2017-11-18consortiumnews.com

Why did Trump gamble so heavily on the inexperienced Kushner and the impulsive MbS? Well, of course, if such a "grand plan" had indeed worked out, it would have been a major foreign policy coup -- and one done over the heads of the professional foreign policy and defense echelon who were excluded from it. Trump then would have felt himself freer to ascend above the Establishment tentacles: to attain a certain elevated independence and freedom from his "minders." He would have achieved his coup through family channels, rather than be officially advised.

But, if it sinks into farce, and MbS becomes regarded in the U.S. as a maverick, rather than a Machiavelli, the (slighted) "system" will exact its revenge: presidential judgments will stand devalued -- and ever more in need of justification and "minding."

MbS (and Kushner) may have hurt President Trump in a much wider way therefore: the failed bet on the untried MbS may leach into other spheres -- such as, in consequence, U.S. allies' openly questioning the soundness of Trump's North Korea judgments. In short, the U.S. President's credibility will bear the consequences for his falling for MbS' spin.



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