An Unworthy President

Published in El Pais
(Spain) on 13 October 2019
by Editorial (link to originallink to original)
Translated from by Stephen Routledge. Edited by Denile Doyle.
The way Trump adopts and announces his decisions has very serious consequences.

Donald Trump's latest display of ill-considered foreign policy, (first with his green light to a Turkish offensive in Syria at the expense of the Kurds who had until that point been allies, and then with his threats towards Turkey for carrying out precisely what he had given his support for), has shaken the American political landscape. It is yet another example of the chaos that reigns in the White House, which has led to prominent Republican Party figures openly criticizing the president with little more than a year remaining until the presidential elections.

The way Trump adopts and announces his decisions is far from incidental; it has very serious consequences that, for example in the case of the Turkish military offensive, can be evaluated in terms of human lives. It is debatable when a U.S. president uses social media to communicate his decisions with everyone, including people within his own team. However, what is totally unacceptable is joking about issues which affect millions of people by adding incomprehensible ironies to his tweets like "my great and unmatched wisdom" when talking about a war unleashed against the Kurdish population which he himself facilitated.

The House of Representatives has opened an impeachment inquiry against Trump for using his position, with the help a foreign power, for personal purposes. These unpredictable ups and downs have damaged not only America’s image, but also damaged the confidence that democracies across the world have in the superpower; and prominent Republican leaders in the Senate, where the conservative party has a majority and is in a position to prevent an impeachment, accuse Trump of having "stained the honor" of his country.

Trump is testing the institutional boundaries of the world's most powerful democracy. It would therefore be fitting for the same democratic system to teach the New York billionaire that if you break the rules and dishonor the presidency, you must pay.


La nueva muestra de irreflexiva política exterior de Donald Trump —primero con su luz verde a una ofensiva turca en Siria a expensas de los hasta ese momento aliados kurdos y a continuación con las amenazas a Turquía por ejecutar precisamente aquello para lo que le había dado su apoyo— ha sacudido el panorama político estadounidense donde la enésima constatación del caos que reina en la Casa Blanca ha hecho que destacadas figuras del Partido Republicano critiquen abiertamente al mandatario cuando queda poco más de un año para las elecciones presidenciales.

El modo en que Trump adopta y anuncia sus decisiones lejos de ser anecdótico tiene gravísimas consecuencias que, por ejemplo, en el caso de la ofensiva militar turca se evalúa en vidas humanas. Puede discutirse que un presidente de EE UU emplee una red social para comunicar —a todo el mundo, incluyendo a parte de su propio equipo— sus decisiones, pero lo que resulta totalmente inaceptable es que se permita bromear sobre temas que afectan a millones de personas añadiendo a sus mensajes incomprensibles ironías como “yo, con mi gran e inigualable sabiduría”, tal y como ha hecho en sus tuits sobre la guerra que se ha desencadenado contra la población kurda y que ha sido facilitada por él mismo.

La Cámara de Representantes tiene abierto un procedimiento de destitución contra Trump por utilizar su cargo con fines personales ayudado además por una potencia extranjera. Sus imprevisibles vaivenes han dañado no solo la imagen sino la confianza que las democracias de todo el mundo tienen depositada en la superpotencia, y destacados líderes republicanos en el Senado —donde el partido conservador tiene mayoría y está en posición de frenar el impeachment— acusan a Trump de haber “manchado el honor” de su país.

Trump está poniendo a prueba los límites institucionales de la democracia más poderosa del mundo. Y lo deseable es que sea el mismo sistema democrático el que muestre al millonario neoyorquino que saltarse las reglas y deshonrar el cargo de presidente se paga.

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