The News
US President-elect Donald Trump has made a series of domestic and foreign policy pledges that implicitly highlight a political vacuum in Washington with his soon-to-be predecessor on a foreign trip.
On Monday, Trump pledged to block the acquisition of US Steel by a Japanese company and warned there would be “hell to pay” if hostages held in Gaza were not released by the time he takes office in January.
Trump has also vowed to hike import duties on goods from Canada, China, and Mexico, and threatened the BRICS bloc, which includes China as well as Russia, Brazil, India, and South Africa, among others, with similar tariff hikes.
SIGNALS
‘Lame duck’ Biden presents foreign policy challenges
Until President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration in January, world leaders have to decide whether to go along with outgoing-President Joe Biden’s foreign policy prescriptions or hold out for the chance of better treatment under Trump, The Washington Post wrote. But while outgoing presidents often struggle to convince foreign governments of their authority, two columnists argued in Foreign Policy, the deep divisions between Trump’s unorthodox and more transactional approach to foreign diplomacy and Biden’s stances could pose “serious challenges for the coherence of U.S. foreign policy during the transition.”
Trump’s pledge to ‘end’ the Middle East conflict has no clear roadmap
Donald Trump’s election victory may have helped broker a ceasefire in Lebanon, a Politico editor argued, as various factions in the Middle East scramble to curry favor with the president-elect, who pledged to “end” the region’s wars — although it’s unclear whether the truce will hold until January. It’s entirely possible that Trump’s vision may mean ending Israeli ground operations while allowing other kinds of military activity to continue, the director of the pro-Israel Foundation for the Defense of Democracies told The Times of Israel. Ultimately, The Economist noted, “no one is sure” of Trump’s stance toward Israel, Iran, or the region at large: “Though his election probably heralds a dramatic shift, the direction he will take depends on who has his ear.”
Bipartisan US opposition to steel bid is ‘strongest signal to date’ of protectionist turn
The Biden administration firmly opposed Japan’s Nippon Steel’s proposed $15 billion takeover of US Steel, yet the deal is still expected to close before Inauguration Day, a reality that would “complicate” any effort by Donald Trump, who has also said he is against it, to roll it back, Axios noted. The bipartisan opposition to the takeover “is the strongest signal to date” of how the US domestic economic issues have pushed both Democrats and Republicans toward protectionism, the Financial Times noted: “From the get-go, the question has been: is this a one-off, or is this really a broader pattern we should be concerned about?” an Asia expert told the outlet.