Donald Trump's sudden infatuation with seizing control of the Panama Canal, buying Greenland and attempting to get Canada to become a U.S. state appears to be part of a campaign of smoke and mirrors to hide the fact that he is already reneging on campaign promises before he is even sworn in.
That is the opinion of the Washington Post's Dana Millbank who accused the president-elect of laying down a "smokescreen of chaos" to occupy social media commentators and the press, both of which would otherwise be picking apart his walk-backs.
As Millbank wrote, Trump has multiple controversies looming over him, from his highly promoted proposals for tariffs, which one of his appointees is now downplaying as a "bargaining chip," to his deportation plans for undocumented immigrants, where he has softened his language even if his "border czar" hasn't.
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According to the longtime political observer, "Trump’s post-election moves to distance himself from his campaign promises probably reflect less a change of heart than a nod to reality."
Quipping, "For a guy who hates to exercise, President-elect Donald Trump has been uncharacteristically active over the past few weeks. His fitness regimen: a grueling circuit of backpedals, climbdowns and walkbacks," Millbank added the timing of Trump's Panama Canal attacks is suspect after he had been adamant about what he expected from the House budget negotiations where he ended up settling for less than he demanded.
"Trump commenced verbal hostilities with Panama the day after the shutdown crisis," Millbank pointed out before warning to expect more of the same because the president-elect isn't committed to anything.
"The menace of Trump is less in the policies he has announced than in the impulsive and inexplicable things he will do, without forewarning or any apparent forethought," the columnist warned before adding, "The greatest danger is in the chaos, in the constant stream of needless crises he creates. He doesn’t govern by ideology; he governs by whim."
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