Seriously, whether you like or dislike Donald Trump, do you think he has the diplomatic skills to work with foreign countries that the U.S. has trade and other interests in?

Fuck no!

He will inadvertently cause WWIII when he calls Putin a loser.

No, he actually has 10 reasons to go to war with Canada and they are not rational or diplomatic at all.

Wow @NerdyKeith scary indeed.
And the red necks just love him.

That’s the biggest fear with Trump; is he going to say something that offends a leader so badly it ruins our alliances, or gets a bomb dropped on us by an enemy.

If he gets elected we have to hope that his success in international business means he is able to talk to people. We did go to Wharton, he is rich, my guess is if he tries he can speak to people politely.

For some reason I am thinking this would be like Carrot Top being my Lawyer.

That’s funny @johnpowell I don’t care who you are,that is funny.

No

Diplomatic skill hasn’t been on the list of presidential criteria since Teddy Roosevelt.

I don’t see a way he can promise the American people that he will force Mexico to build a wall between our borders and have any diplomacy with Mexico.

Yeah, that’s just what we need.
A Mexican Missile Crisis with Trump and Putin deciding who blinks.

For example. Shall we go on…....?

Get serious. Find the largest most flattering picture you can locate of the Donald. Then take a large sheet of blank paper, and with a marker write the word STATESMANSHIP in big letters. Place the letters beneath the photo, return here and tell us what you think!

A friend of mine wrote on Facebook today: Now I understand the wall he wants to build, it’s to keep us from leaving if he becomes president. I was so confused!

LOL.

@ibstubro If he really thinks he can get the Mexican government to pay for a wall, it would be nice to know the deal he is going to make to accomplish it. My MIL was saying today that she wonders what he thinks he is going to promise to the Mexicans for them to build the wall? Promise to put businesses there and create more jobs? What?

Jesus, @ibstubro, the wall is sooo last month. Now we’re torturing and killing prisoners and invading Canada. You gotta phone in once in awhile, man.

Bozo the clown would be MUCH better and I don’t mean any discredit to Bozo. Trump is a dictator, a bully, a spoiled rich brat.

Yes. Trump has a whole tool chest full of negotiating abilities that our current President sorely lacks and is a large part of why so many are supporting him. No teleprompter needed.

No, he is a vile, opinionated narcissist.

The US is vulnerable on its southern border, and diplomacy is the only thing that Mexico our ally.

I’ve often wondered why Mexico didn’t suck up a little to Russia, just to have a counterpoint to the American point. Nothing so overt as the Cuban Missiles, but enough to extort a few more billion dollars a year.
What are we going to do, attack them?

No, I don’t think Trump has the diplomatic skills to keep the US in good graces with it’s allies.

Mexico is a democracy.

Well, thank the gourd, @JLeslie!

We all know that democracies don’t form alliances.
That would be crazy!
Like France aligning with Iran!
Greece buddying up to Russia!
Crazy talk!

I think he would do OK. I imagine he would appoint a grand cabinet. The possibility of Trump winning is not worrisome to me, even though I am not really a fan.

@ibstubro

Question:
“I’ve often wondered why Mexico didn’t suck up a little to Russia”

Answer:
(1) 1823 Monroe Doctrine
(2) 1846 Mexican – American War

(3) 1862 Monroe Doctrine Enforced:
“In 1862, French forces under Napoleon III invaded and conquered Mexico, giving control to the puppet monarch Emperor Maximilian. Washington denounced this as a violation of the doctrine but was unable to intervene because of the American Civil War. This marked the first time the Monroe Doctrine was widely referred to as a “doctrine.” In 1865 the United States stationed a large combat army on the border to emphasize its demand that France leave. France did pull out, and Mexican nationalists executed Maximilian.”

(4) 1904 Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine.
(5) 1910 – 1919 Border War(1910–19)
(6) 1917 Zimmerman Telegram

(7) 1928 Clark Memorandum:
USA establishes the “right” to pre-emptive invasion in cases of internal Latin American instability for purposes of defense.

(8) 2012: Who Needs Russia When You Have Friends Like These?

I don’t see where any of that prevents a democratically elected government of Mexico from choosing to have alliances with Communist countries, @Espiritus_Corvus. Yeah, the Communists can’t intervene in Latin America, but Socialist Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez was pretty much a pain in Dubbya’s ass.

True, but the US embargo of Venezuela nearly shut down the world’s 4th largest producer of oil. It hurt them bad and effectively sabotaged Chavez’ ability to fulfill his ambitious social programs, making him look like just another failed socialist in the eyes of his neighbors. Unlike Castro, he had no Soviet Union to prop him up. Mission accomplished.

I really didn’t intend to start an argument here. I just thought a historical review of our relationship with our Latin American neighbors might clarify why Mexico might not be enthusiastic about establishing a relationship with countries we do not approve of. (This sounds supremely arrogant, and it is meant to.) Mexico has a long history of attempting alliances with countries we don’t approve of and every time we’ve made it very clear that we will have no foolishness like that on our border.

We are not only paranoid, we are vindictive. We have behaved like Don Corleone. I cite how we’ve handled the Cuban Revolution and the childish 50-year embargo that continues long after the Soviet threat is dead. We are punitive for a reason. It is to show others what happens when one of the countries within our immediate sphere of influence misbehaves. It’s an object lesson. The Mexican government knows that they have it pretty good, in contrast to Cuba, as long as they cooperate.

