President Trump a Diplomat?

AC Christopherson

American Foreign Policy

January 24, 2017

Op Ed Week 4

President Trump a Diplomat?

It was announced this week that the second group of Manus refugees are leaving Australia and making there way to the United States. I for one was pleasantly surprised to read this headline after the commotion which took place last year when the President first became aware that the United States was in a deal with Australia to take in refugees. The President has many roles to fulfill but the one that seems the hardest for President Trump to embrace and gain approval from the public is chief diplomat. So far President Trump has yet to comment in any media form on the second round of refugees and has continued to honor his word from last year. I believe that since this is not the Trump we are used to seeing on the international stage that this is the most chiefly diplomatic form that the United States has witnessed from him.

I remember a year ago when there was the infamous “worst phone call ever” between the President and Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull. Following the call, President Trump naturally took to twitter to vent about what was in his opinion a “dumb deal”. The reason Turnbull wanted to talk to the President was because of his concern over the immigration ban that Trump had imposed. Turnbull also made it clear that President Trump would indeed uphold the agreement.

In November of 2016, the Obama administration agreed to a one-off deal to resettle refugees being held on Nauru and Manus Island in Papua New Guinea (PNG). The United Nations refugee agency, UNHCR, is overseeing the deal. As a result of this deal, Prime Minister Turnbull agreed to resettle refugees from Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador. Australia strongly refuses to accept refugees who arrive by boat unofficially and especially from Indonesia due to a deterrent policy, Operation Sovereign Borders. This policy is aimed at restoring the integrity of its borders and is also in place to hinder human trafficking by sea. Those who try to get in have their boats intercepted and then are detained at either of the camps in PNG while their refugee claims are processed. I find Australia’s and the Obama administration’s deal to be a smart one for both sides due to its timing. The deal is something the Obama administration would traditionally take unlike the Trump Administration. When the deal was made Obama was on his way out of office and knew that fulfilling this deal would fall onto the next president. Australia turned to a reliable ally right before a change in administrations occurred. This was smart to get the deal done but was a little risky because the next president was unknown.

The refugees are known as the Australian asylum seekers. There were a total of 1,254 refugees in Manus and Nauru when the deal was made. The refugees on Manus Island are all men from Iran, Afghanistan, Iraq, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Myanmar. The refugees from Nauru are men, women, and children from Iran, Sri Lanka, and then some are stateless. This US deal is only intending to give asylum to the refugees from Manus and Nauru, and does not address the various other refugees that may be forgotten.

Last September the United States welcomed the first 54 refugees who migrated. On tuesday it was reported that about 40 men left Manus Island and heading to the United States. In the next month or so 18 refugees are supposed to fly out. So far the refugees have been resettled across the United States in Georgia, Oregon, Colorado, Texas, and Arizona. The refugees have also been assisted with housing, healthcare both physical and mental, English lessons, job placement, and admission of children into school systems.

As chief diplomat the President is supposed to be the main planner and decision maker of foreign policy along with being the nation’s lead spokesperson to the rest of the world. More times than not Trump has been a hot headed spokesperson with foreign policy plans that are rather puzzling. How President Trump reacted initially to this deal after his phone call with Turnbull is typical. What is not typical is for Trump to continue with an Obama Administration deal that I feel he could’ve easily backed out of. Accepting refugees is the complete opposite of Trump’s foreign policy rhetoric especially given the executive order travel ban. By fulfilling the deal, not speaking ill of the refugees since they’ve been here, and providing the refugees with what is necessary to not only live in America but have a life with adequate resources to live and prosper, shows a very diplomatic side to of Trump. This shows he is capable of what the role of chief diplomat truly entails and hopefully this won’t be last we see of this version of President Trump fulfilling the roles which he is required in a more traditional and respected manner.