One rarely thinks of “Profiles in Courage” when one thinks of Donald Trump.
Ordinarily, he does not evoke the image of a statesman rising above politics, to say what needs to be said regardless of its unpopularity. Instead, President Trump often appears petty and vindictive. Just ask his former advisor John Bolton, a man threatened for assassination by Iran. Bolton’s secret service protection was removed after he criticized Trump.
But give credit where it’s due. In the face of dropping popularity numbers, Trump has taken an unpopular position on a major issue, and he has refused to back down.
On May 12, on the eve of his trip to China, Trump was asked about the effect of bad economic news on his dealings with Iran. He said: “I don’t think about Americans’ financial situation… I think about one thing: we cannot let Iran have a nuclear weapon” Asked by a reporter how much the tough economic conditions are “motivating [him] to make a deal,” Trump responded: “Not even a little bit.” When pressed, Trump stood by his statement, insisting that “the most important thing by far is Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon….”
Democrats pounced on Trump’s remarks. Leah Leszczynski, spokesperson for the Democratic Party in Michigan, a battleground state, accused Trump of adopting the equivalent to “let them eat cake.”
Republicans offered a tepid defense, claiming, in effect, that he didn’t mean what he said. Senator John Cornyn of Texas dismissed Trump’s statement as “just a sort of a throwaway line.” Senator Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming declined to comment “mostly because I think he actually does care.”
CNN purporting to rise above the fray, pronounced Trump’s remark a “gaffe.” As Michael Kinsley famously observed, a gaffe is a moment when a politician inadvertently says something truthful. Trump’s remark was not a gaffe because it wasn’t inadvertent. Trump believes what he said. On his return from China, Trump stood by his position.
Donald Trump is right to do so, no matter the political cost. Consider the world we would inhabit if Iran became a nuclear power.
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