Trump's Afghanistan Speech, Part 2: Was He Presidential?

Pres. Trump's Afghanistan Speech, Aug. 21, 2017

To be presidential probably doesn't mean the same thing to everyone. To a mainstream-type reporter, being presidential means that the president is dignified, concerned, and unifying. In that sense, Trump's speech yesterday was presidential. He did not rant and rave. He did not pointedly insult anyone, and he did not talk about "fake news." That was all good. To a political scientist or policy expert, being presidential probably means checking one's facts, and making sober, responsible decisions. In that sense, Trump also did pretty well last night. For example, his speech did well on PolitiFact's fact checking. That may be a first-ever for a major Trump speech.

At the same time, Trump gave very few details. How many troops would he commit to Afghanistan? If we are to set Afghanistan policy according to results and goals, not according to a timeline, exactly what are the goals? When will we know that we have been successful? Let us keep in mind that Afghanistan is a very big country, and killing all of the terrorists is a terribly unrealistic goal. There will always be more terrorists. Trump's vagueness may also seem presidential. The president has a national security advisor, a Secretary of Defense, and various generals who can explain policy details. He does not need to do that himself. Still, successful foreign policy comes from the details. A group of uninformed teenagers can sit around a college residence hall and talk about general policies. I did that kind of thing myself when I was young. So what? Generalities do not always mean very much.

Before talking about Afghanistan, Trump talked about the evils of bigotry and hatred. This seemed to be something of a retreat from the belligerent remarks that he made in Trump Tower after the violent Charlottesville demonstrations. Yet, instead of giving details, he spoke in general, unifying terms. That, again, could be presidential.

Can Trump maintain his presidential air? At other times, Trump gave speeches like this during his campaign – dignified and scripted – only to undo his ethos with a couple of tweets from his Twitter account. We will have to wait and see, but he may well return to form.

Which Trump is the real Trump? The belligerent Donald Trump in Trump Tower? Or the dignified Donald Trump last night? Actually both were real. Donald Trump is quite capable of reasoned decision-making. He is also quite capable of going over the top. People who are waiting for the "real" Trump to emerge will have a long wait: people are more complicated than that.

In the meantime, Afghanistan has suffered from decades of war. Surely the country needs some stability, and its people need peace.

Here is the first part of my commentary about Trump's Afghanistan speech.

Here are my comments about Trump's very un-presidential Charlottesville press conference. 


Image: White House Briefing Room