How Obama Tossed a Pile of Foreign Policy Hand Grenades to Trump
05-03-2017
The Kremlin says Russian President Vladimir Putin and President Trump agreed during a phone call to step up U.S.-Russian diplomatic efforts on Syria. It could signal a thaw after some, including Trump, have said relations between Moscow and Washington are at an all- time low.
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, in Saudi Arabia, said, "Well, it was a very constructive call that the two presidents had; very, very fulsome call, a lot of detailed exchanges, so we'll see where we go from here."
The White House said the two leaders discussed setting up safe zones in Syria.
The US is also working with China on a stronger U.N. Security Council response to North Korea, including sanctions, after Pyongyang's repeated ballistic missile launches. The most recent missile test on Friday, failed.
And Congress has passed legislation that would that would intensify financial pressure on the rogue regime.
Military pressure is also being brought to bear.
US Air Force B-1 bombers have conducted what are called "presence missions" near the Korean Peninsula twice in the past two weeks, in a move designed to show North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un what he's up against.
A THAAD -- Terminal High Altitude Area Defense -- missile system is now operational in South Korea. That angers China, which sees it as a threat to its security, and Beijing has demanded its removal.
It's even triggered protests by some South Koreans, the people it was sent to defend.
The Trump administration has been greeted by so many foreign policy crises in its first 100 days that one political cartoon shows Barack Obama tossing a President Trump a foreign policy hand grenade.
In addition to North Korea and Syria, there's also Iran's nuclear program and ISIS, and none of them look to be resolved anytime soon.
