New York Post:
Amid complaints that his aides are saying different things about Syria and his policy is confusing, President Trump emphatically cleared the air.For all the talk about Trump's administration sending mixed messages, this is actually a very clear-headed description of a purposeful strike. If Trump stays on message here, and if he avoids antagonizing the Russians any further, then the Syria strike might be considered a success.
“We’re not going into Syria,” he told me yesterday in an exclusive interview. “Our policy is the same — it hasn’t changed. We’re not going into Syria.”
The president, speaking by phone Tuesday, called Syrian President Bashar al-Assad a “butcher” and a “barbarian” for using sarin gas on his own people, but said last week’s successful missile strike was not the start of a campaign to oust the dictator.
“Our big mission is getting rid of ISIS,” Trump said. “That’s where it’s always been. But when you see kids choking to death, you watch their lungs burning out, we had to hit him and hit him hard.”
He called the attack, which involved 59 cruise missiles fired from two Navy destroyers, “an act of humanity.”
I asked if he, as a new president, found it difficult to make the final decision, knowing the stakes?
“It’s very tough to give that final go-ahead when you know you’re talking about human life,” he said. “We went back and forth, and also back and forth about severity. We could have gone bigger in terms of targets and more of them, but we thought this would be the appropriate first shot.”
Later, he added, “We hope he won’t do any more gassing.”
(NOTE: In my own opinion, I still consider the Syrian strike as unnecessarily risky, even in hindsight. However, political calculus has nothing to do with good ideas over the long term. Politically speaking, this was a quick win for Trump.)
In other news of a Trump success:
Fox News:
Chinese President Xi Jinping told President Trump in a phone call Wednesday that Beijing is willing to work with Washington on ending North Korea’s nuclear weapons program, but wants to do so through peaceful means.How did this happen?
Xi told Trump that China insists on peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula in the wake of the deployment of the USS Carl Vinson to the area and the conducting of the biggest-ever U.S.-South Korea military drills.
"China insists on realizing the denuclearization of the peninsula ... and is willing to maintain communication and coordination with the American side over the issue on the peninsula," Xi was quoted as saying by state media.
The call came after Trump warned in a pair of tweets Tuesday that North Korea “is looking for trouble” and vowed to get Kim Jong-Un’s regime under control with or without China’s help.Admittedly, this is just talk from both sides, but if it leads to action, this is a major coup for Trump. Presidents since Eisenhower have failed to properly handle North Korea. If Trump can leverage America's relationship with China into a safer North Korea, it could rank with the Camp David Accords for historic significance. But as I said, it is still early.
“I explained to the President of China that a trade deal with the U.S. will be far better for them if they solve the North Korean problem!” Trump tweeted.
He added in a second tweet: “North Korea is looking for trouble. If China decides to help, that would be great. If not, we will solve the problem without them! U.S.A.”
Sadly, Trump can't be successful in all areas...
Wall Street Journal:
The administration plans to lift the federal hiring freeze that has been in place for the past three months but will continue its push to restructure and downsize the federal government, seen as a central piece of President Donald Trump’s pledge to “drain the swamp.”This begs the question, why not a targeted lifting of the hiring freeze? Giving an example of where more staffing is necessary does not mean it is necessary everywhere.
“The government reorg is probably the biggest story nobody is talking about,” Mick Mulvaney, the director of the Office of Management and Budget, said in a briefing with reporters on Tuesday. “We’re trying to do something that’s never been done.”
Mr. Mulvaney said the federal government would lift the hiring freeze on Wednesday. Agencies will be able to hire again, but will be required to submit plans for making themselves leaner. Some, such as the Environmental Protection Agency, will do so in the knowledge that Mr. Mulvaney and his former colleagues in the House of Representatives are eager to restrict their budget.
The departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs, which have been promised a boost in funding, could ultimately opt to hire more people, Mr. Mulvaney said, but will still be required to consider eliminating duplicative, nonessential or ineffective activities.
Removing the entire freeze allows any government agency to hire anyone they want, for any reason they want. And asking government to "consider eliminating duplicative, nonessential or ineffective activities" is like asking a junkie to go cold turkey. In a large and complex bureaucracy, inefficiency is the standard operating procedure, whereas efficiency is immeasurable. Eliminating one inefficient procedure only to replace it with two more is not effective government, yet that is within its nature.
Or, as Oscar Wilde is alleged to have said, "The bureaucracy is expanding to meet the needs of the expanding bureaucracy."
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