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Besides last week’s Brexit vote, nothing causes more anxiety among Poles than the possibility of Donald Trump becoming president of the United States.
The latest issue of the Freedom Institute Bulletin “Should Poland Be Afraid of Donald Trump?”, which I edited, presents four opinions on the matter, including two from Hoover Institution fellows, Thomas H. Henriksen and Paul R. Gregory. [Czytaj polską wersję “Czy powinniśmy bać się Trumpa?”]
Polish worries about Trump stem from two factors, Trump’s criticism of NATO and the mass media barrage against him.
Trump has been called every name under the sun: demagogue, reckless, inexperienced, dangerous, racist, sexist, homophobe, misogynist, fascist and not to mention Hitler. Unfortunately Polish mass media is itself heavily biased and it draws its information on America from sources like CNN, the Associated Press, and the New York times. These aren’t objective sources, in fact they are unabashed supporters of Hillary Clinton.
Poles would be well served to check sources such as the Drudge Report and Breitbart. No person is totally objective, and if they say they are, they are lying to you. Matt Drudge links to numerous sites, including the left-wing ones mentioned above, as well as Breitbart and other right-leaning sites. If the New York Times is your primary or God-forbid, only source of news, you’re a very foolish person. Read a variety of sources and draw your own conclusions, but don’t accept the conventional wisdom on Trump.
Every “expert” has been wrong so far.
On the NATO question, Poles can make a case that Trump could be bad for Poland. Trump has criticized the alliance for the failure of many countries to live up to the expected 2% of GDP expenditure for defense, while America shoulders 75% of the total costs, not to mention the risk of war with Russia, the alliance’s main adversary.
Poles should remember that Donald Trump made a brief, though favorable reference to Poland in his cornerstone foreign policy speech:
At the same time, your friends need to know that you will stick by the agreements that you have with them. You’ve made that agreement, you have to stand by it and the world will be a better place. President Obama gutted our missile defense program and then abandoned our missile defense plans with Poland and the Czech Republic.
As one of the few NATO nations taking defense spending seriously, Poland is in a good position. It would be wise for Poles to seek to understand Trump’s mindset, push their leaders to engage with him instead of waiting for events to unfold and even apply his way of thinking to their own lives.
Check out the lates issue of the Freedom Institute Bulletin on Trump and leave your comments below (komentarze po polsku też zapraszam).
Are you afraid of Trump becoming the next American president?
