Thursday, March 8, 2018

Henry Kissinger on Trump: "I believe Trump has the possibility of going down in history as a very considerable president." He could accomplish "something remarkable" in US foreign policy. On advisers: "A president has to have some core convictions. He couldn't get those from advisers"-Henry Kissinger on Face the Nation, 12/18/2016

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[Mrs.] Clinton has previously touted praise from Kissinger. “I was very flattered when Henry Kissinger said I ran the State Department better than anybody had run it in a long time,” she said at a Democratic debate in February (2016)."
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12/18/2016, "Kissinger: Trump could offer 'extraordinary opportunity' in foreign policy," Politico, Ian Kullgren

"President-elect Donald Trump could accomplish "something remarkable" in U.S. foreign policy former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger says.

"Donald Trump is a phenomenon that foreign countries haven't seen. So, it is a shocking experience to them that he came into office. At the same time, extraordinary opportunity," Kissinger said in an interview aired Sunday on CBS' "Face the Nation."

"And I believe he has the possibility of going down in history as a very considerable president.

The new Republican president's "unfamiliar questions" could fill a vacuum left by President Barack Obama, who "basically withdrew" America from international politics, said Kissinger,  who served enormous roles under two Republican presidents, Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford. 

"Because of the combination of the partial vacuum and the new questions, one could imagine that something remarkable and new emerges out of it," Kissinger said. "I'm not saying it will. I'm saying it's an extraordinary opportunity.""
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Three sources in addition to Politico:  

One: Daily Mail, 12/19/2016, "Henry Kissinger praises Trump as 'a phenomenon that foreign countries haven't seen' and says his election is an 'extraordinary opportunity'," Daily Mail, Sarah Dean

"On December 11, [2016] speaking at the newly-established Nobel Peace Prize Forum Oslo, Kissinger said Trump was a personality that has 'no precedent in modern American history,' but cautioned against judging him on his campaign rhetoric."...
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Two: Time: Kissinger declined to endorse a presidential candidate prior to the 2016 election:

9/2/2016, "Henry Kissinger and George Shultz Will Not Endorse in 2016 Election," Time, Tessa Berenson 

"Foreign policy gurus Henry Kissinger and George Shultz have announced they will not endorse a presidential candidate, after reports circulated Friday that they were considering a joint endorsement of Hillary Clinton."
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Third source: CBS News Face the Nation Transcript December 18, 2016, including third segment in which Kissinger is asked about Trump and gives his comments. (I've posted the Kissinger-Trump portion at end of this entry):

12/18/2016, "Face the Nation Transcript December 18, 2016: Conway, Kissinger, Donilon," CBSNews.com

"[Host John] Dickerson:...Will [Trump] be able to surround himself with good advisers. Is that really possible?

KISSINGER: A president has to have some core convictions. He couldn’t get those from advisers."...
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Added: Transcript of Face the Nation segment with Kissinger that includes Trump comments, third segment in program (scroll down at link): 

12/18/2016, "Face the Nation Transcript December 18, 2016: Conway, Kissinger, Donilon," CBSNews.com

"[Host John] DICKERSON: We continue our conversation with former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger.

DICKERSON: What’s your feeling now about president-elect Donald Trump?

KISSINGER: I had not thought of President Trump as a presidential candidate until he became a presidential candidate. And the first appearances, I thought it was a transitory phenomenon. 
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Now his challenge is to apply that same skill to the international situation.

DICKERSON: You told Jeffrey Goldberg of “The Atlantic” that, with Donald Trump, it could create opportunity, but also serious dislocation. What’s your assessment now on that?

KISSINGER: Donald Trump is a phenomenon that foreign countries haven’t seen. So it is a shocking experience to them that he came into office, at the same time, extraordinary opportunity. And I believe he has the possibility of going down in history as a very considerable president, because every country now has two things to consider, one, their perception that the previous president or the outgoing president basically withdrew America from international politics so that they had to make their own assessment of their necessities, and, secondly, that here is a new president who is asking a lot of unfamiliar questions. And because of the combination of the partial vacuum and the new questions, one could imagine that something remarkable and new emerges out of it. I’m not saying it will. I’m saying it’s an extraordinary opportunity.

DICKERSON: Do you have a sense of what his emerging foreign policy vision is?

KISSINGER: I think he operates by a kind of instinct that is a different form of analysis as my more academic one, that he's raised a number of issues that I think are important, very important, and, if they’re addressed properly, could lead to -- could create results.

DICKERSON: You have advised presidents. One of the things that voters have said about Donald Trump, since he has no government experience, is that he will be able to surround himself with good advisers. Is that really possible?

KISSINGER: A president has to have some core convictions. He couldn't get those from advisers. But he also cannot possibly know everything. It’s in the nature of the presidency that most of the people you meet want something. So, to get objective advice is hard, but that depends very much on the personality of the president.

DICKERSON: What advice would you give incoming President Trump about advisers, about being the president in these times?

KISSINGER: One of the hardest things for the president is to distinguish the routine issues that come through from the essential issues that affect the long term, and not to let himself get sucked into the battles of the bureaucracy for marginal issues, and to keep them focused and to keep his mind clear on what the fundamental things are that he has to accomplish.

DICKERSON: Dr. Kissinger, thank you so much."
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https://www.cbsnews.com/news/face-the-nation-transcript-conway-kissinger-donilon/ 
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