The American ambassadors in France, Denmark and Turkey have all caused a stir in recent weeks
Do not antagonise one’s opponents unnecessarily, a basic principle of diplomacy says. But US President Donald Trump’s emissaries are increasingly ticking off allied countries throughout Europe.
Just this week, no fewer than three US ambassadors scrambled to extricate themselves from diplomatic hot water.
Firstly, Denmark’s foreign minister summoned the top US diplomat in the country to answer for reports that at least three people with connections to Trump have been carrying out covert influence operations in Greenland, a Danish territory.
It comes after Trump spent months publicly musing that America should take over Greenland, even sending Vice President JD Vance for a lightning visit there.
Then France summoned the US ambassador, Charles Kushner, the father of Jared Kushner, who is married to Trump’s daughter Ivanka.
Charles Kushner was given a dressing down over a letter to French President Emmanuel Macron, published in the Wall Street Journal, alleging the country has not done enough to fight antisemitism.
However, the French talking-to was done in absentia. Kushner did not attend the meeting, and it was left to his deputy to explain the actions of his boss.
And the American ambassador to Turkey, longtime Trump friend Tom Barrack, apologised on Thursday for using the word “animalistic” while calling for a gaggle of reporters to quiet down during a press conference in Lebanon.
The exchanges are consistent with Trump’s blunt-spoken style, his “America First” approach to foreign policy and his disdainful attitude toward reporters.
The State Department has offered little in response, except to say that it supports Charles Kushner’s letter to Macron and that the government “does not control or direct” the actions of private citizens in Greenland.
Trump’s diplomats have something of a track record of annoying foreign governments.
During his first term as president, numerous US ambassadors from Iceland to Germany and South Africa as well as the European Union got under the skin of their host governments, prompting summonses if not private complaints.
One former senior State Department official said Trump loved the publicity these incidents received and often sent the ambassadors in question congratulatory notes when their actions produced news coverage.
WHY WAS FRANCE ANNOYED WITH CHARLES KUSHNER?
It started with Macron’s decision to recognize a Palestinian state, which angered Israel and the US because it revived the prospect of a two-state solution to the seemingly endless conflict.
Kushner’s response alleged that such “public statements haranguing Israel and gestures toward recognition of a Palestinian state embolden extremists, fuel violence and endanger Jewish life in France.”
Kushner urged Macron, among other things, to “abandon steps that give legitimacy to Hamas and its allies.”
France’s foreign ministry said it “firmly refutes” Kushner’s allegation and declared that it fell “short of the quality of the transatlantic relationship between France and the United States and the trust that should result from it between allies.”
AND WHAT ABOUT DENMARK?
Trump has been relatively quiet recently about his previously-stated desire to acquire Greenland.
But Trump’s hint that he could invade the massive island stands. So when Denmark’s main broadcaster reported on Wednesday that at least three people with connections to Trump had been carrying out covert influence operations in Greenland, Denmark’s foreign ministry summoned the top American diplomat in the country, Mark Stroh, for an explanation.
The State Department said the US values its relationship with Denmark and “respects the right of Greenlanders to determine their own future.”
With AP
