When President Trump makes comments that are sensible, even to his critics, social media tends to pay little attention. Commentary that crosses tribal lines does not fuel the engine of binary conflict that drives social media engagement.
Trump’s critics don’t want to give him credit and his supporters hate his critics, so they don’t want to agree with them. So most everybody on social media moves on to subjects that tap the wellsprings of their feelings and moral superiority, instead of facing the truth which is, hey, maybe we agree on something important.
For the second time in a week, I think Trump is right.
The president rolled back sanctions on North Korea, a move supported by South Korean President Moon Jae-In, who is pushing hard for a denuclearization deal, while Washington Democrats inexplicably sided with neoconservative John Bolton.
Then, in his trade talks with China, Trump said something else worthy of praise that got picked up by the South China Morning Post but not U.S. liberals.
“Between Russia and China and us, we’re all making hundreds of billions of dollars’ worth of weapons, including nuclear [weapons], which is ridiculous,” Trump said.
The United States has the world’s biggest military budget – standing at $643 billion last year, followed by China, Saudi Arabia, and Russia, according to the British think tank the International Institute for Strategic Studies.
Trump again:
“I think it’s much better if we all got together and we didn’t make these weapons. So I think that’s something that could be a phase two after this [trade war] is done.”
The president has a point. What’s more, senior Chinese and Russian officials immediately agreed.
“I think it is a very good idea,” said China’s Vice-Premier Liu He, who was in Washington for trade talks.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on a conference call: “Any call in favour of disarmament deserves attention and high regard. It’s very important that this call is not limited to declarations.”
Now, it is fair to doubt whether Trump can or will follow through on this insight. One can argue his passion for arms deals is much more genuine than his passion for cutting defense spending. One can say his belligerence and ignorance pose a greater danger than a passing comment.
But the fact is, Trump said something sensible about the waste of exorbitant defense spending. What do the 2020 Democratic candidates say about defense spending? Does it make more or less sense than what Trump said?
