In his speech in Montreal, President Obama never once mentioned Donald Trump. He didn't have to. His speech was "vintage Obama"--a call to reject a politics based on fear and bigotry and an affirmation of the institutions, norms and values at the heart of our diverse democracies.
Read more »What Canadians can expect to hear from President Obama on his first visit to Canada since leaving the White House, and what it was like to be a White House speechwriter for Barack Obama...
Read more »Why the investigations into Trump and Russia won't go away, why $100 billion in weapons for Saudi Arabia won't address the Middle East's real problems, and what we can learn from 40 million Iranians...
Read more »MPR News host Kerri Miller speaks with former Obama foreign policy speechwriter Terence Szuplat on Trump's first trip abroad, his "America First" foreign policy and the international fallout from controversy in the White House.
Read more »"Real estate diplomacy" -- lavishing compliments on an opponent -- may have worked for Trump when negotiating in business, but heaping praise on tyrants risks aiding and abetting their oppression and is a tragic betrayal of American interests and values.
Read more »Demagogues only succeed when their audiences surrender their agency over their own minds and hearts; when we allow the heated emotions of the moment to overwhelm the facts and enduring values we know to be true. We’ve been put on guard. Whether we succumb to Trump’s fear-mongering or rise above it is entirely up to us.
Read more »Reflections on how to correct a speech after the President has started speaking (minute 25); when President Obama said a speech was "fine" (1 hour, 10 min); why there's no such thing as the "deep state" (1 hour, 18); and three basic facts about Trump and Russia (1 hour, 22).
Read more »Szuplat: We saw “a tale of two Trumps. He gives the appearance of moderation while his agenda is as extreme as ever. I have to think that presidents and prime ministers all over the world – our closest allies, from Asia to Europe – were scratching their heads.”
Read more »“If he hopes to succeed as president, Trump will at some point need to appeal to people’s better angels, rather than their darkest impulses.”
Read more »“There’s strong bipartisan support in Washington for a more stabilizing approach—continued broad-based U.S. political, economic and security engagement in the Asia Pacific. We’re not under any illusions that we can stop everything Trump is planning. But we’re seeing an unprecedented explosion of progressive activism and it will only get stronger.”
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