[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 124 (Tuesday, July 24, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5229-S5230]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     THE PRESIDENT'S FOREIGN POLICY

  Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, finally, just a few points as I see my 
colleagues are waiting. I wish to make a few points on Iran and 
President Trump's tweets. First, it seems the President is desperate to 
distract the American people from last week's performance in Helsinki. 
He always seems to do this: He runs into trouble, and he creates a 
whole new firestorm somewhere else. It is his MO. It is not the way we 
have seen government work in the United States, but that is what he 
does. He is the President.
  Second, the tweets suggest a pattern in President Trump's foreign 
policy in which the President uses heated rhetoric with foreign 
capitals to inflame and intensify tensions so later on the President 
can pretend to ride in and save the day with a more measured tone. It 
is sort of like a Kabuki play. It screws up our foreign policy.
  We saw this play out in North Korea. President Trump repeatedly 
insulted Kim Jong Un on Twitter, only to declare world peace once the 
two of them had met. It seems as if the President's foreign policy is 
to commit arson so he can play the firefighter. He lights the fire and 
then puts it out and gives himself a huge pat on the back.
  Not surprisingly, this reality TV foreign policy hasn't produced the 
concrete results we are all looking for and must secure. It has been 2 
months since the President met with Chairman Kim. Yet we have seen 
little in the way of irreversible steps toward

[[Page S5230]]

denuclearization. We don't even have details on the agreement. 
Secretary Pompeo went over there and was just given the cold shoulder. 
Kim wouldn't meet with him and said nasty things about him. Still, the 
President claims--I think he is alone here--that the North Korean 
summit was a huge success.
  Certainly, the world is a safer place without President Trump and 
Chairman Kim trading barbs on social media. Those tactics make America 
weaker. We all want diplomacy to succeed. We all want a strong deal 
with North Korea, but the cessation of rhetorical hostilities is no 
replacement for concrete, verifiable steps toward denuclearization.
  The same holds true for Iran. I hope the President isn't reaching 
into the same old social media playbook, using rhetoric as a 
replacement for the hard work of diplomacy.
  I yield the floor.

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