Welcome to Friday’s Washington Secrets, where we bring you our regular review of the president’s week. Did he win it or did he botch it? Our two strategists give their verdict.
It was a big foreign policy week at the White House, dominated by the resumption of fighting in the Middle East and then a major set-piece address on allegations of foreign election interference.
On Sunday, hundreds of U.S. strikes hit Iranian soil in the hours after the death of Sen. Lindsey Graham, 71, was announced. He had been one of the few hawks close to Donald Trump, and the day was devoted to tributes, including the president himself, who delivered his remembrance on Meet the Press.
The following day, Trump announced that he was reinstating the naval blockade of Iran and declared the United States to be the “guardian” of the Strait of Hormuz. In return, he wanted a 20% cut to reimburse the cost of providing security.
On Tuesday, he hosted Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al Zaidi at the White House and used the Oval Office spray to talk up plans for a primetime speech. “It doesn’t get bigger, because without free and fair elections, you don’t have a country,” he said, dropping hints that there would be big news.
Regular Trump watchers will not be surprised to learn that, 24 hours after announcing it, the president dropped his plan for a 20% Strait of Hormuz tariff. He said it was the result of “highly productive conversations with Middle East leadership” and promises to invest in the U.S.
Trump traveled to Pennsylvania on Wednesday for a Defense and Innovation Summit in the key battleground state. Meanwhile, nominees had a rough ride on the Hill. Todd Blanche, Trump’s lawyer in his New York criminal case, who is now his pick to lead the Department of Justice, was asked repeatedly whether he was the president’s “friend” and could act independently. Jay Clayton, tapped to be director of national intelligence, refused to say who won the 2020 election.
Thursday brought the primetime address. The president used the speech to raise doubts about past election results, saying he was releasing previously classified documents on the 2020 and 2018 elections, though analysts said he produced no evidence that votes had been manipulated. The key line was when he said Americans should expect elections to be free of cheating and interference: “Unfortunately, the system we have today falls catastrophically short of that standard.”
On Friday, the president is due to turn his attention to FIFA and the World Cup. He is scheduled to fly to New York for a FIFA reception, before spending the weekend at his Bedminster, New Jersey, golf club and attending the World Cup final.
John Zogby: Grade F
The Trump administration has been accused of manipulating the IRS, and there could be sanctions imposed on the president’s attorneys for their role in a $10 billion settlement with the agency. At the same time, the so-called “Anti-Weaponization Fund”, a bold scheme to use taxpayers’ money to compensate convicted Jan. 6 rioters, received its fatal blow this week.
There were two deadly Immigration and Customs Enforcement shootings in Maine and Houston; the victims were not even suspects. ICE announced it would cease street arrests, but the president quickly said he wanted them reinstated. ICE leadership maintains that its work boils down to quotas, chaos, fatigue, and killings. Mr. Trump’s approval ratings on handling immigration, once one of his best features, are plummeting.
A third wave of bombing has begun in Iran, which is retaliating in kind. The U.S. is possibly planning to seize the island of Kharg, and the Strait of Hormuz is again closed. Iran looks to shut down other trade passages.
Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina passed away this week. I agreed with him on almost nothing, but he was a fine and honorable gentleman. He also had a great sense of humor.
Former President Joe Biden, who served with him for many years in the Senate, sent a long and heartfelt note of condolence, yet a former administration official, who is the spouse of Trump’s deputy chief of staff, wondered aloud if a staff member had written it for the former president. (Katie Miller’s post is here.)
Sorry to bring it up, even sorrier to have seen it. The president gave a speech to the nation about foreign interference in the election of 2020. One question from a guy who makes a living asking questions: “What’s this got to do with the price of eggs?”
If the president wants to investigate past elections, maybe he should begin with one of the most famous contested votes in history? Although I tend to believe that Democrat Samuel Tilden actually defeated Republican Rutherford B. Hayes, who was declared the victor after much wrangling, isn’t it about time someone looked into the election of 1876?
John Zogby (@ZogbyStrategies) is the founder of the Zogby Survey and senior partner at John Zogby Strategies. His latest book is Beyond the Horse Race: How to Read Polls and Why We Should. His podcast with son, managing partner, and pollster Jeremy Zogby, can be heard here.
Jed Babbin: Grade B Minus
We resumed the blockade on Iran this week, confusion reigned on tolls through the Strait of Hormuz, and two fatal shootings by ICE in Maine drew from Trump not a rebuke but an endorsement: ICE, he said, should keep doing traffic stops.
The war with Iran seems to be, at this point, a war of attrition. Tit-for-tat strikes by both sides are now the norm. This war appears to be evolving into one of the “endless wars” Trump campaigned against before his first term.
After condemning Iran’s plan to impose a toll on traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, saying it was an international waterway that no nation could impose a toll upon, Trump first said he would impose a toll of 20% on traffic through the strait and then dropped the idea. Our blockade will hurt Iran — again — and should not be waived or ameliorated for any reason. These are not minor details, and someone in the White House needs to pay better attention to them.
The Pentagon is buying stakes in several defense companies. This seems contrary to our free market system, which requires fair competition between companies. How can that be if the government is a participant in the market?
The two ICE shootings in Maine may make it harder for Susan Collins to win another term in the Senate. Maine is an odd state, electing Angus King to the Senate and others who clearly don’t match the president’s political profile. Collins, who also doesn’t match Trump’s politics or style, could easily lose the election because voters are awfully tired of Trump.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio wrote a piece in the Wall Street Journal attacking the International Criminal Court, which he said was not a democratic institution or accountable to the U.S., which is entirely true. The ICC makes things up as it goes along. Vice President JD Vance started attacking Israel, which is, of course, a democracy. Rubio is right, and Vance is wrong, to say the least.
Jed Babbin (@jedbabbin) is a Washington Examiner contributor and former deputy undersecretary of defense in the administration of President George H.W. Bush.
Quote of the Day
Rep. Brandon Gill (R-TX): “If I wanted to yell at liberals,” he said, “I could sit behind my desk and make a video yelling at liberals.”
From this interview, which is well worth reading, on his “Socratic method.”
Lunchtime reading
President Vance Goes AWOL: “Congress is crying out for a dedicated White House ambassador—someone who can be trusted to speak for the president, to yea or nay ideas, to shuttle proposals, to wrangle rebels in line. Vance is promoting a book.”
More than 200 countries endorse Infantino for fourth FIFA term despite Balogun scandal: Gianni Infantino is on course to be voted into a fourth term by a landslide at its congress in March, according to this exclusive report.
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