Kelly’s and Tillerson’s ‘Resistance’ in the White House

Kelly’s and Tillerson’s ‘Resistance’ in the White House


November


By Post Editorial Board

President Trump’s determination to break with past policies has prompted outrageous “resistance” not only from Democrats but even by some in his own administration.
Former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley offers the latest evidence of that, accusing ex-Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and ex-Chief of Staff John Kelly of trying to “undermine” Trump.
In her new book and interviews about it, Haley says the men claimed “they were trying to save the country and that if they did not do something, people would die.” They believed “it was their decisions, not the president’s, that were in the best interest of America.”


Yet Kelly’s and Tillerson’s gripes didn’t fit the model of “a rogue president.” They simply disagreed with specific policies, like withdrawing from the Paris climate accord and the Iran nuclear deal and moving the US Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem.
That’s not “out of control” — it’s refusing to be bound by conventional wisdom, which in fact proved to be false.
On the embassy move, Haley notes, the two predicted “the sky would fall.” For decades, critics warned that the “Arab street,” and perhaps the entire Middle East, would explode if Washington took this step. Yet Trump went ahead, and “the sky is still up there.”


Nixing the Paris accord and the Iran deal similarly failed to bring the promised disasters. The establishment was wrong.
More important, Haley is 1,000 percent right to say Tillerson’s and Kelly’s duty was to let Trump know their concerns — and quit if they didn’t like his final decisions.


Yes, Democrats in Congress have every right to oppose Trump’s policies, as Republicans did his predecessor’s. Yet Dems’ drive to impeach him has given a lot of play to various diplomats objecting to Trump’s “shadow” Ukraine policy.
Sorry: The State Department works for the president, not vice versa. Trump’s completely free to use outsiders like Rudy Giuliani as envoys, as presidents always have.


If Democrats can’t show Trump cutting foreign deals that benefit him personally rather than serving the nation’s interest, impeachment is just a giant waste of time.

https://nypost.com/2019/11/11/kellys...e-white-house/