassment. He seemed far more interested in pomp and circumstances, 
red carpets, fancy meals, and the flattery of foreign leaders than in 
advancing vital American interests in a region that is increasingly 
looking to China for leadership. After the President's performance, 
those countries are going to turn more to China. At least they have 
strength and direction, even though China will take advantage of them, 
for sure, as they have taken advantage of us.
  It is a sad state of affairs when the simplest of strategies--
flattery--can derail an entire foreign trip and undercut American 
influence in the world. President Trump was played for a fool by 
China's leaders, and he enthusiastically accepted the role.
  The President of the United States--this great, grand country we 
love--is supposed to be the single strongest voice and advocate for our 
national interests. If he will not stick up for America, her interests, 
and her values on the world stage, who will?
  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will call the roll.
  Mr. RISCH. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Strange). Without objection, it is so 
ordered.