This article is another example of the on-going decrepitude of the imperial presidency. In turn, it's very likely to lash out biggly in the near future. The consequences will be quite disastrous.
Global hegemony has enormous ongoing costs, even when warfare and organized violence aren't involved. But they only increase every time Trump insults, attacks and demonizes our partners and allies around the world. Similarly, every time he cozies up to an autocrat or dictator in the world the costs to US domestic and global interests increase.
Insofar as Trump is a Bannonite protegee and therefore a disrupter, he is not [a] conservative. Conservatives never prefer disruptions. Instead law, order and continuity of institutions are preferred. That the GOP has become Trump's party is a sign of it's un-conservative nature.
Instead it's the party providing the cult for his personality, a vicious, bullying, predatory, racist, sexist, xeno- and homophobic personality. Unfortunately it's not a bad dream.
48
I am a Canadian with a Mexican wife. l live in Canada and spend time in Mexico. I have witnessed the public relations wreckage that Trump is leaving behind north and south of the U.S. borders. Highlights include the time I had a well-dressed, cultured Mexican woman tearfully ask me at a Starbucks in Mexico City why Trump would smear her and her fellow citizens with the "rapists" aspersion and other insults. (She thought I was an American, at first). I have listened to neighbors in Canada, who have fathers who fought in the Second World War alongside Americans, emotionally vow to never set foot in the U.S. again after Trump imposed steel and aluminum tariffs on the grounds that Canada represented a security threat to the U.S. The insults, the vitriol, the hate emanating from POTUS are truly astounding. The diplomatic wounds left by this man will take a long time to heal.
402
I weep for the damage this man Trump has done to our nation and its neighbours. My father worked in a smilier position building a friendships between the United States and others. He would be appalled that his work, and that of thousands of others, has been recklessly thrown out the window by this sarcastic and insecure menace.
304
@MSW
Anger is not limited to Mexico. When I ask a merchant to show me only non-American products, I get either an approving nod or a comment about how others are doing the same. Trump may have negociated greater access of American milk products to Canadian markets, but I am not sure that it will translate into ultimate conumer sales.
32
@Édouard I have many friends in Canada, and their facebook pages are full of information about campaigns to boycott American goods, including lists with color photos of products. I can't stand all this winning.
9
Michael Lewis' book probably illustrates Trump basic disinterest in governance and his deliberate and rash drive to undermine the credibility and capability of the US government. If Trump is not in Putin pocket, he still could not help Putin more with his actions domestically and internationally to undermine the US government.
25
Thank you, Ambassador Jacobson, for a lifetime of service to our country. I have had the opportunity over the past sixteen years to observe the steadfast dedication of many career diplomats in Europe, North Africa and Latin America taking university students overseas on people-to-people programs.
Sometimes I wonder why a Diplomat’s Day was never established by Congress for the sacrifices made by so many courageous people serving our country for longer periods overseas than many career military personnel. Often sacrificing family in lonely and dangerous spots on the globe, career diplomats deserve the recognition of a grateful nation.
Ambassador Jacobson is right, having 30 unfilled ambassadorships in places like Saudi Arabia is like removing our eyes and ears in a country where our stragic interests are at stake.
We have witnessed the steady decline of diplomacy under this president. This column by Ambassador Jacobson should be even more incentive to vote next month.
649
@JT FLORIDA If I wanted to carry out secret deals, maybe I would not want an ambassador in a country or limit state dept. presence in a country. This may be giving Trump too much credit for ingenuity. Unless he does it for someone that has the ingenuity.
Does this sound too paranoid in these times?
More likely just incompetence?
2
@JT FLORIDA,
Thank you from this retired US Diplomat after service in three continents, several countries including a wonderful, very productive three years in Mexico.
9
What could go wrong when an unqualified, incurious, ignorant, B grade reality TV personality, with a lifetime of extensive character flaws behind him, is elected US President?
78
I continue to be entertained by these posts, such as replies to my post below where those who comment continually ridicule getting news and opinion from conservative sources.
At the same time, they make atrocious factual errors such as suggesting that Gerrymandering influences Electoral College or that NAFTA actually was beneficial to trade deficit, US jobs and wages.
This is a real problem, as so many people in these NYT comments only get their news and opinion from Left leaning sources such as NYT, NPR, PBS, etc. It is also a problem if people only get such information from Right leaning Fox and Rush.
I encourage people to broaden themselves and seek out diversity of news and opinion and view both Fox and NYT. If you do this, these factual errors that I see in these postings would be greatly decreased.
8
@Dan
Like Tucker Carlson? Judge Pirro? Surely you Jest!
50
"...the disconnect between the state department and the white house seems intentional.,..". It is. Its just one more way trump is trashing our country for the benefit of Putin. Trump is in deep debt to Putin and the Russian Oligarchs from earlier real estate deals. The more he undermines and weakens us, his debt drops. There can be no other answer especially since Trump had a 2 hour secret meeting with Putin and no u.s. officials present.
17
She forgot to mention how US guns and ammunition kill hundred's of thousands of Mexicans. It is not just the drugs that flow up -plus US pharmaceuticals are quite to blame for the opioid crisis. Yes, Trump is a disgrace, but US policies have for too long been harmful to Mexico. Much needs to be done where both countries can benefit. For now, reuniting children with their families seems imperative. Then, finding a way to provide legal status for more than 10 million Mexicans living in the US as a way to end the abuse they are routinely subjected to.
29
Read "The Fifth Risk" by Michael Lewis.
9
NAFTA greatly increased trade and created millions of jobs in America, Mexico and Canada. Consumers greatly benefitted from lower prices and competition, and US businesses made huge profits out of it. Trump and his advisors(Navarro ?) are a crazy lot driven by their whims and fancies, and politics. Bashing NAFTA and saying he would end it got him votes from whites with no college degree. They are losers for reasons that had nothing to do with NAFTA. One was the 2008 recession caused by weak GOP regulation. They did not go to college and develop the skills and knowledge to compete in a global economy, and they still do not and are increasingly being left behind. Cheaper and more skilled and knowledgable workers can be found in China, India and Eastern europe. Global competition for jobs was rising even before NAFTA. There were fears about imported Japanese cars and semiconductors even in the 1980s, and increased trade protectionism followed. NAFTA 2.0 is a horrible treaty. It is snake oil, increases costs for businesses and consumer prices, and creates no jobs in the US. US foreign policy is a complete disaster and will never recover. The US has lost all credibility on treaties and with allies after pulling out of all kinds of treaties, and Trump's NATO bashing. It is just one man Donald Trump's whim. Voters don't care. Foreign policy is not an issue at all in their minds.
5
We have had many chief executives come into the White House--
--and they didn't know what they were doing.
I think of Abraham Lincoln. Stuck (for the first and the last time in our history--knock on wood) with a major Civil War. Ah so! What to do?
He got books out of the library. He read up on military strategy. He did his best. And of course--
--like George Washington, long before him--
--he didn't give up.
Moving on DOWN the ladder, we come to Mr. Warren G. Harding. He too--
--moved into the White House clueless.
He knew it too.
"My God!" he cried, "this is the HELL of a job."
At least--he realized his own glaring inadequacies. He strove as best he could to repair them.
Which brings us, Ms. Jacobson--
--to Mr. Donald J. Trump.
Who has not the least GLIMMER of a suspicion--
--that he is utterly unequal to the job he ran for and won--
--has not the least GLIMMER of a suspicion--
--that by NO means is he so smart or well-informed as he thinks he is--
--has not the least GLIMMER of a suspicion--
--that, day in and day out--
--he talks and acts like a FOOL.
"I know more than the generals," he declared during the 2016 race. As who should say:
"I got this. I can do this. The duties of a President--
"--these hold no terrors for me."
Well, Ms. Jacobson--
--for the rest of us--
--these last two years have had terrors aplenty.
Thank you for your own years of faithful service.
My hat is off to you.
I wish you the best.
48
"About 30 ambassadorships remain vacant, including in vitally important countries like Saudi Arabia and Pakistan."
Trump doesn't want any oversight anywhere so he can plunder and continue to gaslight Americans at every turn. It appears to be working since Congress sits complicit.
30
I was in Panama the night it was confirmed that Obama had won the presidency in 2008 (I had already voted before I left). There were literally PARADES in the streets, and people joyfully shouting "Yay Obama! No more Bush! No more Bush!"
I was also in Madrid the day in 2000 that the recount confirmed that the SCOTUS had indeed handed over the presidency to an unelected Bush. The 2", bold headlines in the papers blared "Coup d'etat in America!"
Perhaps we need our allies more than we think. For objectivity.
19
Trump, McConnell, and GOP cohorts have suceeded in widening the fractures of an already severely divided America. So, small wonder they delight in taking potshots at Mexico and Canada (Canada, excuse “potshots”). Seismic tensions are brewing within our borders and without. The result will be cataclysmic.
10
@Prunella Arnold, Living in Washington State, we, along with Oregonians, Californians, Colorad'ns and Canadians are budding together in taking our 'Pot Shots" at our orange Drumpha Loompah in Office.
It is high time for some blunt talk in a Joint Session of Congress.
11
So, "ditto" on all of that from Canada. Your former ambassadors to our country have said as much too. Watching what passes for "decision making" in Washington's so-called "leadership" is like watching a hungry infant in a playpen have a tantrum by throwing all his food away. They have no idea what they are doing, or how much it will hurt themselves.
28
Some jobs are more like a punishment.
2
We elect a president who doesn't know anything about anything and has no desire to learn. He dismissed the information from people like the author, who had boots on the ground for years. His people either didn't show up at all for briefing meetings or threw the materials in the garbage. This is a huge country with thousands of disparate interests and concerns. One person can't grasp all of it, we need experienced and intelligent patriots in place, giving advice. He ran all those people down the road and apparently spends all of his time MAGA. The future is very frightening.
29
Articles and reports like this, from actual insiders of High Posts, shows that not only does the Trump Team NOT have their hands on the lever of power, Team Trump does not even know where it is nor how to wield it if they did.
Pence does, and yet he is complicit in allowing the damage to happen, rather than taking matters into his own hands for the good of the Nation. However, he does rightfully see the damages being done, and knows the proper remedial steps via the Constitution, however he would be seen as taking advantage of the situation and attempting a Coup on Trump.
That would be a physically dangerous thing to do, as well as the kind of fracture that would shatter the Republican party into a bunch of individual shards with mutual distrust of each other and none of the previous 'understandings of assistance' (like what got Kavenaugh into the SCOTUS) would be honored from that point on, and their power as a unit would disappear overnight.
The T-Party took over the Republican Party, but has none of the actual understanding of what Government Really IS, as opposed to all of the right wing media screeching about what Government is. The Party has lied to its base so earnestly and for so long that the present Party does not know that the present Party Lines they outrageously push today were originally intentional Propaganda for the Masses to begin with, and NOT to be taken seriously in the Halls of Governing.
The TP'ers match the Know-Nothings in vile, nasty shallowness.
24
This is a lecture by Dr, Davis Hansen at Hillsdale college, It is one hour long, but addresses the issues posed by the Ambassador, very accurately
I highly recommend it be watched
https://youtu.be/yoAz6o4bUIA
4
If it was not clear before the election, it should be now that Trump is the type of "business leader" who borrows your watch to tell you what time it is.
He wants to deconstruct then reconstruct agreements and claim that his new agreement is the best - the greatest of all time in the history of the world - when in fact it is the same agreement.
Plain and simple - he does not add value to our country or to the world he just wants to look like he does.
More proof? Taking a loan out to give yourself a tax cut. Raising inflation and causing and marginal improvements in paychecks to be wiped out by higher costs due to trade and inflationary pressure spurred on by tax cuts and rising cost.
What he may be the greatest with? The greatest con-man of all time and one that a third or the electorate refuses to believe or acknowledge. Probably the same sort of people who did not believe pedophile priests existed.
31
This is just another example of the dislike, indeed hate and disrespect from other very important friends and neighbors this so called administration and the so called president have garnered since the election.
I wonder when it will all come back to hit us like we now deserve.
Respect is vital to all relationships and when you need help, it matters. We all need help at one time or another, even the once admired United States of America. This presidency is leading us down a very dangerous and sad, sad path.
16
First, thank you for attaching your name to this op-ed. I wish others would do the same.
Based upon conversations I have had with people I would consider to be in "Trump's base", 90% of them have no real idea what NAFTA is, or what it does for the United States. Despite this, all of them want it repealed. Why? Because President Trump says it should be repealed. Why does this resonate with his base? Because Mexico is full of brown people, and repealing an agreement with a country full of brown people just sounds good to them. It really is that sick, and that simple.
45
Trump is an amateur who brought in a crew of amateurs. They failed to come in during the transition to learn about government and the White House. If they couldn't even figure out how to turn the lights on and off in the White House, how could they figure out something like diplomacy?
Trump supporters mock Obama. They sneer, "He was only a community organizer." They forget he was a professor of Constitutional Law and a senator. They're okay with Trump being a reality show host and a conman. That's apparently better than being an expert in Constitutional Law. All they really got was an amateur surrounded by amateurs. That's no way to run a country.