But open the 2012 link above. The Kerry Doctrine has re-interpreted the Monroe Doctrine and softened it up a bit, and now many Latin American countries are discovering that forming alliances among themselves can create the eight largest economy in the world and suddenly make them competitive with the big dogs. Times may be changing.

No. Did you see his recent childish yelling matches with Rubio in the GOP debates, where he keeps calling Rubio little Marco, yelling and getting into it about penis size and so on?

He mainly knows how to get attention and reactions out of immature people. Against actual intelligent adults in a non-TV situation, well, I don’t think I’ve seen him outside of TV performances, but I’m very skeptical based on what I have seen, that he can represent this country in any way that I would ever want it represented. Intelligent sensitive people, such as often appear in other nations’ governments, will know he is a TV clown. Mexico has already voted to bar him from their country.

Here’s an example from the UK when the motion came up there to ban Trump from their country.

Only one person that answered this question thinks he does, and of course couldn’t resist an Obama dig while at it.
Acting like a board room big shot ain’t going to fly against people like Putin, it takes diplomacy ,and if elected I sure hope he has some.

Time to snap out of it @SQUEEKY2 if all it took was diplomacy, then there would not be the mess in the Middle East and specifically in Syria.

@Cruiser Please keep in mind that certain people in the middle east have been fighting each other for 1300 years.

What @Earthbound_Misfit said. Oh, hell no!
Clint Eastwood’s empty chair has more ability. (Although, not Clint Eastwood.)

@Zaku He wants us to all know that if he is chosen President he is a big enough Penis to screw us all over.

@Pandora stop already, I don’t have my pee panties on. :-)

@Jak sorry ;)

@kritiper Please keep in mind that no one other than Obama has drawn a 3 red lines in the sand in over 1300 years.

@ibstubro You mentioned Cuba, and I was just pointing out Mexico is a democracy. It looks like @Espiritus_Corvus drove home why it’s probably in Mexico’s interest not to be too aligned with Russia. We, the US, aren’t very nice to countries nearby who get too close to Russia, especially when they adopt communism. Of course, even we have been allies with Russia at times. The enemy of my enemy is my friend after all.

It is not only diplomatic relations. Trump does not have a clue as to what it means to be president. He thinks he can just do whatever he wants.

CNN

Well one thing for sure if he is elected and fails at anything the Republicans will still blame Obama.

1988
When nobody was messing with his hair.
Some of us have waited this long for Donald to change his mind.

@SQUEEKY2 No they will still blame Bush

The Republicans will still blame Bush??
Really?

@SQUEEKY2 You betcha! ;)

@Cruiser What would you do if you were president?

Awww….That’s cute, @Here2_4.
Back when that rug on The Donald’s head was still just a potholder.

At least he hasn’t changed his habit of saying nothing and then repeating it. And then repeating what he said. Then saying what he just said again. And again saying it – you know, what he just said.

I’ll tell you what I’d do, if I was President, @kritiper.

I’d dig a trench from Canada to Los Angeles, and I’d make the Canadians pay for it!
We’ll be growing cabbages in the Mojave!
Any greaser fool can dig a trench.
~ ~

@ibstubro That’s very interesting. I assume you’d dig the trench down the East side of the Rockies and when you got to New Mexico, dig West. (Not picking on you, just throwing this out for fun.)

@ibstubro Is that so you can direct the water better,that we already give to the states.
Or the electricity that we sell to the U.S. cheaper than we can produce it?

Whether or not he has the skill may be a moot question. Whether or not they will even meet with him may be the question now.

Foreign Diplomats Voicing Alarm to U.S. Officials About Trump

Foreign diplomats are expressing alarm to U.S. government officials about what they say are inflammatory and insulting public statements by Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump, according to senior U.S. officials.

Officials from Europe, the Middle East, Latin America and Asia have complained in recent private conversations, mostly about the xenophobic nature of Trump’s statements, said three U.S. officials, who all declined to be identified.

U.S. officials said it was highly unusual for foreign diplomats to express concern, even privately, about candidates in the midst of a presidential campaign. U.S. allies in particular usually don’t want to be seen as meddling in domestic politics, mindful that they will have to work with whoever wins.

Senior leaders in several countries—including Britain, Mexico, France, and Canada—have already made public comments criticizing Trump’s positions. German Economy Minister Sigmar Gabriel branded him a threat to peace and prosperity in an interview published on Sunday.

Japan’s embassy declined to comment. The Indian and South Korean embassies did not respond to requests for comment.

A spokesperson for the Mexican government would not confirm any private complaints but noted that its top diplomat, Claudia Ruiz Massieu, said last week that Trump’s policies and comments were “ignorant and racist” and that his plan to build a border wall to stop illegal immigration was “absurd.”

The foreign officials have been particularly disturbed by the anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim themes that the billionaire real estate mogul has pushed, according to the U.S. officials.

European and Middle Eastern government representatives have expressed dismay to U.S. officials about anti-Muslim declarations by Trump that they say are being used in recruiting pitches by the Islamic State and other violent jihadist groups.

—Reuters, 7 March 2016

Okay, okay, @kritiper. So we might have to tunnel a little. So what? Those Canadians are loaded.

We’ll only siphon off the water you guys get from Alaska, @SQUEEKY2. Sarah Palin can spot that stuff from her front porch.
If the electric plants are operating at a loss? We’ll let you keep them, if we have to invade.

@ibstubro Hmm.

Just for fun

Sure; he has much more experience that most newly elected presidents interacting at that level. My God, America elected a community organizer…........twice. This seems like a real step up!