President Trump may be about to face his first full-blown international crisis. Be very afraid.
By Paul Waldman July 5 at 1:12 PM
On the many occasions over the past five months where President Trump demonstrated his deep ignorance, his alarming impulsiveness, his bottomless need for praise or his tendency to lash out when criticized, one common response has been to ask, “What happens when he faces a genuine crisis, with the need to make difficult decisions and with lives at stake?”
Well, it looks as though we may be about to find out.
On Tuesday, North Korea launched what appears to be its first genuine intercontinental ballistic missile. Though it landed off the coast of Japan, it was launched on a high arc that American analysts say indicates it has the capability to reach the United States (Alaska, at least). This is an outcome national security experts have worried and warned about for some time, and one that Trump himself pledged would never happen under his watch. We could be headed for a military crisis with the potential to cost thousands or even millions of lives, the outcome depending on Trump’s strategic thinking and good judgment.
But as we’ve seen in other areas, such as health care, while Trump can be disabused of his childishly simplistic view of a policy challenge, his newfound appreciation for the complexity of an issue will be only temporary. Before long, he goes right back to thinking there are easy solutions to every problem.
Just a few days later, Vice President Pence went to South Korea and issued stern warnings to Kim about how strong and resolute Trump is. “North Korea would do well not to test his resolve,” Pence said, then went to the demilitarized zone and stared manfully at North Korean territory while the cameras clicked away. “I thought it was important that people on the other side of the DMZ see our resolve in my face,” he said afterward.
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https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2017/07/05/president-trump-may-be-about-to-face-his-first-full-blown-international-crisis