802
Obama was less experienced and knowledgeable than many others. But he was a good and true man who cared deeply about his duty to serve his country well and faithfully. He was well educated and had developed excellent intellectual skills and he governed as reasonably as he could. He listened to people with great knowledge and experience and considered their advice very carefully. He was no fan of just saying whatever would sway others to do as he wished. He made some mistakes and he had some great accomplishments.
Trump is a shallow and careless person. He insulted Obama and spread lies about him for years. When Obama retaliated in a public roast event, Trump was driven to hate Obama because he felt mistreated. That is the sad personality that tries to bully and to shame so many other people.
12
A clear, credible voice from inside US diplomacy in the era of Trump. Ms. Jacobson, a veteran public servant respected by all her Foreign Service colleagues tells it like it is. My friends who are still in active service tell me exactly the same things she reveals here. For all you Trump supporters, this is not fake news. If you don't believe me, check it our for yourselves.
332
@Phillip Parkerson Excellent comment and she deserves support for her well-crafted article. She has been in my home and dedicated her life to diplomacy; but her title is not Ms. Jacobson. It is and will always be Amb. Jacobson (like a General is always a General and a doctor is always a Dr). When addressing her in person you may say Ma’am, Ambassador Jacobson, or Madame Ambassador. For a man it’s Sir, Ambassador Smith or Mr. Ambassador. :) Not Mr. Smith or just Ambassador.
4
@Phillip Parkerson As if. They have no resources to check such a thing and even less interest. I check the FoxOpinion - sic- website daily. Their approach is to distort any story that must be covered and ignore any that discomfits their viewpoint. Studies show that Fox viewers are actively ignorant regarding world facts. The whole purpose of this massive propaganda machine, besides making big money, is to appeal to their viewers base emotions. It is no longer possible to have a discussion with these people about any controversial subject. They invariably respond with canned talking points.
10
Trump operates in a uninformed universe, where he is the sole purveyor of important decisions based on Fox News and his "gut" feelings about what is right. This op-ed reflects Bob Woodward's book in the way chaos still reins in the White House. Never-mind that Trump is way off base 99.999 percent of the time in his perceptions and grasp of the facts. I am sorry that Ms. Jackson has left the diplomatic corps---we desperately need informed and experienced people like her to continue in their important work. Yet, we also need people like her to speak out about this administration and Trump. I am afraid that this op-ed will be buried under the weight of more headline-grabbing pieces, while something like this speaks volumes, loud and clear.
15
Ambassador Jacobsen,
Many thanks for your courage and valor in giving us an insight into the Trumpian chaos and pointlessness. Hopefully, your right to free speech will be respected.
Your long career as a diplomat is a testament to your committment to traditional U.S. values and human dignity.
During my time in Mexico in these last few years, I was able to witness your nurturing of the U.S.-Mexico relationship during a very difficult period. You were a poignant example of the true American friend of Mexico and, indeed, the world.
If and when a new Ambassador to Mexico is nominated, the Senate would do well to recall your success of maintaining an even keel in Mexico against the winds of diatribe, hate, and confusion from the Trump administation.
29
Nobody ever mentions that the "increase(d) American dairy exports into Canada" was from 3.25% of our dairy market to 3.6%.
I guess 0.35% of our dairy farmers are sad about it, but it really seems an almost comically-small achievement to throw away all of our goodwill over.
41
@Roy Brander It's all about the perception of a WIN™ for Trump. He's leaving sticky fingerprints all over everything he touches so he can say it is his even though there is no substance.
28
@Roy Brander
The bullying tactics used to achieve that sop to Trump's ego, because he had promised to destroy supply management and get more dairy into Canada, are what is important.
As an Albertan, you should be concerned with Trump's view of the oil sands, which is that they should remain a shut-in, US-controlled asset, rather than getting our product to tidewater and world markets. The price differential on that doesn't favour Alberta interests. Trump's view of the world also makes Canada a nuclear buffer against Russia, not an ally. And since he is in bed with Putin, he doesn't even need the buffer.
I don't know what your politics are, but since Stephen Harper would be a dangerous leftist for Trump, it seems unlikely any electable Canadian politician would please him long. The elephant next door has gone rogue.
P"S" I don't think much of that milk will sell in Quebec, and the sales of bourbon are likely to tank as well. Most folk here don't like being pushed around by jackasses.
10
@Roy Brander
The bullying tactics used to achieve that sop to Trump's ego, because he had promised to destroy supply management and get more dairy into Canada, are what is important.
As an Albertan, you should be concerned with Trump's view of the oil sands, which is that they should remain a shut-in, US-controlled asset, rather than getting our product to tidewater and world markets. The price differential on that doesn't favour Alberta interests. Trump's view of the world also makes Canada a nuclear buffer against Russia, not an ally. And since he is in bed with Putin, he doesn't even need the buffer.
I don't know what your politics are, but since Stephen Harper would be a dangerous leftist for Trump, it seems unlikely any electable Canadian politician would please him long. The elephant next door has gone rogue.
10
The minor tweaks made to NAFTA could certainly have been made without all the threats and nastiness that Trump and his minions spouted. A playground bully may "win" the puny kids lunch money and the other kids may be afraid of him, but they will never like or truly respect him. And read the history of former major bullies of the world. How many died comfortably of old age?
17
Chaos is not a bug. It is a feature.
25
@Robert Chaos is neither a bugf or a feature. It is merely an excuse for gross incompetence.
13
"An Inconvenient Truth" - I remember watching Al Gore's important film when it came out. I recall at the time, that one of the things that angered me most, was the thought, 'Why didn't Gore do something when he was in a position of power where he could have more easily effected change?". It had truly incensed me then.
I appreciate your article and the courage it must have taken to share your opinion with the American people. But just as with Al Gore, it leaves me utterly frustrated. Why is it, that you and others, do not take a stand while in power? When you were in your role as Ambassador - you probably could have brought even more attention to the craziness going on. I get that your position would have been on the line - but isn't your oath to the Constitution, isn't your love of your country more important?
Where is the courage and valour that Americans have always displayed in times of crisis? There's a fascist at the helm and nobody in a position to bring more light to the idiocy dares do anything. An anonymous letter from a 'senior White House' official does nothing for anybody either.
How very disappointing.
7
@Mike Bonnell--Ms. Jacobson would have been removed from her post if she had submitted this opinion piece while she was ambassador. What good would that have done? What good would it do for the "senior White House official" to make himself/herself known, only to be immediately fired? Isn't it far better that those who think there is a better way stay in their positions and try to affect change, or to reduce damage, from the inside? I am comforted to know that everyone in Trump's government isn't in lockstep with him. Doing what little they can on the inside is better than being pushed out and replaced by a die hard sycophant. I think they show their love of country by staying in place and trying to mitigate the damage done by Trump's inexperience, ignorance and arrogance.
10
@Ms. Pea
Well, how's that method been working for you so far? Are things getting better...or worse? The future - is it looking rosier?
I appreciate your point of view. I understand. But there comes a time, when things are at their worst, when typical, cautious and prudent methods just don't work. This is just such a time.
Appeasing bullies never works. Ever.
What if MLK had just decided to try to fight social injustice from within - without risking imprisonment and ultimately, death? Do you think that civil rights would have come about just the same?
The US needs someone to lead by example. Now. Doing so might induce others to do the same. It's the courageous stance to take. Working behind the scenes, hiding in the shadows is ... too timid, to be polite.
These moments are pivotal. Mark my words - if good people stand by and do nothing - things in the US will degenerate even more, and quickly. Trump is well on the way to a 2nd mandate. Mark my words. And, I bet you there'll be a move to abolish term limits.
'All that's needed for evil to triumph, is for good people do to nothing.' Squawking once you've left the game is tantamount to doing nothing.
Good luck - to us all.
Ps. If enough people spoke up while in power and were then removed, then the system would break down and positive action would ensue. Don't you think?
Sadly Trump has been brain washed to believe there is no need for an administrative state only a strong wise leader like Trump. Bannon tried this ploy with sARAH pALIN it did not work so he saw Trump ignorant as a perfect foil. Trump was won over by flattery no surprise and now his position on international affairs is we don't need ambassadors or a state dept he is all we need. This lack of wide spread staffing thru out our govt will create many problems down the road and Jared is ill equipped to run international relations. Trump is only interested in being worshiped and enriching his family and this will cost our country our status in the world as this chaotic and corrupt administration rolls along.
21
Our former ambassador closes by alleging a history of invasion and imperial intent on the part of the U.S. She fits perfectly as a cog in the Obama global apology tour. Perhaps instead of worrying about Mexican suspicions, she could advocate for America like Trump just did in the new USMCA deal. Meanwhile Americans don't suspect - they know - that Mexico is a willing pipeline for drugs, crime and illegal immigration to the U.S.
4
@TL Alleging a history of invasion and imperial intent? Our history is glaringly on display - especially in Central America and we are reaping the whirlwind that we sowed over decades of meddling in their politics. Acknowledging the wrongs of history is not a "global apology tour" but a pragmatic start at making amends for the damage done. You might wish to wander through a few history books. The only thing really new about the USMCA is the name. With Trump its all a zero sum game.
46
@TL Sigh.... Where to begin with this? I'm currently overseas and the world thinks we've gone nuts. The world likes America and looks up to us when we work with other nations. Respect begets respect. They do not like us when were hypocritical, arrogant or unilaterally start wars. This has nothing to do with "liberal" or "left wing" propaganda, it's the truth. The way Trump has been running things seems to benefiting America in the short term. But in the long term we will lose, lose, lose... We will lose our influence, we will lose our status as a respected super power and in the end nobody will trust us or want to make deals with us.
27
Simplistic and simply Wrong. She’s a career civil servant. she’s supposed to be loyal to the country and the constitution, not the President!
She’s a professional. Why shouldn’t she smartly take into account the political/cultural context of the memory of invasion and seizure of 1/3 of Mexico’s land? By the way those are facts. Is Trump even aware of that part of our history? God help us.
18
"The draft document to pull out of Nafta was never sent. Why?"
Maybe somebody removed it from his desk and he just forgot about it.
19
Having been born overseas to American parents, having been schooled alongside the children of career US foreign service workers, and having lived more than 1/3 of my life overseas and visited many US Consulates, USIS libraries, and having close relatives who worked in the diplomatic service of the US and the UN, my heart is breaking over the mismanagement of this so-called administration. This is not a presidency, this is a crime wave (NY Times comment by David Henry).
The constant lying and making up of facts (truth isn't truth, these are alternative facts, etc.) by the members of this so-called administration starts with the Liar-in-Chief and goes downhill from there: the fish truly does rot from the head.
While the above is true, the seeds of this level of mendacity have been planted and replanted in fertile ground at least since the end of WWII. The Defense Department, the State Department, and the intelligence community have gone along with the convenient lies of successive administrations and the Americans who pointed this out, many of them journalists, were vilified as Communists, enemies of the people, and bearers of fake news.
The trajectory of all these lies has an eerie and cringe-worthy parallel in the "we're the victims here" rhetoric of current regime -- Trump, McConnell, Ryan, I'm looking at you.
My fellow Americans, vote these guys out! They have utterly failed at their constitutional duty to be a check and balance.
Your country is calling. Vote!
97
Ms. Jacobson - Thank you for your service and dedication to our country. Your depiction of Trumplandia is not surprising. We have no president, no leader who understands that he represents the United States of America, not Trump Inc. He is driven by paranoia, pathological insecurity, limited intellect, racism and personal profit. He is our Mad King, Manchurian Candidate, and Wizard of Oz. The GOP led Congress are his enablers and silent majority. It is our responsibility to change that on election day.
20
Yup, not only is the so called President an ill informed pathological liar, but he has zero interest or skill in running a complex organization requiring planning and communication. He’s a GOP dream!
48
So, so sick of these kiss-and-tell people who are supposed to be loyal to the President they are serving. There is no loyalty anymore. An interesting story would be a person who kept her mouth shut and took the information she learned in her job to her grave. Blabbing is the way to stay within the horrible "inner circle" of the chattering class in the NYC- DC corridor.
4
@dorothea Does the author owe allegiance more to the president or to the citizenry? She is telling us, the people of the United States, what is going on so that we can be informed. Should we be kept in the dark?
27
@dorothea I will agree that loyalty is important, afterall it is a spiritual quality, but not all spiritual qualities are equal. When we have a President who is unqualified for the job in that he (by his own admission) refuses to read carefully-researched reports, has to have information "dumbed-down" so he will hopefully understand it, and readibly admits he makes decisions from his gut, than the response to his behavior requires something beyond mere loyalty.
His impulsive threat to withdraw from Nafta is a good example. The President obviously did not know enough about the trade agreement to understand that withdrawing from it would be disastrous for relationships with the two countries that we border. Nafta, as the article points out, has had immense benefits for all of the countries. The new agreement is almost exactly the same as the old Nafta, except that our relationships with the two countries has been damaged. This is not a "Win", but a "Loss".
