Scarborough praises policy shifts: ‘Trump is finally doing what we've been hoping’

By Joe Concha
04/13/17 08:24 AM EDT

MSNBC host Joe Scarborough on Thursday praised President Trump for flipping his position on a series of policy issues, saying he couldn’t "think of one shift that actually went in the wrong direction."

The “Morning Joe” host has been a frequent critic of Trump both during the campaign and since his inauguration.

Trump on Wednesday either shifted or completely reversed positions on as series of issues, including the usefulness of NATO, whether to label China a currency manipulator, Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen and the Export-Import Bank.

The moves came as Secretary of State Rex Tillerson met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow amid tougher talk between the U.S. and the Kremlin.

"If these policy shifts yesterday were whiplash, our neck was over here and now, it's upright," said Scarborough.

"Whether it was on NATO, an embrace of NATO, just absolute — I mean, Tillerson was tough as nails, according to William Cohen and Ambassador McFaul, and a lot of other Trump critics, had a good tough meeting with Putin and with the foreign minister there."

Scarborough also praises the president for getting in a position with China where the two nations can work together to deal with the North Korean threat.

"A lot of shifts yesterday, but I can't think of one shift that actually went in the wrong direction. These are all things that he said over the past two years that have scared us and now, the shift. Maybe it’s a day shift, but it's quite a shift."

Co-host Willie Geist and guest Richard Haass, the president of the Council on Foreign Relations, agreed with Scarborough, although Haass noted the "seismic shifts" happening so quickly were "a little unnerving.”

"You had a lot of people yesterday accusing Donald Trump of flip-flopping, but what if he's flopping to the correct position, isn't that a good thing? Geist asked rhetorically.

"I want him to flop-flop off some of the positions he was holding."

"A lot of stuff happened yesterday, you're right,” Haass replied. “It was all in the positive direction. China not being a currency manipulator, NATO having a continuing important role, a fairly blunt talk with the Russians."

"Whether this was yesterday's shift and today will bring you something else, and tomorrow something else, and the only thing wrong with that is the mere fact that you can have such seismic shifts, in and of itself is a little unnerving," he concluded.

http://thehill.com/media/328611-scar...ve-been-hoping