Analysis | On many issues, from Russia to Iran, Trump’s cabinet picks are contradicting his professed foreign policy
Toughness with Russia and China, support for the Iran nuclear deal, the quest for a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict: Donald Trump’s diplomacy and military picks have been outlining the their foreign policy visions in Senate confirmation hearings this week.
And on many strategic issues, in particular the president-elect’s desire for improved ties with Russia, Rex Tillerson, the former head of ExxonMobil chosen for secretary of state, and James Mattis, the retired Marine Corps general pick for defence secretary, have contradicted Trump in the hearings Wednesday and Thursday.
Taking a stance resolutely at odds with Trump, Tillerson and Mattis lobbed criticism at Russian President Vladimir Putin. The retired US general was particularly harsh, in an effort perhaps to reassure Republican senators who are uneasy about the next occupier of the White House’s conciliatory attitude toward the Kremlin chief.
He accused the Russian president of “trying to break the North Atlantic alliance.” And Tillerson, the secretary of state nominee, said: “Our NATO allies are right to be alarmed at resurgent Russia.”