Trump's failure to tenaciously gather information, consult repectfully and make thoughtful decisions (all spiritual qualities) puts his employees in a difficult position, asking them to support his immoral behavior. Hiding his inadequacies from public view, is not in the best interests of democracy. We the people need to tenaciously gather information, consult then repectfully and make thoughtful voting decisions. Truthfulness is the moral quality that trumps loyalty.
23
@dorothea--Ambassadors swear to "support and defend the Constitution of the United States" and "bear true faith and allegiance to the same." They do not swear loyalty to any president. Neither do cabinet members or federal workers, nor any other American. Ms. Jacobson did not speak out while she served as ambassador. Now that she is just a citizen, she is free to say anything she likes.
11
The folks here that think Trump is the worst president ever, what has changed in your life today to make this statement ? Have you lost your job , have your children been sent to war, has your home been repossessed, has your 401k or savings been wiped out ? I know for my family none of these things have happened for once, as a matter of fact, we are better off today than we have been in the last 20 years. From youngest to the oldest my entire family has jobs. We all have places to stay, we all have food on the table and some money in the bank. Some of us are even stationed in the US again. So he doesn't fit your image of president. Well, boohoo! For the past forty years we have heard the same song and dance from Washington and absolutely nothing changed. Even Obama who ran on hope and change, didn't use that slogan on the second trip. At the end of the day, Trump will get only eight years, whereas the rest of Washington and politicians like the ambassador will be there to go back to doing nothing, not wanting anything to change, because all they want is to ensure their continued existence... One last thought , Mexico put in better highways so the cartels could use larger trucks to move drugs and people to our borders..
3
@MM Like you, nothing has changed negatively in MY life under Trump "economically", but I see the negative impact for segments of the population that live around me. Women in their reproductive years, my hispanic co-workers & neighbors; the disparagement of my LGBTQ friends and family; the threats of wildfire in my region; the rejection of science; the ascendency of the religious right who aren't so much about religious freedom as they are about religious privilege - theirs. The division sown & reinforced at Trump's ghastly rallies - and the constant barrage of lies he utters. For Trump & the GOP it is a zero-sum game. They are about winning no matter the cost to the rest of us. For me, unlike you apparently - it isn't all about me all the time. I'm fine - but many around me are not. I'm not willing to settle for "I've got mine - too bad about yours". This is why I resist the assault on our democracy.
20
@MM: Well, bully for you that your family is doing well. My income has been cut in half since a minority of voters dumped Trump into the White House. My clients are all abroad, and many of them have politely informed me that they prefer to do business "closer to home," which is their euphemistic way of saying that they aren't doing business with Americans now. My insurance premiums are going up again, and I have no idea if I will even have insurance if they get rid of the ACA, since, as a cancer survivor, I am nearly uninsurable on the private market. My husband's income has also been halved - and we don't know why, except that people are not spending as much as they used to at his place of employment - yet his taxes have gone up, because we don't have the deductibles we used to have. We are now one of those families who couldn't come up with $400 for an emergency -- although we weren't before Trump. We had savings, stock, and an IRA. Now all that's left is the IRA. Our bills haven't decreased concurrently with our income, either. As a matter of fact, prices for everything, from food to utilities, have gone up this year.
Trump's tenure has been nothing but bad news for our family.
So no, none of our family will be voting Republican any time soon. Not until they stop giving tax cuts to those who don't need them, stop trampling on women's rights, stop gerrymandering, and begin supporting universal healthcare, public education, and climate change research - for starters.
32
So.......Mexico improved its highways at the behest of drug cartels and immigrants. Wow, what a concept. Guess the next step is fixing U.S. highways and roads, using cartel money and immigrants!
3
It's easy for a democracy to suffer a majoritarian xenophobia. What's happened now in the U.S. is xenophobic administration elected by a minority. Apparently that permits foreign enmity to combine with raging incompetence.
This is what the letter declares, that levers of power are wielded by ignorant people. Ms. Jacobson is not against reforming NAFTA, nor does she condemn NAFTA 2.0. She was a public servant of high rank, equivalent to a General. She required, in our form of government, strategy direction, just as a General needs them. The current administration failed to provide it.
The U.S. is a powerful country, capable of causing economic, environmental, and cultural change world-wide. A small or poor country can suffer incompetent leadership without spreading global chaos, but not the U.S.. A democracy that allows such foolish leadership is troubled.
Just as the poor are always with us, so are the ignorant, the envious, that narrow-minded, the fools. A business knows that half it's employees are below the median, by definition. To thrive, it needs to include them, yet keep them from running the show. The U.S. has the clueless in the pilot seat.
22
So Trump gave us NAFTA 1.1. Big deal (meaning it's hardly worth the trouble if the gains are minuscule and everybody hates us after it's finished). He might still cancel the agreement if Mexico doesn't stop a caravan of desperate Central American peasants.
The damage Trump continues to do to our government and reputation in the world is incalculable. He's Putin's arsonist, pure and simple. And Russia is still using social media to foment divisions in our society, paying no price in the process.
Most nations are watching in horror, hoping sanity soon returns. What's truly insane is that conservatives are ascendant mostly over disagreements about a woman's legal right to bodily autonomy. It's something Bart Kavanaugh, I assume in a sober moment, assured Senator Susan Collins was settled law.
Without social conservatives, our most immoral president would never have been elected. But somehow they remain his most fervent constituents.
Ambassador Jacobson deserves our thanks for standing in the breach. But no one was prepared for incompetence of biblical proportions.
22
This article is yet another unit in the mass of evidence that shows Mr. Trump not only speaks from a position of being uninformed, but that he also acts from a position of being uninformed.
America, your captain has blotted all the windows on the bridge, has disabled the GPS, has stopped all the clocks, and has shut down all the radar equipment. Brace for impact.
51
My Dad was a Foreign Service Officer for 35 years. He joined the Service right after WWII and passed away in 2001. He would have been so dismayed by what you describe. It feels like years of diplomacy and hard choices and work have been lost. Thank you for your service.
25
This thoughtful and alarming article describes the utter chaos and the fact that Trump’s primary concern seems to be to increase his finances at any cost. This administration has treated Mexico and Canada with contempt and ridicule. Yet the GOP Congress is playing Possum and is silent while long time treaties and alliances are being shredded.
42
Trump seems intent on destroying any semblance of American diplomacy and leadership throughout the world. We are now its laughing stock.
US Ambassadors are now just pawns to push an America First agenda of protectionism and isolationism, and to act as unabashed arms dealers.
God help the US if/when another international crisis arises and we need to form a coalition of allies...
26
@JBK007
No, you miss the bigger picture. He believes the past and how the US did things was all wrong. All wrong. he's been saying that for decades now. Whether its trade or military support systems, domestic policies...all wrong. So he's only upending what he believes is wrong and trying to replace it with what he and many like him, he's not alone, believe is the proper order of things.
Everything, everywhere should and will (if they could have their way) benefit the US first and foremost.
Despite Trumps rhetoric at his last UN appearance, he and his team do not care about other nations sovereignty, but instead its all about the monetary transactions that benefit us first that rule their decision making processes.
If Iran had more influence on US strategic energy needs, and provided us military cover in the region, and was an alleged bigly buyer of US products - like say...oh...Saudi Arabia, we'd be desperate in cozying up and looking the other way at their atrocities.
7
It is all about control and not diplomacy which is what Trump meant when he announced almost two years ago that he is the state.
Trump Org has personal business in Saudi Arabia which makes it imperative that there is no ambassador to that country just Trump and Kushner being their only source of communications with America. Foreign policy is debated based upon deals only.
Trump hates people of color and he has an entire country named Mexico to hate and especially because refugees flee through Mexico to our Southern Border. People with no hope and no possessions except their children, babies and toddlers.
There is now a winter approaching and 13,000 children stolen by Trump, Miller, Sessions and Nielsen are imprisoned still in migrant TENT camps with no schooling and no legal help for their plight. They are exactly in the situation Trump wants for them and all his enemies, including every Democrat in America, helpless. They are under his control and he is ignoring them as they are not his children. He cares for no-one but himself as in monster.
42
The root of this problem is that trump is an intellectual simpleton.
He is basically an ignorant man, devoid of any ability to understand complex matters. And without sufficient understanding of things, he cannot discuss or provide guidance/leadership to others. This is why Rex Tillerson could not provide guidance, because he himself was not being guided by trump. That is why you also were not given any guidance on what to discuss with Enrique Peña Nieto.
This explains the one page notification of his plan to exit from NAFTA. He could provide only one page worth of information, and more than likely half of that page was "fluff". That letter was taxing his abilities to communicate at an advanced level. It's likely the authors of that notification had to expand what he gave them, just to make it a reasonable-length single page memorandum on such an important topic.
As we have seen, trump gathers his understanding of the world only from people he surrounds himself with and from limited sources of TV news. Both keep him in an information bubble. And trump's only interest in watching TV news is to see how he appears, whether he's "popular". He shows glaring narcissistic tendencies.
trump is not a leader. He is a self-aggrandizer who only seeks self-gain, monetarily and for his fame.
We need to rid ourselves of this corrupt toxic person, a president in name only.
Please readers, VOTE on NOV 6 !!
42
Trump hasn't named ambassadors because he thinks he can do it all himself. He has told his followers to depend only on him, that he alone will rule them, and they are satisfied with that. They don't see that his MAGA is a myth, and that he is actually making American weak by poisoning relationships with our closest allies and giving up our position of global leadership. Trump lives his own life in a kind of isolation, without any real friends, depending only on himself. That is the position he is attempting to replicate for the country. If no one has the nerve to stop him, the U.S. will be diminished, without allies, trade will fall off as traditional partners turn elsewhere, and the country will be like Trump--weak and alone.
290
Trump cannot lead and he does not delegate with trust because of it. His reluctance to fill up the high positions in the State Department reflects his anxiety about losing personal control.
17
The ambassador is too diplomatic to mention that Pres. Weasel 45* has not yet sent a replacement ambassador to Mexico; while we're certain that William H. Duncan is doing a fine job standing in, the 27 U.S. states Ambassador Jacobson mentions as having Mexico their #1 or #2 export market deserve better.
Far, far better.
41
There are just too many Americans who really believe that vaccines are a scourge to society, but Trump is great.
36
All our dear leader is concerned about is looking like a winner all the time. I have seen one of his ploys is to tear down things just so he can take credit for the rebuild. In some cases this means just renaming them. As for Mexico I really believe they could of done a lot more in years past with the drug and immigration issue, Its really time for them to step up to the plate and stop being a toll highway for drugs and people coming to the US.
8
Why are people scared of speaking up against Trump anyway??? The guy can’t put two sentences together. Also on another note, am I the only one who finds the fact that he employed his family a bit weird?
38
@Jorje As an American ambassador, she was not permitted to speak against the administration until she was no longer employed by the State Department. Part of the job. Once they retire and become public citizens, they can say what they like, but not until then. And no, you aren't the only one who finds it wildly inappropriate that he is appointing his family to government positions.
38
The Trump Administration is a crime. Let's hope more convictions are part of it's future.
65
I understand exactly what you are talking about. I live in Panamá. Secretary Pompeo visited President Varela this week to caution him about doing business with China. A year ago, Panamá solicited bids to build a fourth bridge over the canals. No US company submitted a bid. A Chinese company recently won the bid and attracted State's attention. Where were Trump and State a year ago when bids were being solicited? I suspect they were in the same place they were for most of your tenure in Mexico--somewhere with their head in the clouds.
63
@James Ricciardi I could name another location for those heads to be, that could clearly be more accurate.
8
“Despite Mr. Trump’s campaign rhetoric vilifying Mexicans and focusing on a border wall, embassy officials and our Mexican partners felt after his inauguration that we would be able to continue working well together”
Why in God’s name did you think that? Shame on you for playing a role in the charade of a Trump government.
6
Ms. Jacobson has witnessed firsthand the chaos and incompetence of a so-called president Trump whose ignorance, and whose willingness to destroy true alliances plays right into Putin's hands. Russia got what they wanted. The super-rich owners of the Republican Party got what they wanted.
Trump was placed in power through collusion with and financial support from Russia, through massive organized Republican gerrymandering, through years of GOP voter suppression initiatives across the land, through GOP and Russian manipulation of social media convincing many targeted individuals to stay home or vote Republican.
The losers in this obvious collapse of our electoral and political systems are the all American people, even those confused or bigoted enough to vote for the evil clown Donald Trump.
Those 40 million registered voters who stayed home in2016 are essential to the vital struggle to take back our nation from the Republican billionaire oligarchy, from the Russians, and yes, from Crime Boss Donald Trump. Vote and get out the vote!!
29
It cannot be so difficult to appoint ambassadors that Trump is incapable of filling the major posts. Is he deliberately weakening America's ability to influence international affairs and to protect our interests abroad? If so, why?
Why? One possibility is that this is exactly what Putin wants. America brought low. America made weak. Make America Weak Again!
Why would Trump want to do this for Putin? At our expense? Especially when all of his little red hats are telling us the exact opposite?
