Too clever by half
Lindsay Graham, senior senator from South Carolina, provides an example of a leader who is too clever by half. His burgeoning friendship with President Donald Trump was improbable, given Graham’s opinions of him in 2016. He not only denounced Trump but judged him “unfit” for the presidency. Despite Trump’s feud with Graham’s friend, John McCain, Graham sidled up to Trump.
Now, some have speculated that it was all due to Trump paying attention to Graham and offering the sporting amenities and resources at his disposal. But one hardly would think that golf courses and jaunty banter provided plausible enough reasons for support. From the very beginning, Graham’s chief concern was the military and foreign policy. Trump, at least during the campaign, seemed more flexible in his dealings with foreign countries, most particularly the Russian Federation.
However, Trump is far more subtle than his critics are willing to admit. Surely he has adopted the Graham “never strike the colors” rhetoric. He has generously funded the military, which goes with the territory if you are dealing with a senator from a state that loves defense patronage. But the tariffs cut into the up-county auto factories of Greenville and Spartansburg. Those plants are German and represent the interest of Western South Carolina rather than low-country counties around Charleston. But Graham regards these concerns as far less important than his hawkish priorities.
But Graham has a problem — is Trump giving him lip-service or is he a like-minded ally? North Korea gets pressured by Mike Pompeo and John Bolton, not necessarily Trump. One day the State Department calls for full denuclearization, only to see the president tweet compliments to “chairman Kim.” Same with Vladimir Putin, who gets denounced by the gatekeepers only to be saved by the leader in the White House. One must wonder who is being played, Graham or Trump.
Trump’s greatest strength is that he can confuse the eternally optimistic Graham. Graham is like a boy who got a room full of manure for Christmas, and basically shovels it in the hope “that theirs a pony in there somewhere.” Trying to distinguish between truth, fiction or fantasy is a tough game in this administration. Even some of the president’s closest allies do not believe he is the greatest truthteller. But what might be virtuous in normal affairs can be a liability in diplomacy.
Since 2016, everyone has tried to manipulate the Donald — Graham, Ted Cruz and even Ben Sasse have taken a whack at bringing him over to true Republicanism. Trump has given them two Supreme Court seats, a tax cut and an expansion of military. But he, like Frederick-William of Prussia, refuses to use it. Trump canceled military exercises in South Korea and has yet to bolster forces in Syria. Indeed, he allows the help to rattle the sabers. Trump has yet to draw his.
Moreover, given the Bob Woodward book, with its plethora of GOP characters, Trump is not likely to trust his adopted party. Graham’s hawkish predilections do not match Trump’s businessman instincts. But that will not keep the South Carolinian from trying to turn Trump into McCain.