{"id":37688,"date":"2019-12-29T20:10:31","date_gmt":"2019-12-29T20:10:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/uncategorized\/2019\/12\/29\/trump-faces-raft-of-foreign-policy-challenges-in-new-year\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T07:28:45","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T07:28:45","slug":"trump-faces-raft-of-foreign-policy-challenges-in-new-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/flashpoints\/2019\/12\/29\/trump-faces-raft-of-foreign-policy-challenges-in-new-year\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump faces raft of foreign policy challenges in new year"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

WASHINGTON \u2014 President Donald Trump starts the new year knee-deep in daunting foreign policy challenges at the same time he\u2019ll have to deal with a likely impeachment trial in the Senate and the demands of a reelection campaign.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There\u2019s still no end in sight to America\u2019s longest war in Afghanistan<\/a>. North Korea hasn\u2019t given up<\/a> its nuclear weapons. Add to that simmering tensions with Iran<\/a>, fallout from Trump\u2019s decision to pull troops from Syria, ongoing unease with Russia and Turkey, and erratic ties with European and other longtime Western allies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trump is not popular overseas, and being an impeached president who must simultaneously run for reelection could reduce the time, focus and political clout needed to resolve complex global issues like North Korea\u2019s nuclear provocations. Some foreign powers could decide to just hold off on finalizing any deals until they know whether Trump will be reelected. Trump himself has acknowledged the challenge in his Dec. 26 tweet:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDespite all of the great success that our Country has had over the last 3 years, it makes it much more difficult to deal with foreign leaders (and others) when I am having to constantly defend myself against the Do Nothing Democrats & their bogus Impeachment Scam. Bad for USA!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the same time, there is widespread expectation that Trump never will be convicted by the Republican-controlled Senate, so 2020 could well bring more of the same from the president on foreign policy, said Ronald Neumann, president of the American Academy of Diplomacy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAmerica still has an awful lot of power,\u201d said Neumann, a three-time ambassador and former deputy assistant secretary of state. \u201cWith a year to go, a president can still make a lot of waves, impeachment or not.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For Trump, 2019 was a year of two steps forward, one step back \u2014 sometimes vice versa \u2014 on international challenges. Despite claiming that “I know deals, I think, better than anybody knows deals,” he\u2019s still trying to close a bunch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trump scored high marks for the U.S. military raid in Syria that killed the leader of the Islamic State, but U.S. military leaders worry about a resurgence. He is credited with coaxing NATO allies to commit to spend billions more on defense, but along the way has strained important relationships.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His agreement on a \u201cPhase 1\u201d trade deal with China has reduced tensions in their ongoing trade war. But the deal largely puts off for later complex issues surrounding U.S. assertions that China is cheating to gain supremacy on technology and China\u2019s accusation that Washington is trying to restrain Beijing\u2019s ascent as a world power.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A deeper look at the state of play on three top foreign policy challenges on Trump\u2019s desk as 2020 begins:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

US-NORTH KOREA NUCLEAR TALKS LOSE TRACTION<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The U.S. is watching North Korea closely for signs of a possible missile launch or nuclear test.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pyongyang had threatened to spring a \u201cChristmas surprise\u201d<\/a> if the U.S. failed to meet Kim Jong Un\u2019s year-end deadline for concessions to revive stalled nuclear talks. Trump speculated maybe he\u2019d get a \u201cbeautiful vase\u201d instead. Any test flight of an intercontinental ballistic missile or substantial nuclear test would further derail the diplomatic negotiations Trump opened with Kim in 2018.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Washington didn\u2019t accept Kim\u2019s end-of-year ultimatum<\/a>, but Stephen Biegun, the top U.S. envoy to North Korea, said the window for talks with the U.S. remains open. \u201cWe are fully aware of the strong potential for North Korea to conduct a major provocation in the days ahead,\u201d Biegun, the new deputy secretary of state, said recently. \u201cTo say the least, such an action will be most unhelpful in achieving lasting peace on the Korean Peninsula.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In recent months, North Korea has conducted a slew of short-range missile launches and other weapons tests.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2017, Trump and Kim traded threats of destruction as North Korea carried out tests aimed at acquiring the ability to launch nuclear strikes on the U.S. mainland. Trump said he would rain \u201cfire and fury\u201d on North Korea and derided Kim as \u201clittle rocket man.\u201d Kim questioned Trump\u2019s sanity and said he would \u201ctame the mentally deranged U.S. dotard with fire.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"President
President Donald Trump meets with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un at the border village of Panmunjom in the Demilitarized Zone, South Korea, Sunday, June 30, 2019. (Susan Walsh\/AP)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Then the two made up and met three times \u2014 in Singapore in 2018, in Vietnam last February and again in June when Trump became the first U.S. president to set foot into North Korea at the Demilitarized Zone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While the get-togethers have made for good photo-ops, they\u2019ve been devoid of substantive progress in getting Kim to get rid of his nuclear weapons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trump has held out North Korea\u2019s self-imposed moratorium on conducting nuclear tests and trials of long-range intercontinental missiles as a major foreign policy achievement. \u201cDeal will happen!\u201d he tweeted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trump\u2019s former national security adviser doesn\u2019t think so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe North Koreans are very happy to declare that they\u2019re going to give up their nuclear weapons program, particularly when it\u2019s in exchange for tangible economic benefits, but they never get around to doing it,\u201d John Bolton told National Public Radio.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

US-IRAN TENSION ESCALATING<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tensions with Iran have been rising ever since Trump last year withdrew the U.S. from the 2015 nuclear deal that Tehran had signed with the U.S. and five other nations. Trump said the deal was one-sided and gave Iran sanctions relief for rolling back, but not permanently dismantling, its nuclear program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After pulling out of the deal, Trump began a \u201cmaximum pressure\u201d campaign, reinstating sanctions and adding more that have crippled Iran\u2019s economy. His aim is to force Iran to renegotiate a deal more favorable to the U.S. and other nations that are still in the agreement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In response, Iran has continued its efforts to destabilize the region, attacking targets in Saudi Arabia, interrupting commercial shipping through the critical Strait of Hormuz, shooting down an unmanned U.S. aircraft and financing militant proxy groups. Since May, nearly 14,000 U.S. military personnel have deployed to the region to deter Iran.<\/p>\n\n\n\t