Former President Donald Trump has made headlines recently with his outlandish, incendiary remarks. His incendiary policy proposals have set the right, center, and left at each other’s throats ever since. He went on to regurgitate false claims about human rights abuses in South Africa. He further reiterated his excitement to host next year’s Coalition summit in Miami. In every speech or meeting that he gave his remarks, this is where he started. Indeed, both their content and his delivery style have attracted a lot of attention.
During a speech, Trump mentioned, “no US government official would attend as long as these Human Rights abuses continue.” Unbowed, he persisted in drawing attention to the plight of white South Africans. As thousands have pointed out, there are numerous problems with his narrative. He seemed to confuse South Africa with South America, stating, “We are pivoting the Pentagon and our industrial base to a wartime footing.” Yet his off-the-cuff verbal gaffe turned heads. He would later attempt to cover for this blunder by doubling down on the error and claiming he had meant to say South Africa.
Interestingly enough, the former president said all this when urging Republican senators to repeal the filibuster. He underscored the urgency by pointing out that if they don’t act, legislative inaction will be the result. “If the filibuster is not terminated, then we will be in a slog with the Democrats, and very little for either party will be done,” he stated.
This claim doubled on a previous false allegation against South Africa by Trump. He surprised visiting South African President Cyril Ramaphosa with what he claimed was video evidence of a white genocide. He called this condition “the reverse of apartheid.” In doing so, this declaration ignited a larger discourse on state-race relations and administration’s governance in both countries.
In 2022, then-President Trump proposed an exemption for Hungary from US sanctions prohibiting importing Russian oil. At a bilateral lunch at the White House, he commended Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s anti-immigration, illiberal policies. Trump’s admiration for Orbán has raised concerns among critics who argue that such views could undermine U.S. foreign policy and alliances.
In an unrelated development, Trump has suggested increasing COVID bonuses to workers — though doing so is conditional on reopening the federal government. Ryan Wrasse, an economic advisor, echoed this sentiment by saying, “Extending the COVID bonuses is the negotiation – something that can only take place after the government reopens. Release the hostage. End the pain.”
He, too, got hit on multiple fronts. He’s recently asked a federal appeals court to stay a district judge’s order. That order necessitated the issuance of full monthly food stamp benefits for the month of November. His current criminal prosecution in Manhattan complicates his political narrative. This unique legal entanglement further complicates matters.
Trump’s latest pardon goes to former New York Mets player Darryl Strawberry, who has his own history with tax evasion and drug conviction charges. This agency shift underscores Trump’s continued influence in discourse surrounding justice reform. This action has received conflicting reactions from a wide range of stakeholders, both within and outside the political sphere.
In a rare departure from U.S. foreign policy, the United States dropped sanctions on Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa. That decision followed just a single day after the United Nations Security Council did the same, laying the groundwork for his upcoming historic meeting with Trump. This decision has led many to interpret that U.S.-Syria relations are improving. Perhaps more critically, it closes down debates about what form future diplomatic engagements should take.
Trump looks forward to welcoming the summit to Miami next year. His calls and initiatives are reverberating through the GOP political ecosystem. His claims document egregious human rights violations and demand comprehensive national reforms. The latter would invigorate his nationalist base, while he more deftly and strategically tackles the nuanced foreign policy tests ahead.