Earlier this year, I warned that a terrorist attack under Trump would be “a demagogue’s dream and a uniquely dangerous moment for our democracy.” With this week’s atrocity in New York — the deadliest attack in the city since 9/11 — that moment is here.
Read more »Terence Szuplat, a former Special Assistant to President Obama and Senior Director of Speechwriting at the National Security Council, has been named a Board Member of Legacies of War, which advocates for the removal of unexploded U.S. bombs from Laos.
Read more »"It's unnerving to allies. It sends mixed signals to adversaries," added Terence Szuplat, who served as a foreign policy speech writer for former U.S. President Barack Obama, further describing President Trump's use of Twitter as "grossly irresponsible."
Read more »Not unlike the monasteries of Ireland centuries ago protected classic texts from the chaos of their time, people across our country are working to safeguard our democracy today. So please don’t give up on us. America is bigger than any one person, even the president. And we’re still here.
Read more »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 »