We can only guess. And if it's left up to Devin Nunes, we'll never know for sure.
That's just one of many reasons to VOTE the GOP out of power. VOTE!!!
32
Thanks for your service to the USA over a long career Ambassador Jacobson. And muchas gracias for the patriotic act of writing this informative essay. Americans like you will help us all survive the totally unnecessary damage Trump has done to our nation.
34
It’s going to take decades to undo all the damage Trump has purposely inflicted on our nation.
33
Wholehearted applause to Ambassador Jcobson (or Ambassadrix? Ambasadress?). Her extremely rational analysis and long diplomatic service clearly show that the article is not written by one of the run-of-the-mill dyed-in-the-wool Democrats, but by a person who values moral principles. I fear though that her artcle falls on the closed eyes and ears of the current administration.
45
why would anyone want to work in a chaotic administration- a dishonest, incompetent, and shady one, with blatant lies coming out of it every day, led by a madman that trump is-who is a horrible jerk,liar and extremely corrupt, and still worse, why would anyone vote for people like trump and the party that enables him, knowing that he is the absolute pits. His sorry outfit is calling itself an administration and a party. i despise trump, his party and all the people who support him and his party. how can anyone support him or his party ?. most of the party and it's supporters would be in prison for life if they copied trump. as an independant, i would never sell my soul like them, to any party or politician. I am true only to my own values, family, community and country. The economy,which was steadily getting better till 2016, has become very volatile and unpredictable because of trump and the gop-their tax cut and tariffs in particular. It is being seen in the stock market collapse in recent weeks. Eventually,when a recession hits America and the global economy, the public and global investors will completely loose confidence in US government and institutions-and they did for a while in 2008 when Lehman, AIG and the housing market collapsed. it will be because of trump, and again, the republicans. living standards will decline with many more millions of poor people having no health insurance or safety net. that's where the country is heading right now.vote to save us all.
5
Well said, Ambassador. However, you have little option but to comment on matters within your area of expertise. Certainly, America's stock has fallen in Mexico, as it has done in many parts of the world. It's not that America's hands were ever really clean in foreign affairs. As the recent canonization of Archbishop Romero reminds us, there has been blood on those hands. But there were also counterbalancing forces for good. America's better angels provided cover for the wrongdoing. But those better angels are now fewer in number and in handcuffed and gagged conditions. America's public face is blemished with the snarl of the sectarian bigot and the wrinkles of the libertine. Decency is in retreat.
11
Thank you for sharing. It seems this president governs by chaos. Typical of a businessman who constantly puts people against each other. I can’t wait until the American people can say “you’re fired”.
29
Let's not be shocked if the nutty GOPs and DJT are re-elected.
The optimism of the media is foolish hype.
The polity is split, but don't forget what happened in early November two
ugly years ago.
History has its way of repeating tragedy, and too many can be misled.
Politics can be diseases, and Brexit-Trump happen.
12
@Robert Cohen In actuality what happened two years ago Clinton committed political suicide by cheating the rightful Democratic Nomination out of his chance to run against the Trump. Her ego and obvious cheating and mis-use of the Democratic Party Apparatus was too obviously done for America, and so we voted in what we Thought was the lesser evil.
Really makes one wonder when this was the Lesser Evil, just how Clinton would have done. In her case all the illicit money came in through the back door, instead of Trump who obviously robs everybody right up front, even though he lies about it at every step of the way.
But the polity is no where near as split as you seem to think. Georgia Polity may be split, which would be a good thing, those that have mindlessly Always voted R because that is what Daddy and Granddaddy did before em, are taking a real look at the characters they been automatically pulling levers for, and finding that they don't really like, or resemble, those politicians saying they represent em, even those with the famous Genetic knee-jerk reaction to pull the R lever or button will be tamped down, mostly in embarrassment for having Let Trump into the henhouse to begin with, and denial that he is their fault.
1
Keep writing op eds, please. Just the story of having to meet with Mexico's president when you knew nothing directly of us pulling out of NAFTA & sequelae would be great in every outlet.
Bannon laughing to see Trump burning all down, knowing many Trump supporters angry at everything will love it.
Long as stock market ok on it goes.
Thank you for writing this.
19
So what is new in this “tell all” vignette from the US/Mexican ambassador? Nothing actually. We are all well informed about our new govt’s incompetence. We the voters must make the necessary change at the White House in order to rescue our country from the clutches of Trump’s glaring ineptitude and immediately at 2018’s midterms.
16
Excellent and informative. Of course this person the antithesis of Mr. Trump and Trumpworld.
11
Another example of trump chaos in the WH- or rather ignoring what is deemed unimportant. While ambassadorships are not being filled, conservative judges are being appointed. Perhaps foreign affairs are not as important as a conservative judiciary.
Trump’s attention is focused on Korea, Saudi Arabia, China and, of course, Russia. Other less ‘important countries don’t deserve attention or mention. Canada and Mexico are important but as targets for trump’s ire.
Just one more example of how the Rep agenda works under trump.
1
Thank you, ambassador Jacobsen, for your service to our country.
Thank you also for reporting on real consequences of Trump's chaos and politics-of-hate. The US is a weaker country for it, but Trump doesn't care - he only cares about the private real estate deals he has made with Tsar Putin, and the ones that he will make with North Korea's Kim.
3
NAFTA the worse deal ever? What about the deals Trump made buying into the casinos in Atlantic City? All bankruptcies.
3
The fault is all on Mr. Jacobson. He did not know his role.
He thought he was serving a government. Little that he knows that was actually serving in a 24/7 Alternative Reality Show in which every day is a new episode, sometimes with and sometimes without continuity to the previous episode.
3
@Notmypesident I agree with your sentiment. Just one correction it is Roberta Jacobson, not Robert. Our Ambassador was a woman. ,
2
Thank you so much, Ambassador Jacobson for your 30 years of service to our Country. You and your colleagues have worked hard to maintain good relationships with other countries. The wrecking ball who occupies the Oval Office at the moment has no idea of the value of international agreements and good will. At some point, he will be gone and forgotten on the "dustbin of history."
5
I’m so sorry the tea-cup-breaking barbarians in charge have offended you. However, realize this is exactly why Trump was elected - it’s not going to be business as usual. That some of our friends are mad at us is not new and they’ll adjust. Consumer confidence is at all-time highs, we’re now ranked as the most competitive country in the world, we’re tackling the threat from China and both our border neighbors will benefit from that.
Trump is in a difficult position, trying to balance the whims of the angry, violent mob that has taken over the Republican party against the specialized business interests and lobbyists that have ruled the Republican party for decades. Giving the mobs what they want would be bad for business, but he has to at least make it LOOK like he's giving them some of what they want. In 2016 he was able to focus their anger on the rich and on D.C.'s swamp of lobbyists, but now he relies on the swamp and has become a part of it. So we get NAFTA version 1.1 instead of a wall, and because the angry Republican mob doesn't know any better he gets to treat his greatest compromise like a victory.
2
An insider’s account of the incoherence of the Trump presidency. What is truly frightening is that this irrational approach to governing is exactly what we expected. No huge surprise here.Trump’s principles and objectives seem as variable as the weather. The last voice he listens to clearly is determative of his final decision on critical and complex issues. A retail corner store would fail with this management style.Trump is taking America down. It is time to end the madness. At the ballot box.
7
Ms. Jacobson , I am afraid you have only confirmed what many already know in regards to the great many steps backwards being taken by the actions, attitudes and even whims of Donald Trump as President but far more importantly and consequential, that he is Donald Trump, a man with many faults, foibles , opinions and attitudes supported by a personality that refuses to listen, display humility and accept critism just to name a few of many other aspects of this man which are so unsuited to his current role and the countries best interests and which threaten to harm, hurt or destroy relationships, policies and trusts that have taken so many years and such effort to develope , build up and repair, and yet do not take much time to lose or put at risk of changing back to where or even worse to what they were.
And now , in so many areas , America is falling back, going nowhere, losing friends and gaining enemies in ways and because of the person in charge and others who are not acting in the best interests of those that came before them and the work and efforts they have made, to see them quickly dashed as the best interests and reputation of the Nation suffer reverses because of a person and people who either aren't thinking long term, aren't interested in history or needs and policy , but only in the short fix ( in their opinion) or to cater to interest groups or personal beliefs and mistaken holier than thou behaviours all which most often serve the people and nation poorly.
9
Luckily there are reasonable people in Mexico who realize ultimately our mutual success depends on each other. The Don can use this desire not to "blow things up" to make short terms gains, but at some point our friends in Mexico will walk away.
1
@Awake what does this even mean? That the hope of mutual success will be the glue that holds things together, or that your one-time friends, rightly, will eventually abandon you? I hear a lot of Americans asking Canadians and Mexicans to be patient while your government threatens to “utterly destroy” the Canadian economy and to use the new trade agreement they said they wanted to hold Mexico hostage to build a stupid wall. And we have been patient, hoping the mid-terms will begin to sort your mess out. But the US needs to decide whether its international relationships are more important than either red or blue. If that answer is no, screw patience and kiss your friends goodbye.
5
You should have quit on the spot. The deafening silence and spirited acquiescence of good people who are dismayed at the Trump juggernaut further empowers him.
1
Thank you Ambassador Jacobson for “pulling back the curtain” still further, revealing the gross and harmful incompetency of this effectively leaderless Administration. Like millions and millions of Americans, I fervently hope that the nation somehow survives and largely stays intact despite the continuing nightmare of governance that we are suffering under. Trump could manage to bankrupt Monaco were he selected to lead that principality.
3
Thank you for your insightful article and confirming the disorder coming from this administration. As Canadians, we watched our negotiating team do their best to deal with the up's and down's of modernizing NAFTA, and it was not easy. Listening to your president malign and threaten us has severely damaged the goodwill we once had with the United States.
It is refreshing to know there is someone like yourself willing to
offer a candid opinion of Trump and his approach toward making any kind of a meaningful agreement. He is obviously ill-informed, skimming over the surface of issues without any real depth of understanding, and it shows. Add to that his rally rhetoric and you now have a government that no-one trusts, nor respects.
Thank you Ms. Jacobson for doing your utmost under very trying circumstances, you are to be commended.
296
What a sober reflection of Trump's arrogant stance towards his neighbors, Canada and Mejico. Of course, we knew about Trump's trampling on diplomacy and favoring brute and capricious force, 'punishing' vital allies for wanting to be equal partners in business, security and some freedom in deciding what's best for all. 'Shooting from the hip' is Trump's favorite sport, as he chooses to ignore the advice and expertise his own team is ready to offer...as our brutus ignoramus insists in knowing 'more than the generals'. One cannot help but be impressed by Trump's lawlessness when insulting our neighbors, a humiliation that shall boomerang in our standing in the world, and the loss of credibility in the 'golden rule' (do not do to others what you don't like them do unto you).
3
We just can't fix the utter lack of knowledge in the voters who are Trump's voter base. These voters are not well informed, they don't understand much about economics, law, international relations, and facts that support getting the most US benefit from our alliances with other countries. These voters respond to sound bites, slogans, cliches that have been wrong for at least 20 years, and fiery speeches.
It's like a big party at these rallies, and the fun does not depend on truth or facts. When Trump plays to these voters, his comments and decisions greatly hurt the US as things stand in 2018. Much of the damage is in the future, so you cannot see most of it now. If these voters don't wise up, the people that they elect in Washington DC will never make wise choices. These voters will pay the price of these poor choices, and America will be far less great than it could have been.
16
@Will Hogan They do not want to know. They know what they like. They are not going to change.
We must stop the gerrymandering and vote. We have learned with 2 of the last three presidents that it does not take a majority to win.
10
My first thought when reading this reasonable, intelligent, albeit frightening account was why publish it in the NY Times where most readers would understand and agree. The situation under which Ms. Jacobson worked was disappointing, but alas not surprising. Better to publish it in the WSJ where it might open a few eyes.
What was surprising to me in reading the comments is the number of readers who don't get it. Who accuse her of partisanship despite a 30-year stint in the diplomatic core. Who enjoy chaos. For whom the intricacies of political circumstance are ignored.
The stakes are too high for such ignorance. For people who run to originalism and the Founders like to the Holy Grail, do they realize how many of them made a career of diplomacy?
7
L'Etat, c'est moi. Louis XIV probably didn't say that, and Trump has probably never heard of him, but he has certainly embraced the concept. Who needs ambassadors? - much better personally to bully your allies and cozy up to like-minded enemies.
3
Supporting the work of valuable career diplomats like Ms. Jacobson, furthering the vital interests of our country, and the filling of vital ambassadorships etc. are some of the responsibilities the president is expected to carry out. However, these duties appear to hold little appeal for President Trump when compared to the high he gets from his weekly campaign rallies, his appearances on Fox News or tweeting. The nuts and bolts of governing are simply not Trump’s “thing,” and clearly lead to the kind of chaos Ms. Jacobson describes.
