During Donald Trump’s presidency, he reportedly had a series of secret chats with Russia’s Vladimir Putin for reasons that have never been explained. After the Republican left office, according to Bob Woodward’s latest book, Trump reportedly had several undisclosed conversations with the Russian leader — private discussions that Trump made little effort to deny.
It was against this backdrop that The Washington Post reported earlier this month that the GOP president-elect, just two days after winning a second term, once again connected with Putin over the phone. The Kremlin, however, denied that the call took place.
Ordinarily, the State Department could offer some insights as to who was telling the truth. As USA Today reported, however, this wasn’t an option in this instance.
[T]he State Department, which traditionally helps coordinate phone calls between incoming presidents and world leaders, has been shut out of Trump’s calls with foreign dignitaries. That means the conversations were not held over secure phone lines, no State Department staff were available to offer guidance on the nuances on foreign policy and no official interpreters were on hand to overcome language barriers that can sometimes lead to confusion or misunderstandings about exactly what was said.
The fact that the Republican and his team are indifferent to presidential norms isn’t exactly new, but diplomatic procedures exist for a reason, and there are real potential consequences to Trump and his operation engaging in freelance foreign policy chats with international officials.
USA Today’s report, which has not been independently verified by MSNBC or NBC News, added, “Historically, the State Department has helped coordinate phone calls between incoming presidents and foreign leaders because it’s important to ensure during the transition that the government is always speaking with one voice, particularly on matters of national security and foreign policy, according to the nonpartisan Center for Presidential Transition.”
The report went on to quote Brett Bruen, a former diplomat who worked in the White House under President Barack Obama, who said, “We’re entering a dangerous territory of telephone games, where Trump is going to have private chats with foreign leaders, and they’re going to tell their teams one thing, and Trump is going to tell our national security team another.” The point is not to criticize Trump for wanting to communicate with officials abroad. Plenty of major-party candidates speak to foreign leaders before Election Day, and it’s a standard practice for presidents-elect to have similar conversations after they’ve won. This part of the equation is entirely normal. But what’s not at all normal is Trump’s insistence on working outside his own country’s system and diplomatic framework. What’s more, the Republican’s refusal to coordinate with the State Department — deliberately leaving U.S. officials in the dark — raises related questions about why, exactly, Trump wants these unsecured conversations to be kept secret.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."
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