Trump’s 3 latest key selections mark a sharp shift to the right
Print Edition
PRESIDENT-ELECT Donald Trump signaled a sharp rightward shift in American national security policy yesterday, naming Alabama Senator Jeff Sessions for attorney general, Kansas Representative Mike Pompeo to head the CIA and former military intelligence chief Michael Flynn as his national security adviser.
All three have been fierce critics of President Barack Obama’s handling of terrorism and international relations. In choosing Sessions and Flynn, Trump is also rewarding loyalty from two of his most ardent supporters during the presidential campaign.
Trump is a foreign policy novice and his early moves on national security are being closely watched both in the United States and overseas. Sessions and Pompeo would both require Senate confirmation before assuming their designated roles; Flynn would not.
Flynn, who has called Islam a “political ideology” that “hides behind being a religion,” will work in the West Wing and have frequent access to Trump as he makes national security decisions. Trump said yesterday that Flynn would be “by my side as we work to defeat radical Islamic terrorism, navigate geopolitical challenges and keep Americans safe at home and abroad.”
Like Trump, Flynn has called for the US to work more closely with Moscow. But his warmth toward Russia has worried national security experts, particularly after he traveled to Moscow to join Russian President Vladimir Putin at a celebration for RT, a Kremlin-backed television channel. Flynn said he had been paid for taking part in the event and brushed aside concerns that he was aiding a Russian propaganda effort.
Sessions was the first senator to endorse Trump, rallying behind the Republican’s hardline immigration policies.
But the Alabama lawmaker could face obstacles in his confirmation hearing, even with Republicans in control of the Senate. He withdrew from consideration for a federal judgeship in 1986 after being accused of making racist comments while serving as a US attorney in Alabama.
Sessions has tangled with the past two Democratic attorneys general on whether terrorism suspects deserve American constitutional rights in civilian court and on the planned closure of the Guantanamo Bay detention facility. He has also been protective of the attorney general’s right to refuse a legally unsound directive from the president.
Pompeo is a conservative Republican and a strong critic of Obama’s nuclear deal with Iran. A three-term congressman, he graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point and from Harvard Law School.
A member of the House intelligence committee, Pompeo said former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden should face the death penalty for taking and releasing secret documents about surveillance programs in which the US government collected the phone records of millions of Americans.Trump has made no public appearances this week, but his private meetings have signaled a focus on national security. He met on Thursday with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, his first face-to-face meeting with a foreign leader since winning the election.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