3
It’s good to finally read a clear and concise assessment by a career diplomat of the destruction of American interests by Trump. Roberta S. Jacobson is everything a career diplomat is supposed to be. Doing an already difficult job under circumstances made impossible by Trump, Jacobson tried to continue to work with our allies and still upheld her oath of office even as Trump repeatedly violated his. It's a relief to read something this well laid out by a person willing to explain who they are, what their credentials are, and why they acted as they did, as opposed to an anonymous individual writing in the Times about how he is complicit in most of the terrible things Trump does, but how we should take comfort in knowing that he, and others like him, are secretly subverting things they personally don't agree with.
The reason Trump hasn't appointed many essential diplomats is by design. Standard mob protocol is for mob bosses to not delegate. Mob bosses only entrust a few of their closest confidants, like a Consigliere, with anything. Since Trump learned all of his tricks from Russian mobsters, he runs the government like a mob operation. There are a lot of takeaways from this, but it’s evident that Trump alienated our allies for nothing. Trump did little to change NAFTA, so it was nothing but a con-job, merely an exercise in rebranding meant to fire-up Trump’s rabid base while damaging all Americans, including those who foolishly think Trump actually accomplished something.
8
All I can say is vote, vote,vote. We need checks and balances in government. Especially when we have this person who somehow got elected president.
17
The most effective thing that can happen in the Nov. 6 election for everyone is a solid repudiation of Trumpism. It will not remove DJT, but it will chasten him as well as his White House managers.
Democrats will benefit, as they will have considerably more voice in government. Republicans will gain credibility, some release from their bully-in-chief, and begin to obtaain a better idea how to manage their future. They'll still have control, and will be able to hope that in 2 years Trump will have actually learned something about government.
1
"We were overcoming the suspicions that a history of invasion, territorial loss and imperial intent had bequeathed. That kind of trust is slow to build, and remarkably easy to destroy. It is being destroyed now."
This is the main folly of trump-speak -- though fortunately, it does seem that the sandbox has a few adults somewhere in the distant shadows to step in.
This madness will surely pass one day, but the damage it has done will haunt us for a long time to come. We've made plenty of messes before, and we have a long history of suffering amnesia over past events, but even the worst of our one-sided lack of vision has never been quite this over the top.
3
How many more stories do we need to hear before we can finally understanding unequivocally that the presidency of Donald Trump is a disaster ?
And for those who like to defend the president because of the way the stock market has been – look again- the October tumble is just beginning…
12
Thank you for your service, this wise article and your attempt to bring some sort of order to the Trump chaos. Without civil servants like yourself we would be truly lost and have little hope of regaining our prestige in the world after the Trump storm has blown itself out. Trump has stoked hatred and fears here and abroad mostly for his own political gain. Vicious attacks on friends must not be our foreign policy. Your article restores my faith that wiser heads can still see others as people rather than as punching bags and stereotypes.
6
It's not disorder, it is incompetence. The reality is that we have a reality TV star pretending to be president and a shell of a federal government that can't carry out even its most basic functions. And it starts at the top: with a president who has no idea what he's doing, the rest of the government can only follow.
To quote the man in question: sad!
5
In reading material from different sources (one being Michael Lewis' book, 'The Fifth Risk), it seems apparent to me that this administration either gets in the way of progress through neglect and ignorance or impulsive actions directly related to his anger at the moment. Or both. Within the Commerce Dept., so much good has been done in this country. With this Administration so many briefings were ready for the new administration and no one from this administration showed up. Ever. To this day. You have to read, read and read (not social media) to understand what should be going on and isn't.
15
Unfortunately (and ironically), the phrase 'America First,' which our current POTUS claims credit for, yet was coined by folks like Charles Lindbergh generations ago, results in 'America Last' when it comes to the unintended consequences of having our venerable and stalwart allies deserting us instead of depending on and working with us.
This blind, short term thinking, spearheaded by an incurious/ corrupt/illegitimate leader owned by sworn foreign enemies of this country has already begun its corrosive course to dismantle
our democracy while still being supported by stalwarts who either don't seem to notice or don't seem to care.
There's only one thing you can do about it: Vote.
10
The lack of professionalism in the Trump Administration is appalling to this American. Ideology aside, the lack of "running a government" is unprecedented. Imagine if Jeb had won...I'm sure I'd be against their SCOTUS choice, but the machine itself would be run correctly. Unfortunately, many Trump voters got what they wanted...someone who does not care who will go break the machine. I hope our friends in other nations realize that the majority of Americans, who did NOT vote for this administration, feel like a child in the back seat of the family car. Dad is very drunk and driving aggressively. Mom is yelling at him to pull over. He refuses. We can only watch from the back seat and hope we don't hit anything hard before 2020.
26
So much for the notion that insulting or demeaning other nations would even propel 'America first.' Treating international relations as a zero-sum competition guarantees, yes, losing, and needlessly so.
Some day, the State Department will be valued by the White House, diplomacy will not be sneered at, and those wet behind the ears will not be entrusted with foreign policy.
One can only hope that the outside world can again respect us.
3
Don't you really feel safe now. Our unhinged not my President is so chaotic even for his diplomatic corp. I am glad this is all coming out before the election. Now Mr Muellers criminal report on Trump and the GOP should come out now instead of after the election. We need to force that to happen because it is the right thing to do. I don't want any more GOP culture of corruption being elected to office first and then find out they are guilty a week later. You can't get rid of them. That is making our Democracy not look good.
15
THE CLICHE VERSUS THE AMBASSADOR
I read a comment that seems to defend Trump’s incompetence by writing: “Learn to see the order in what only appears to be chaos. It’s a new dance…”
This is a statement that means nothing. It is an abstract generality pretending to be thoughtful and wise but in fact cannot be accountable because it cannot be measured. In other words, it is a cliché. Clichés are what people use when they have no idea what they are really talking about. They are the flabby safe zones of language that ignorance hides itself in to escape the facts of reality that could easily dismantle their “thinking.” They are the linguistic seeds that grow into the love of Reality TV rather than love of reality and votes for a Reality TV president rather than a real president and then defends his Reality TV accomplishments rather than seeing his very real incompetence.
But here is Ambassador Jacobson who very much knows what she is talking about giving an account of the Trump administration’s factual incompetence. And yet, apparently this went right over the head of at least one reader who thinks that “Learn to see the order in what only appears to be chaos” is an adequate refutation to her condemnation.
Once again, we have to ask: what will take for a Trump supporter to finally see what is happening right in front of them, and admit to themselves what an awful mistake they made—for their own dignity as well as for the country—when they voted for him?
7
I am astounded at the protection the Republican Party gives Trump,even after all the damage he has caused around the world. Why? What secret does Trump hold over the Republican Party?
4
How can anyone function under such chaos? What an incredible mess!
14
Chaos reigns because Donald Trump has no idea what he's doing. He doesn't consider the consequences of anything. He is unenlightened, and has to be because he doesn't read. He never wanted to be president, and never expected to be. He is in this for his own coffers. He is in it for the emoluments (unconstitutionally). His die-hard supporters have been just as bamboozled as the enrollees at the late so called "Trump University." Most of his supporters don't read either.
19
Any hopes Ambassador Jacobson would have that this administration and its allies in Congress would appreciate the necessity of our allies, is a vain hope. They are out for themselves only, and don't care about our alliances. Indeed, they are working for powers hostile to this nation, powers that manipulated our last election in order to put chaos in office.
3
Thank you Ambassador Jacobson for this thoughtful and straightforward statement. It makes crystal clear how daunting the important work of diplomacy on behalf of our nation is in light of the destructive ignorance and malfeasance of the Trump administration.
3
This is an incisive, insightful commentary on a few of the many highly dysfunctional aspects of the Trump presidency. But let's not let Peña Nieto completely off the hook here. His craven agreement to meet Trump in the middle of the 2016 election campaign helped legitimize Trump and his ridiculous border wall promise to a degree. And a wiser, more honest and stronger Mexican president would have stood up to Trump far more stoutly once Trump was in office.
6
No matter how crazy the stories are coming out of this administration, The Base seems ever loyal to the Authoritarian in Chief. I doubt stories such as your own make it into the bubble of Fox News, Rush Limbaugh, and the like. Or more likely, they propagandize such news to spin it to fit Trump's narrative. I can hear Rush now: "Oh sure. Let's move more American jobs to Mexico to make THEM richer."
8
I find it hard to believe Trump actually cares about the United States. Now that he is married to the country he showing it about one hair respect less than his ex-wives or brief mounts. Trump only cares for Trump, only believes in Trump and has no understanding of the idea of "growing up." ANY other country should take note now and avoid him at all costs. Hopefully by the time he keels over from rot he will not have insulted every nation on the planet to the point of no return. It is almost official - if you want a nice vacation abroad don't mention you are from here.
11
Trump was elected because US policies for he last 75 or so years have not worked to our benefit.
Career politicians like the ambassador are stuck in a rigid ballet that benefits only the career politicians and diplomats. Rarely the people of the USA.
How absurd is a 300 billion dollar trade deficit with Mexico for example.
How ridiculous is allowing their historically corrupt government to use our country as an escape valve for their poor.
The recent flood of illegals from central America ,using Mexico as a conduit is a perfect example, Trump has said thatt they will be stopped at our border with Mexico, and Mexico, now understands what it is to be between the rock and hard place they have continuously put us in.
The Ambassador and her ilk have been doing what the French nobles did for so many generations, before they lost their heads.
@Ponyexpress:
I hope my explanation below helps you see your incomplete understanding and assumptions.
First, you and Trump supporters show a lack of understanding. Yet you believe you fully "get it". Everyone assumes we're fully knowledgeable, when we know only a small part. This is a human flaw. Consider the adage: "you don't know what you don't know."
Let me discuss one of your misconceptions, regarding "a 300 billion dollar trade deficit with Mexico".
Deficits exist when there is an imbalance in imports between nations. The U.S. is the wealthier nation. It is also more industrialized. Both facts will cause a deficit. For example, let's take the auto industry. When we ship parts to Mexico to go into a new car, Mexico buys those parts for $8000. After those parts are assembled, the value of those parts in the finished car increase to $12000-15000. So when the car ships to America, we pay $15000 to Mexico but Mexico only paid us $8000. This creates a deficit. However, we also paid labor to Mexican workers, of probably $5000. So overall, we will pay more ($20000) to buy that "improved" product (a finished car) versus the "parts" Mexico bought from us.
In addition to this explanation, there are additional facts that I do not present. So this here is only a tiny part of the complex picture. Ambassador Jacobson has 30-years of experience with such facts - let's trust her judgement.
Hopefully you "get it" - deficits are complex.
Educated people know they know only a little.
11
"Mr. Lopez Obrador rise...." What does that mean? Sounds as if his victory is something to blame something or someone for. Does it mean that he was not the president she, as representative of the United States government, would have wanted for Mexico? Is his promise of a more egalitarian country a threat to corporate interests in both countries?
1
Trump is not leading the Executive Branch. He does not know how. Instead of learning how, he just spends al his efforts running for re-election. Meanwhile, a third of Americans think that he is some kind of Machiavellian genius working stealthily to undo a long established and ossified covert authority that has stolen government from the people. He lies constantly because he doubts that facts matter in conducting the affairs for which he is responsible.
Trump is a victim of life. He’s had so much financial security that he hasn’t had to learn how to lead other people in complicated and great endeavors, nor has he had to work through real problems that have serious results that could cost him all that he has. The real world details of business are managed by his employees. He is careless about risks and has gone bankrupt and been sued thousands of times because of it. When he has faced the inevitable losses he has found rescuers to bail him out. Meanwhile, he spent all of his adult life creating a phony persona in the mass media of a fabulously wealthy business genius. He never admitted to any facts that did not show him to be a great and successful man. He has come to believe in his own made up image. It is rare for a person to run so much business activities and to not have the skills to lead great and complex institutions. But, Trump is such a man.
28
"But the importance of competent diplomacy with Mexico is about more than jobs and trade. The opioid crisis makes cooperation on stemming the flow of illegal drugs across the border essential. More than 72,000 Americans died from overdoses in 2017..." , is what Ms. Jacobson writes. But what kind of oddness is this! The opioid crisis and Mexico's part in it has been going on for years. Years! Could it just be that how things were done before President Trump didn't address it in the least, certainly not effectively? And the millions of illegals coming here, year after year after year? Clearly, no real effort at all was applied to fixing this horrible problem either. And she has the audacity to complain about chaos at the beginning of the President's term?
1
@Len:
Or maybe the problem is so complex that it cannot be solved without tight cooperation?
Take this scenario:
• When two partners dance, they both want it to go continue because it helps them (i.e., it's fun to dance, or it's for shared business gains).
• With former presidents, when Mexico and the U.S. danced, the U.S. acted in controlled ways and "danced well". This meant a stable relationship/dance - which let Mexico's corruption control the dance. They made sure the dance (trade, the drug flow) went badly - which forced us to dance better (to keep trade flowing, and negotiate on curtailing drug flow). We wanted to change/control Mexico's dance steps, to keep the dance going.
