President Donald Trump says the quiet part out loud. He has no sotto voce setting. This militates against statesmanship.
Former President Bill Clinton told CNN years ago it’s best to be “brutally” honest in private but, if you want someone’s help, not to say things in public that embarrass them. But Trump doesn’t work that way. He is brutal in public to foreign powers and allies and trade partners with whom he is trying to make a deal.
His handling of today’s two most prominent news issues, Ukraine and tariffs, make the point.
Ukraine has agreed to a ceasefire in talks with Secretary of State Marco Rubio, which offers hope that Europe’s biggest war since 1945 may be ended in the foreseeable future. Much hard work is still to be done. Russia must be won over. Although Trump has seen encouraging signals from Moscow, he said on Wednesday that “a positive…