• In trump's reign, the U.S. is dancing in erratic unstable ways. This puts onus on Mexico to act stably so the dance continues. Which means the drug kingpins can't force the Mexican government (since doing so will destabilize them - thus if both dancers become unstable, the dancing stops). So now, drug czars move drugs clandestinely without the government's help. Today Mexico wants to stabilize/control our (Trump's) dance steps, to keep the dance going.
The drug war is complex, with many players.
You did hit on a point - that even for past administrations, the drug war was ineffective. I believe this was not for fault of prior administrations not trying hard - but because it's a very complicated set of behaviors to stop. Especially with drug czars willing to do anything for billions in profits.
It's a mixed blessing being a country without an ambassador, like Australia. Given the administration's determination to worship America's enemies and continuously infuriate its friends, we're probably not missing much. Some duly nominated bit of sycophantic plankton babbling away in Canberra, (and perhaps even over time learning how to spell the name of our Prime Minister) is hardly our idea of entertainment.
However - It's not our idea of diplomacy, either. This level of brattish unprofessionalism is inexcusably offensive. Should we just wait until a real American government which can read and write is in power, or should we just tell those bloody Washington animals to appoint an ambassador, like a real government?
5
Why is it a surprise that he has not appointed amabassadors or ignores those already there? He likes to be his own ambassador. He gets to fly around the world, meet with people much more important than he is, act like he's smart, remind everyone how he is making America great again, preen for the cameras. Reality TV meets "statesmanship". Oh, all on our dime.
4
Obama appointee weeps but new agreement meets many needs of US labor. Obviously not an insider, which is what’s needed in our ambassadors in Mexico and Canada. Career bureaucrats simply can’t respond quickly enough in a new environment. She’s obviousoly better off in an academic environment.
1
@JPE:
You're unaware of consequences. Neither is TRump.
The statement about the "new [NAFTA] agreement meets many needs of US labor."...
You're presumably talking about the clause that Mexico must pay its workers similar wages to our auto industry workers. They accepted this clause.
This clause will force U.S. automakers to reduce wages for American autoworkers - that way, American and Mexican auto workers will both be paid less. This is the most likely scenario that saves our auto industry from going bankrupt.
Here are more unintended consequences of Trupism:
• Cars produced in Mexico (by U.S. automakers) will cost more - because the labor in Mexico will be higher.
• U.S. automakers will become unprofitable with every car they produce in Mexico - because those cars will cost more to make (from higher Mexican labor costs). This means those car prices will rise, making those automakers uncompetitive. They will lose out.
• U.S. automakers who already spent billions to construct factories in Mexico may now consider abandoning them, taking huge loses on their balance sheets.
In the end, U.S. automakers who produce cars in Mexico will pay the price. They will suffer losses. This will make them either reduce American wages or they will move American jobs faster to Mexico.
American auto workers will suffer from Trump's "brilliance" of this slightly modified NAFTA version 1.1.
10
@JPE. What the ambassador said is that she was not informed of Trump's policies. Do you want the outsider ambassador to function without knowing what the White House's policy is? Maybe you think that Trump would share his policy with her if she'd been an outsider. I bet what you really think is that an outsider ambassador would intuit his policy, make up a policy which would get his approval.
5
Thank you for publishing this. We need to keep such information coming
Vote, people
20
No one in the rest of the world is ever going to take America seriously again. The damage is too great - and it's not going to get better unless and until Trump and the Republicans can be driven from power.
Lock them up.
16
How any Republican can think Trump is good for America is beyond me. He can’t even make it through a press conference without acting like a child and contradicting himself or lying. Imagine a major military aggression against US interests and what kind of ham-handed response this administration would muster. This is indeed the most treacherous and tenuous situation our nation has faced in its entire history, bar none - and we’ve done it to ourselves.
4
Stunning photograph.
The blue curtain up lighting reads like knife blades.
1
Thank you for speaking out Ambassador Jacobson. It reminded me of an article here in the Nytimes, featuring Walter Schaub Jr and his resignation from the Department of Ethics. It was after the first six months of the Trump administration and his appointees running amok. It's terrible that a career of dedication was smeared in your last appointment. ¡Viva Mexico!
7
Thank you, Ambassador, for your candid article. It is crystal clear that Trump’s ascendancy has weakened the country massively both in terms of its moral standing and its ability to influence world-events for the better. While it is undoubtedly a terrible embarrassment for all educated Americans to have an indecent, unfit and completely unprepared man as political leader, it is so much worse for the rest of the world. The champion of liberty, of global rule of law, of human rights, of the need to make rational headway on all of the challenges humanity faces has been replaced by an absurd buffoon. How this country can ever again have the confidence even of our liberal democratic sister-Republics is beyond me. We have disqualified ourselves from responsible global leadership and the consequences will likely be enormous.
242
@Fabian I believe most of our once and future partners will know the difference once we fix ourselves. The results of month's vote will begin to give them hope. Or not.
1
I read a number of newspapers everyday from many places but I am a Canadian and a Quebecer and think that our journals both English and French do not believe we are an ally. I imagine that Mexico's new government will not see the USA as an ally. Nafta is a business deal no more no less. The new version was negotiated with a gun to our heads we are a satellite economy and no Nafta means economic disaster.
In August when the Saudis declared war on our values and ethics and we needed an ally the USA is nowhere to be seen.
We know your ruling party and men like Ted Cruz, Lindsey Graham, Mitch McConnell, Paul Ryan and almost all your executive branch share the principles and ethics associated with the Saudi authorities but we had expected someone to come forward and stand with us and our country where many of us consider the Declaration of Independence and your Constitution sacred documents.
For too many of us you are not an ally, you are not a friend you are a clear and present danger and it is only a matter of time till you join the Saudis and declare war on our values and ethics.
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@Montreal Moe
Funny, I feel the same way, and I am an American. Although I will say, no longer proud of the fact. I wish I could get out of here, but now there are just too many people in the world. Everyplace looks the same, and at least here there is space. For now. I may be looking into moving to Canada, however. I have spiritually and emotionally turned in my passport. I don't know these people. They must have been hiding underneath all the apple pies (in the walmart advertisements).
54
@Montreal Moe
Funny, I feel the same way, and I am an American. Although I will say, no longer proud of the fact. I wish I could get out of here, but now there are just too many people in the world. Everyplace looks the same, and at least here there is space. For now. I may be looking into moving to Canada, however. I have spiritually and emotionally turned in my passport. I don't know these people. They must have been hiding underneath all the apple pies (in the walmart advertisements). Regarding the Constitution, I saw a while back a reporter asking an Ivy League freshman if she believed the 1st amendment should be repealed, to which she answered she did not know what it was.
7
@Montreal Moe
Not "a matter of time"; it's already happened.
1
Of course, evidence abounds, but Ms. Jacobson's insight fully confirms what we already know: at the senior levels of the Executive Branch, we are being governed by children.
80
@Raymond L Yacht. I teach nine and ten-year olds and I can tell you that they have more sense than those in so-called power now.
45
With 30 years of experience in diplomacy, Ms. Jacobson is undoubtedly considered a member of the "deep state" by such as Steve Bannon and the president himself. They and the know-nothings who support them mistrust and castigate expertise and long experience--assuming that people with such qualifications are stuck in their ways and stuck on their own importance.
As this op-ed shows, at least to me, career diplomats are skilled in time-honored methods of inter-state communication, and bring deep knowledge and sensitivity to their work on behalf of the U.S.
It's certainly true that fresh approaches and out-of-the-box thinking have their value and can produce gains in stagnant situations. But the Trump approach doesn't represent that freshness and creativity--it's just a combination of power, rudeness, and ignore-ance of centuries-old traditions that build and maintain the foundations of trust and respect.
I appreciate Ms. Jacobson's sharing of a few vignettes from her time as a Trump-appointed diplomat. I tend to think that she had much higher expectations of the man who named her to the post than were even remotely realized during her tenure. These are the kinds of experiences that I think will surface in huge numbers when the full story of this inept and crude president's years are written.
138
I would like to express one observation, I may be wrong but Food prices are some how expensive and it seems price increment is much visible at least I can compare last 15 years.
Something is different in food prices.
18
Finally, a clear and concise assessment by a career diplomat of the destruction of American interests by Trump. Roberta S. Jacobson is everything a career diplomat is supposed to be. Jacobson chronicles how an already a difficult job was made impossible by Trump. It's a relief to read something this well laid out by a person willing to explain who they are, what their credentials are, what the function of an American diplomat is supposed to be, and what an American diplomat now has to do in order to have any chance of advancing American interests when Trump is constantly subverting those interests.
This lays out what NAFTA actually accomplished economically and politically, and how in undermining it Trump has compromised our southern border and our economy. In the end, Trump alienated our allies for nothing but personal gain; little surprise considering he cares only about himself. As this details, in the end Trump agreed to a "new trade deal that actually keeps much of the original agreement intact." So this was primarily an exercise in rebranding meant to fire-up Trump’s rabid base.
As Jacobson states: "I can only hope that the president and his team are beginning to recognize that we need our allies, most importantly Canada and Mexico, if we are to tackle some of our most difficult domestic problems. But I am not confident of that." Most of us are more pessimistic. We fully expect Trump to further alienate our allies while trying to sell America out to its enemies.
123
@Robert B
When I read that Trump,in first month after taking office, looked at the hundreds of unfilled positions in the administration said "why do we need to fill those positions? What do all those people do?" I assumed that eventually at least by now he would have wised up, or someone in the administration would have wised up and hired the people that this administration so badly needs to get running properly.
To read that 30 Ambassadorships are vacant, still, at this point was horrifying. I feel that we are almost as weak and powerless as if we had a sub par military, if we have no representatives to even talk to one another. He certainly can't do it, and we are now cut off from these countries , and many others, for other reasons. So upsetting. Was also upsetting to read that Nikki Haley might run for an office (other than something in SC) and that's also scary, after seeing her cozy up to him and tell everyone who cared to watch that she would be campaigning for him, about 10 days ago. Has anyone checked out her credentials?
18
@NoSleep You'd think Trump, ever eager for more sycophants, would make his buddies ambassadors....but he missed that part of Governing 101
This is an enlightening op ed, and an important one. Renegotiating Nafta after many years made sense. But the Trump team's divide and conquer negotiating approach frankly attempting to turn old friends against one another, the levying of disruptive tariffs in the laughable name of 'national security', finally Trump's claim he'd very happily destroy the Canadian economy if American demands weren't fully satisfied by such and such a date, naturally left Canadians (and, as we now learn, Mexicans as well) deeply disappointed not to mention far, far less interested in supporting even vital US interests going forward. And for what? As the ambassador confirms, and many others have noted, for a deal that was virtually the same deal with minor adjustments and therefore one that could have more quickly and easily been arrived at without all the surrounding unpleasantness and lingering ill will.
137
Today I went grocery shopping. Almost everything I bought was more expensive than it was when I went grocery shopping last weekend. Even my cat's food was three cents per can higher than it was last week. If this is a result of Trump's fantastic trade deals, we're all about to be poorer.
143
@Linda
Am I the only person to notice the price of gasoline which has doubled since Rump has become president. If it had doubled because we were smart enough to tax it for road repairs that's one thing, but this is simply making the oil companies and foreign producers wealthier.
45
The Ambassador appointed under Obama does not like Trump. In other news, water is now wet.
14
@Mark Thomason
Sorry, it doesn’t work like that in the Foreign Service, of which Ms. Jacobson is a member. Yes, she was appointed Ambassador to Mexico under the Obama administration but she was a non-political member of the foreign service, which swear an oath to the Constitution—not an administration. Yes, there are “political” ambassadors, but she was not one. And she essentially put forth the way that American diplomats operated until 2017: giving advice to the administration about the countries in which they were serving, and then getting “guidance” about what policies the administration was putting forward. She, as ambassador, the President’s representative to Mexico, was completely blindsided by a major policy change, which is totally unacceptable. But this is happening every day, to the regret of those unpolitical foreign service officers who have served the US (as I did) under difficult conditions.
241
@Mark Thomason " Ambassador appointed under Obama does not like Trump"
After 30 years and 5 presidents it is very likely that the problems she perceives aren't political trivialities. If you were to read the piece you'd learn that what she doesn't like is the lack of consultation to seek advice, the lack of guidance on policy, the lack of notice on major policy changes, the chaos and very poor management. What isn't directly Trump's fault is due to those he has appointed.
134
@Mark Thomason
I guess you didn't read the piece Mark. If this was a unique example criticising Trump's "chaos" method of governing it might be dismissed as "The Ambassador...does not like Trump". But it's not. It's Trump's MO for everything large and small. Maybe you like his new world order which, more and more, seems to be an alliance of thugs. I think bully diplomacy and zero-sum trade negotiation weakens America's effectiveness on the world stage and is bad for the American economy in the long run. What's left? Threaten military action to get our way? Oh yeah, I also think Trump is a totally unsympathetic human being but I never wanted to have a beer with Obama either. I just shared Obama's world view. I don't share Trump's.
The facile rejection of all Trump criticism as a result of not "liking" him is all wet. He's a bad administrator and he's taking the country, and the world, in the wrong direction.
If Republicans retain the House on November 6 we deserve him.
14
Ambassadors Jacobson was a great Ambassador and it was a pleasures serve under her leadership. My only point of difference with the Ambassador is that while the Trump administration’s approach is perhaps leas than ideal, too many senior diplomats were (and are) unable to understand a style of governance that is different from the genteel ballet they learned and practiced for 30 years. It’s a new dance. Learn to see the order in what only appears to be chaos. It’s a new dance...not entirely wrong, just different.
9
@DPC sorry, this new dance has to many stumbles.
There is no order in this chaos, only chaos, and the ever-present scent of massive corruption.
It will all come out because in the end, we have the rule of law in this country and the Trump empire will not endure.
124
@DPC Failing to provide direction or communicate with your embassy and ambassador when announcing a major policy change in relation to that embassy's country is not 'order,' nor is it 'a different dance.' And providing such communication isn't a 'genteel ballet.'
There's no order because there's no plan. There's no plan because this administration is run by a 70+ year-old with the impulse control of a 2-year-old. Don't kid yourself.
7
@DPC Yes perhaps it is a new dance to be learned, but when the dance instructor is incapable of teaching the new steps, or there is no dance instructor, the dancers end up stepping on everyone's toes. A situation of small consequence on the dance floor but a potentially destructive and dangerous result in international diplomacy and relations.
3
We have been fortunate that most of our recent representation in Mexico has been via career diplomats such as Ambassador Jacobson backed by a strong professional staff. Unfortunately at a time when a new president is taking office in Mexico we have neither an ambassador nor effective diplomatic leadership in Washington, throwing a tremendous burden on the career professionals to provide guidance to those who will be pursuing their own re-set to Mexico-U.S. relations. To whom do the Mexicans direct their suspicions that the so-called "caravan" of Central Americans seeking to enter Mexico on the way to the United States suddenly emerges at a very convenient time for anti-immigrant posturing prior to the November 6th election? American DEA agents circulate in Mexico chasing leads on drug smuggling to the U.S. Will the U.S. reciprocate by allowing Mexican agents to pursue gun trafficking to Mexico? And who will explain to the Mexicans why we never see large shipments of cocaine busted on the U.S. side of the border, especially when an estimated 80 percent of the narcotics traffic flow through ports of entry, not across the desert? Rex Tillerson was quite effective in dismantling the senior leadership of the State Department, Mike Pompeo is an energetic errand boy for Donald Trump, and John Bolton impressive stamping his foot but none of that accomplishes the tasks on the ground. The new Mexican president has his channel to Washington but an empty pipe from Washington to Mexico.
94
@usa999:
Your final words here reveal what Trump wants.
He does not want diplomacy or dialogue. He wants only a one-way twitter feed where he can TELL them what HE wants.
And if Mexico does not comply with his twitter tirades, he retaliates with threats. Trump did this just days ago, when on Twitter he said he will "send our military."
We see Trump the Bully!
Ambassador Jacobson--first, thank you for representing the United States in Mexico, which, in spite of what one might hear on the news, is a good friend of the United States. Let us remember that NAFTA was implemented during the 1990s during the Clinton administration, after having been negotiated by the Bush I administration. There were many objections in all three countries to the agreement but in the end it was a "go". The unspoken agreement--Mexican did not want to include petroleum, and the US did not want to include immigration.
While the original problems still exist with the agreement, it has resulted in increased trade, jobs and investment. I was living in Mexico when the first Walmart opened in Mexico City. We all walked around the store in wonder that we could easily buy canned cranberries and rhubarb!!
For better or worse, NAFTA and the globalization that it supports is here to stay. It does need revision but gutting it would dislocate all three economies, and perhaps spark political instability in Mexico.
We can only hope that cooler heads and wallets prevail.
Given the politics of the new Mexican president who will take office later in the year and the humanitarian dilemma presented by immigration of Central America, Mexico is in an extraordinarily complicated position. Whatever repression that Mexico directs toward Central American immigrants could be justifiably replicated by the US government toward Mexican immigrants.
49
@BabsD I was here when the first McDonalds opened and the line of cars stretched for miles to get a hamburger! Walmart came much later and rapidly became the biggest retailer in the country. I spent 3 decades teaching at the American School in Mexico City and am quite happily retired here. Spend extra time registering the many, many Americans here to vote by absentee ballot, and I can thell you, they won't be voting for Republicans! Nafta has without question benefitted all 3 countries, and Trump is a danger to the whole enterprise.
2
On one hand, I appreciate Ms Jacobson's article, information and insights.
But on the other, I have to wonder why she -- like so many others connected with the Trump (mis) administration -- served such a destructive "president" for several years?
Why didn't she/they come forward earlier, when the events she/they have described happened? That sort of action would have been a real 'profile in courage', sadly lacking among so many who did Trump's bidding before abandoning the USS Trump-Titanic.
The iceberg is way too close now to be fully avoided. The only question is whether the ship of state will sink altogether or "merely" be so badly damaged that it's sold for scrap to some oligarch.
15
@NYer "Several years"? Jacobson left after a little over one year. It is probably not an easy choice to stay, but one maybe hopes, or feels obligated, to do what they can to best manage diplomatic relations while the president destroys relations with our closest allies.
59
I see your point, NYer, but I can also offer a different perspective. I know someone at DOJ who manages federal grants to organizations providing critical services to survivors of sexual assault and domestic violence from ‘Underserved Populations,’ including immigrants regardless of status, Native Americans, the incarcerated, people with disabilities, and LGBTQ — in other words, virtually all the people that Trump abhors — under the provisions of the 2003 Violence Against Women Act (incidentally, passed under Pres GW Bush). As a long time employee of the department she has managed, to the astonishment of many, to keep that grant program going, providing a couple of million dollars in grants to community groups around the country this year alone.
My point is: I can see the utility of some people not abandoning their posts but rather, finding the means to ‘resist’ from within. This a moment for employing multiple strategies to stand up for human rights and the planet.
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@NYer
Correction: She only stayed a year. As a federal employee who is 10 months away from full retirement benefits I couldn't help thinking perhaps her decision to stay had to do with waiting out/maximizing her pension.
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NAFTA was designed with two specific clienteles in mind. First, individual and corporate investors wishing to take advantage of Mexico's lower labor costs, pliable labor unions, and weak environmental regulations. Second, Mexico's technocratic and financial sectors prepared to live a good life on advantages opened by the first. As a Republican familiar with Mexico I opposed NAFTA precisely because it displaced many Mexicans from agriculture, and a fair number of them came looking for work in the U.S. It converted Mexico in many ways to a branch plant economy, crushing smaller Mexican businesses in the process. And of course it facilitated shifting manufacturing to a lower-cost economy. NAFTA succeeded, benefiting the investor class Donald Trump sought to imitate even while it had the predictable disadvantages for millions of workers on both side of the border.
A critical problem for Ambassador Jacobson was the unwillingness of the United States to organize a serious guestworker program that would have regulated the flow of Mexican labor in US markets. As it exists the program is cumbersome and designed to exploit farm labor solely for the benefit of the growers. Somehow the Canadians have figured this out and are generally successful because they think in terms of continuity and sharing benefits with the workers. With the administration fixated on pithy statements generating cheers at rallies rather than problem-solving the uncertainties of U.S-Mexican relations continues.
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@usa999 Canada has a more inherent sense of taking care of each other. That might sound naive, and corny, but it's absolutely true. The US is a hard place, you are on your own, but they love to waive the flag, for what?
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Clearly there was an experience vacuum in the ear,y days of the White House.
And the ambassador gives an interesting look into a not so politically correct or well oiled administration.
But for all the negatives, it’s important to understand that the US is headed toward a terrible financial cliff that may be unavoidable.
The national debt, pension liabilities, and tax structure have created a not so subtle need to improve our balance sheet sooner or later.
That requires not just looking at but doing something about all aspects of our financial health— something that this administration at least is trying to address (remains to be seen if they are getting it right). Trade imbalances are just one aspect. So are improving US manufacturing, decreasing our spending and maximizing the tax code to name others.
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@Penn Trade balances are very different from the so-called financial cliff that you describe. The relationship is not simple, but often a country with more wealth (money) will import more than it exports. I see this administration doing nothing but put a foot on the pedal accelerating toward the financial disaster cliff.
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You seem to have overlooked the historic tax bill that is going to create massive deficits, with the US spending more on servicing the debt than paying for the military. As per Paul Krugman, the Republicans are aiming to tighten their belt around the necks of the working class,
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The budget and trade deficit are skyrocketing under Trump.
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Brava, Ambassador. Thank you for your service. I sincerely hope you are acknowledged, although experienced career diplomats don't seem to have the credence they should. These are strange times; let's hope we can weather them.
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The sooner people in the rural areas of this country realize that Trump winning is not the USA winning, the better off we will all be. That insight is started to gain traction with some soybean farmers. More to come, I'm sure. My only question is whether or not such a realization will be soon enough to save us from ourselves.
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Being a career diplomat - Amb. Jacobson worked for the State Department for 30 years - will have a short shelf life in the Trump Admin
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A friend and I just completed a two-week road trip beginning in Mexico City and ending in Guatemala. I hadn't traveled so extensively in the country before and not for many years.What I saw, without exception, was a country on the rise: the national roads and the roadside signs are marvelous -- both toll roads and the majority of non toll roads that parallel the major highways. There is also a major presence of US goods and companies (Starbucks, of course, Burger King, the major auto manufacturers, various consulting firms). Everything relatively new that we saw was well made, well constructed, impressively engineered and, even more impressive, the people we met throughout the country were beyond kind, generous, helpful to a fault, happy to see Americans traveling in their country, well reasoned in their understanding of international affairs. I was left thinking that if I were running the US, I'd be glorifying this beautiful country to the south, helping them succeed, partner with them in their development, learn from their work ethic and devotion to progress, invest heavily in their future. Keep an eye out for Mexico . . . and go visit. Not for a moment did I feel in danger; rather, I felt surrounded by a bright and potentially brilliant future.
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@Debra Blake
Thank you
What I would appreciate is anyone who thinks that NAFTA 2.0 is a better deal for America and Americans, provide the specific differences between the two agreements that confirm that hypothesis.
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@Barry Gersten. Only our President, Mr. Gersten. I think there has been a collective sigh of relief that the entire NAFTA deal wasn't chopped. So now our President can claim victory for forging a "new" trade deal, and the traders can continue most of what was going on before. It's not a pretty sight, for certain, but that's what happens when capital is so important.
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Trump got what he really wanted, his name on the agreement. It didn't matter there were no major changes, the important thing was the branding.
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@H. Stiles
In New York we are dismantling his brand name from buildings.
Good luck with that branding.
7
Trump is a problem, but from here in Canada the most disturbing thing is that Trump has such fervent support from such a large percentage of the American public. Given the disproportionate power the US electoral system now gives to small states and voters in rural areas, we know that even if Trump's and the GOP's backing is only 40% of the voters, the president and his party may still be able to control every branch of the federal government and most state governments. We also know that even if the Republicans lose one or another branch of the federal government, America's divided government will likely allow them to obstruct progressive change, just as they did through most of Obama's two terms.
So looking from here, America does not appear to be a nation we can safely trust anymore to be a reliable friend and ally, nor does it seem to want to be the dependable, principled leader and protector of the liberal world order it once was. It's time to reassess our relationship with America, and caution—even to the point of skepticism—seems well advised.
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@617to416 Also a former 617 resident now living in 416 and could not agree more. I truly do not know where Canada’s belief in the benevolent US-Canada relationship came from. I distinctly remember George Bush listing America’s friends on 9/11, and neglecting to include Canada among them. So Trump’s dismissals of Canada are hardly new. Just how close can we be with a country that only sees value in our friendship when Democrats are in charge?
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@617to416 "from here in Canada the most disturbing thing is that Trump has such fervent support from such a large percentage of the American public." From here in the US, as well. Caution is well advised, indeed. (All of our non-voters, must vote!)
13
Republicans have no friends or allies. Only partners in crimes. In my experience that even includes their marriages and families and love relationships. They are void of what we call humanity.
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"Over the past three decades, successive American administrations have worked diligently to vanquish the anti-American DNA in Mexico. We were overcoming the suspicions that a history of invasion, territorial loss and imperial intent had bequeathed. That kind of trust is slow to build, and remarkably easy to destroy. It is being destroyed now."
Trump is winning, but America is losing.
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Donald "Disorder" Trump is a shame to the United States and the world. His administrative qualities are lacking, his attention span is that of a flea, and he's just a big buffoon.
On November 6, get and vote.
Your future and that of the USA depends on you!
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@Majortrout
Trump is far more dangerous than just a big buffoon.
Last year a Montana politician didn't like questions a reporter was asking, so, on video, he assaulted him. After lying about it, he ended up admitting he was wrong and pleaded guilty to assault.
Two days ago, in the middle of the controversy of a murdered journalist from the Washington Post, Trump praised him for his attack on a reporter. "Any guy that can do a body slam — he's my kind of guy." He actually likes this politician because he attacked a reporter. Hee even said that it probably won that politician the election.
This is an attack on the first Amendment of the Constitution by the president of the USA.
Trump promotes torture and politics brutality.
Trump has said he wants to be "president for life."
No-one of this is funny. This is how dictators of banana republic talk before they murder and torture tens of thousands of their own citizens, beginning with the press, so no one knows it's happening.
Trump may not read books, but he knows how to manipulate the media and his base of racist lying tax cheats.
Don't under estimate the damage the Party of Trump can do to our Constitution, our Republic, or your family.
2
In the past 30 years, increased trade with Mexico has saved the America's industry and economy. By outsourcing parts and different industrial processes to Mexico, American firms are able to reduce their costs of production and to remain competitive against real competitors like China. Without cheaper Mexican inputs, many top American companies (automobile producers for example) would simply not be able to match foreign prices and would be forced out of business. That means that millions of good-paying American jobs, in factories and in corporate offices, would simply cease to exist.
As for immigration from Latin America. America is suffering from a growing labor shortage. The borders do not need to be closed and secured, they need to be opened up to more legal immigration, so that American companies can have access to the workers they need, on American soil. Either companies will look for workers abroad and pay taxes abroad, or they will find these workers in the US, and pay taxes in the US, thanks to more open immigration. More legal immigration also makes it possible to better monitor who comes in, and to avoid security risks. Illegal immigration is by definition unsupervised.
Free trade with Mexico, and more legal immigration are good for America's economy. Any economist worth their salt will tell you that. But in Trump's world, what is good is 'bad' and what is bad is 'better'. Are you tired of winning yet?
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@Bob Thank you for your comment. More people need to be speaking up in favor of the need for legal immigration as well as coherent trade and immigration policies with Mexico and Canada instead of "Just Say No". The fears spun by the Republicans and Trump about the dangers of people of color crossing US borders without documents has bled into making many US voters fearful of any immigration policy.
The US will continue to need legal immigrants of all skill levels to continue future economic growth. The US will need a sane and responsible policy to control the Trump-caused chaos at borders and the immoral separation of families. The US will need to do its part in hosting some of the refugees from climate change disasters, violence and famine. Shutting down borders to all those who seek asylum is inconsistent with the values of the majority of US voters.
Restoring excellence in the ranks of career government employees in the cabinet departments that have experienced turmoil under Trump may take years after he is voted out. Let's start in 2018 by voting for Democratic candidates who will provide actual oversight to Trump's chaos. 30 unfilled ambassadorships including Saudi Arabia is a failure of duty by Trump.
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@Bobs
I've just started collecting Social Security retirement benefits. Somebody has to pay for them for the next 20 or 30 years. There aren't enough American workers to do that; that "somebody" is immigrant workers paying SSA taxes.
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Thank you for the comment. We are heading for the same problem Japan has- too few young people and an aging population. The cause is similar also - prejudice against anyone who wasn't Japanese, and in the case of the US, distrust of non-whites, the "other"...
5
He was elected to change things, and for traditional people that is chaos. I want more chaos and faster, that means the improvements are coming and faster. There is a lot of improvement required and a limited time to get it done.
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@vulcanalex
With this president, "change" hardly ever equates with "improvements." Change for the sake of change, to affirm his ridiculous, ill-thought-out campaign promises, is the reason why his time is limited.
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@vulcanalex
Hurricanes and tornadoes cause chaos. Check out the aftermath and then think more about the desirability of chaos. Hint: Paper towels don't help.
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@vulcanalex
Can you explicitly describe what you consider improvements? Nafta is a complex agreement. Have you read it? Do you have the statistics on jobs gained or lost as a result, of course controlling for what might have happened without Nafta? No? Vague concepts like "chaos" and "improvements" don't really mean anything without evidence-based data. They are simply buzzwords, meant to inflame and confuse the uninformed.
28
What a pleasure to read a well-reasoned, calm assessment of the chaos that is the Trump administration. Now, if only his base would take the time to read articles like this instead of Trump's twitter rants, we might be able to get back to being the America that the world respected and, in the main, trusted to do the right thing.
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@JMR I read it I like chaos. I don't care to be respected by foreign countries I want them to fear what will happen if they cross us. I don't care at all what their citizens might thing, in fact if they like you they are taking advantage of you.
5
Someday, maybe sooner rather than later, we will need our allies, these "foreign countries," and they will not come to or aid. Joint forces will be a thing of the past, thanks to alienating countries that we have counted on. Then, we will fight alone - no joint airbases, no joint forces, no joint intelligence operations, no joint victories.
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@JMR
Some of them would need to become better readers, or readers at all, in order to read articles like this. They listen to Trump's word salad speeches, the rah-rah and blather from Fox "News" instead.
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Jacobson's points in this article detail the strange departure from normality that Trump's ascension has brought. Such issues as the failure to appoint ambassadors so that all intergovernment interactions come directly from Trump. Rather than a flaw, this is seen as desirable by the Trump administration and the impact is pretty clear on issues like our relations with MBS, where we have no ambassador to ignore, so the only statements come from Trump himself and his chief sychophant Mike Pompeo. Its a bit like high school model UN where a playground bully gets to be in charge. Suddenly the group is no longer engaged in UN-like activities, but instead is concerned with the bully's effort to beat up all the members from other schools. One might expect committed followers to have some misgivings, but Trumps base is quite delighted with his bizarre actions. See the comment from Philly for some insight into how Jacobson's points are too complex to consider.
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@WHM
It's like he wants to be an autocratic tyrant.
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@WHM: And see vulcanex's comments for the "I like chaos" crowd's POV. These folks enjoy being bullies.
5
Trump, of course, is the idea-guy who sets a general path and needs to depend on specialists to hammer out details and actually get things done. The problem was (and is) that he didn’t spend thirty or forty years in D.C., making alliances, learning who is simpatico to his goals and who is not. As a natural consequence, he didn’t know anyone during his transition period, and the people selected to staff the positions that WERE staffed, whether or not they needed confirmation, held a hodgepodge of views. So, it takes longer than usual to hammer out a policy and detailed instructions to ambassadors, among others, who are charged with representing us and carrying out executive will.
As it turned out, NAFTA, according to Trump anyway, is a better agreement than it was. And the desire to craft an agreement that better protected legitimate U.S. interests was never going to be easy, as counterparties are looking to maximize their own interests. Trump’s method generally is to scare counterparties to death, then back off to achieve something wearable to all sides. It understandably might get the president of Mexico whispering in the U.S. ambassador’s ear, and it’s admittedly a bit chaotic. But it seems to work pretty well, so long as everyone is well-supplied with antacids.
But I must say that this op-ed reads more like a (semi-)politic offering from Mexico’s ambassador to the U.S., and not from our former ambassador to Mexico.
…
6
…
My counsel to ideological Democrats who are so concerned about all this? Trump will grow better, smoother, at the mechanics of leadership in his second term, as he comes to know a greater number of those hired to act as his helpmeets and extensions; and when a lot of those internecine arguments have been settled. And no, witty responders, they won’t ALL have resigned by then.
2
@Richard Luettgen: So having made a mess of our nation's alliances (and embraced its sworn enemies) during his first two years, we should give The Donald a second term to "grow into" the job? As he presently conducts himself like a two-year-old it would stand to reason that by 2020 his emotional/intellectual level will match up with that of a four-year-old. Personally, I'd prefer having the course of our foreign policy determined by an adult.
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@Richard Luettgen
In order to convey his policies to diplomats and other administration officials Trump would have to, first, develop coherent policy positions and second, appoint people to carry out his directives. I think the main chaos is in Trump's muddled mind, . There is no space in his head for others' ideas, advice from experienced diplomats or career officials. Only Trump knows what to do (except he doesn't).
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Lifelong government bureaucrats like Ms. Jacobsen have had all their experiences with polar opposite decision style that predominates in large bureaucratic government. The style that she is used to is slowly moving, tedious, arbitrary, and always designed to maintain status quo. In this type of organization, decisions are not made to benefit the hard working men and women who have jobs and incomes lost to treaties like NAFTA.
She says nothing about this downside to NAFTA, as her only concern is not to topple the bureaucratic and political hierarchy that maintained enormous trade benefit for Mexico at the cost of jobs and incomes to hard working American people.
She has forgotten who is paying her salary. It is not Mexico.
She is the reason that Trump was elected. That is, he was elected to replace the likes of her.
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@Dan
I certainly can appreciate the cynicism; but certainly this lack of trust has long been applied to real estate types too. I am not so quick to separate your blanket statements regarding the "Lifelong government bureaucrats" as opposed to a Real estate developer/TV host's ability to make all those great decisions on his very own.
After all, this is not a sporting event we are talking about.
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@Dan
Numbers please Dan. How many jobs were lost? How many were gained? How much exporting of our products has happened under NAFTA? How much, in actual dollars, has it cost or not cost on both sides of the border? What are the downsides? What are the upsides? Do you have these facts on hand or are you simply repeating someone else's anti-NAFTA talking points? There is something to be said for changing things but there is also value in not doing it arbitrarily. Trump proceeds without consultation with experts. He often relies on Shawn Hannity, The obnoxious, in-your-face nastiness of Trump gains us mostly resentment from our possibly soon-to-be-former allies, Canada and Mexico. Trump tinkered with NAFTA, with much fanfare, got a few things changed slightly, and declares it the biggest, best negotiation since the dawn of time. Yawn. He's a smarmy con man.
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@Dan
I'm going to guess you have never served in government at any level. I have, in a very local capacity, and it was eye opening. Every decision, no matter how thought out it was, how beneficial, was dissected and questioned. We even had a grant we secured mocked as "free money." If you are not in it because you are getting rich, like our Congresspeople, or for the power, but just because you think you can help you can soon become disillusioned. The grief is not worth it.
The style of slow plodding government is because there are numerous of those people looking over your shoulder, second guessing you. People with conflicting interests, conflicting ideas, conflicting solutions, but they all pick up the tab, and you are and should be aware of that.
Government normally moves slowly to try, as much as possible, to get things right. To look for negative reactions before they happen.
People like you want to think every snap decision Trump makes is going to be right and be to our benefit. It is not. He is a human and subject to the same mistakes as all of us. If you look at his true record, not the one he lies about, he was not a good businessman. Bankruptcies do not mean good business. But he cheated, and lied, and stayed afloat.
I heard a saying in my poli sci classes in college. The most efficient form of government is a dictatorship. It seems there are those in our country today who actually want that. They need to study history, or they might repeat it.
56
Great - another disgruntled former employee. It is no wonder, you were appointed by Obama, and it is obvious that your loyalties were with Obama but not Trump.
I do not recall any such letter being published when Bush appointees carried over into the early part of Obama's terms.
The US was hoodwinked by NAFTA - Ross Perot was right, and it desperately needed calibration, thankfully Trump recognized that.
This is one of the reasons that Trump was elected, he sets the policy as the elected official, not the carry-over ambassador from the previous administration!
Also, the US needs better border security. Most Americans recognize that - this can be accomplished by a number of ways, including agreements with Central American countries and Mexico, and also including a wall.
11
@Philly
A 30 year diplomat, including positions of responsibility during the Bush administration, should not be dismissed as a "disgruntled employee".
The article isn't about policy, it's about administrative chaos.
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@Philly Whatever the merits of the Trump Administration's new approach to US-Mexico relations, the very fact that the ambassador was kept in the dark about such policy shifts is breathtaking. Furthermore, even a cursory review of her experience shows service to both Democratic and Republican administrations. Ambassador Jacobson was a career member of the Foreign Service, not a political appointee. It is her consummate professionalism that upsets you.
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@Philly So personal loyalty trumps sound policy in your view? Good to know.
The reason tRump is so short of decent appointees is that he never forgives those who badmouth him in the interest of the greater good, and consequently sees very few high-quality experienced people.
274
Thank you Ms Jacobson for sharing your valuable thoughts and experience. I felt things were quite bad, but they appear to be much worse than anyone could imagine. I anxiously await the day when Trump leaves office. The sooner, the better.
572
Thank you for your service, Ms. Jacobson. Further, thank you for this report. This administration's willful incompetence comes at a very high cost, now and for years into the future. If only Trump's supporters in Congress and in the electorate would pay serious attention to experienced voices like yours, maybe something could be done before this damage becomes irreversible.
808
Ambassador Jacobson- thank you for your years of service to the US. It is truly scary that President Trump seems to have no concept of the relationship of professionals in the State Department to successful international relations. Maybe your article will help people realize how important it is that we return to a functioning executive branch.
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@Alan D what about the abdication by Congress. apparently they don't care enough so long as they can push their agenda through and be bankrolled for future elections.
30
You would think the voters who helped elect him, particularly in southwestern states, would by now have begun to realize that things are deteriorating and will get a lot worse. But evidently not.
267
@NRoad - That assumes that they are sentient, which is arguable.
2
@NRoad It was not the South West that put him in the White House. It was the sliver of Mid West states.
3