After campaigning hard against globalism and the establishment, President-elect Donald Trump’s potential picks for U.S. secretary of state mentioned publicly so far — many of them well-known establishment globalists — have sparked confusion and even outrage among many of his closest and fiercest supporters. But the decision has not yet been made.
Among the names highlighted so far have been failed GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney, disgraced former CIA boss General David Petraeus (ret.), former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, ex-U.S. United Nations Ambassador John Bolton, and Congressman Dana Rohrbacher (R-Calif.). Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich is apparently no longer in the running.
Most of the proposed picks are considered either neoconservatives, globalists, establishment types, or all of the above. Some are even members of the globalism-promoting Council on Foreign Relations, a key beachhead of establishment power in the United States that Hillary Clinton admitted was telling her what to do and how to think in her job as Obama’s secretary of state. CFR defectors such as Admiral Chester Ward noted that the outfit seeks the “submergence of U.S. sovereignty and national independence into an all-powerful one-world government,” precisely the sort of fringe globalist lunacy that Trump campaigned against.
Analysts and Trump supporters say Rohrbacher would have the least amount of baggage, and would be the most closely aligned with Trump’s publicly articulated foreign-policy agenda. The others have faced intense criticism, even from some of those closest to the president-elect. The much-anticipated selection is supposed to be announced by next week.
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What follows is a brief look at each of the leading contenders for the immensely powerful post.
Congressman Dana Rohrbacher
Congressman Dana Rohrbacher is said to be among the top contenders for the job, with some establishment voices calling for the GOP lawmaker to be paired with neocon John Bolton as deputy secretary. Rohrbacher has a lot going for him, including the fact that his views appear to line up more closely with Trump’s than any other candidate mentioned so far.
The Republican from California, a former official in the Ronald Reagan administration who helped create the “Reagan Doctrine,” has compiled a respectable voting record during his long service in the U.S. House of Representatives. He earned almost an 80 percent cumulative score on The New American magazine’s Freedom Index, which ranks lawmakers based on how constitutional their voting record is throughout their service in Congress.
While far from perfect, the score is much better than the overwhelming majority of his constitutionally challenged colleagues in Congress. And unlike many U.S. lawmakers captured by the establishment and the special interests, Rohrbacher’s voting record has become more and more constitutional in recent years, having earned an 89 percent in the 114th Congress and a 92 percent in the 113th Congress.
Also setting him apart from other lawmakers, Rohrbacher, apparently a one-time libertarian activist, has been unwilling to bow to hostile foreign regimes. For example, even as the globalist establishment began its push to legitimize and build up the murderous Communist Party dictatorship enslaving mainland China, Rohrbacher was a key leader in the effort to deny “Most Favored Nation” trading status to Beijing. He has continued to speak out against its savagery, including the organ harvesting perpetrated against political and religious dissidents.
As a senior member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, his supporters among Trump’s inner circle and beyond have noted that Rohrbacher is already very well versed in international relations and foreign affairs. And while not naive about the Kremlin, Rohrbacher has also resisted the more outlandish warmongering pushed by establishment globalists vis-a-vis Russia.
Despite voting to invade Iraq in 2002, the congressman has since acknowledged the “mistake,” and he has also never been a hyper-interventionist like so many of his colleagues on both sides of the aisle. That would be a good fit for a Trump administration that rejects nation-building and constant intervention in foreign lands, while still working to ensure America’s security.
Former GOP Presidential Candidate Mitt Romney
Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney called Trump a “fraud,” a “phony,” and even joined the discredited establishment media in claiming Trump would usher in an era of “trickle-down racism.” Despite his baggage, his establishment credentials, and his vicious attacks on Trump as he campaigned for the presidency, though, failed two-time presidential candidate Romney is being touted in the press and by Trump as a serious contender for secretary of state. But his record is beyond troubling. And many of Trump’s closest advisors have been publicly speaking out.
Unlike Rohrbacher, Romney does not have a voting history that can be consulted for insight. Still, his record as a liberal governor of Big Government-loving Massachusetts — including his status as “grandfather of Obamacare,” a term that Romney called a “compliment” — raises a number of red flags. Indeed, “Romneycare” was essentially the prototype for ObamaCare, which Trump ran against as a centerpiece of his campaign.
Romney’s rhetoric on the campaign trail also reveals globalist, warmongering views typical of the Bushes, the Clintons, and Obama — views that Trump firmly and rightly lambasted in his successful anti-establishment campaign for the presidency. Romney’s list of campaign advisors, too, was dominated by members of the politically toxic CFR and the most rabid of the warmongering neocons.
In a 2012 article comparing then-candidates Obama and Romney, Thomas Eddlem said Romney was even more of a warmonger than Obama — quite a feat, considering Obama’s unprecedented record of illegal wars, constant intervention, mass-murder via drone, and dangerous anti-constitutional extremism across the board. Romney was also an advocate of continuing to squander even more American lives and treasure on failed “nation-building” schemes in Afghanistan.
Unlike Trump, who said multiple times on the campaign trail that he would seek a constitutionally required declaration of war from Congress prior to sending U.S. forces to war, Romney has a history of reckless warmongering. During his failed 2012 run for the presidency, Romney made his anti-constitutional views on the subject clear.
“I can assure you if I’m President, the Iranians will have no question but that I would be willing to take military action, if necessary, to prevent them from becoming a nuclear threat to the world,” Romney said, boldly threatening to bypass Congress and embroil America in an illegal war if elected. “I don’t believe at this stage, therefore, if I’m President, that we need to have war powers approval or a special authorization for military force. The President has that capacity now.”
Romney has also been a non-stop cheerleader for the sovereignty-destroying, economy-crushing pseudo-“free trade” regimes that Trump has rightly opposed. Indeed, Romney was a strong supporter of NAFTA, which establishment globalist Henry Kissinger praised as “the most creative step toward a new world order taken by any group of countries since the end of the Cold War.” Romney vowed to negotiate and sign even more “free trade” schemes, despite the well-known threat they pose to American sovereignty, self-government, liberty, and prosperity.
Former CIA Boss and General David Petraeus (Ret.)
Another name that has been highlighted as a possible Trump pick to lead the State Department is former general and CIA chief David Petraeus. After meeting the general, who was driven from office amid a scandalous affair and the leaking of classified information to his mistress and biographer, Trump said he was “very impressed.” For critics of the globalist establishment, though, the potential nominee would be a betrayal of Trump’s supporters.
Often dubbed General Betray-US by critics, the former CIA boss is the very embodiment of the out-of-touch globalist establishment. From his anti-gun rights extremism to his pro-North American Union activism, and his membership in the global government-promoting CFR and his regular attendance at the shadowy Bilderberg meetings, Petraeus really is the ultimate establishment hack. And a known criminal to boot.
“After America comes North America,” Petraeus said confidently in 2014 answering a question about what comes after the United States, the theme of the panel discussion he was involved in. “Are we on the threshold of the North American decade, question mark? I threw that away — threw away the question mark — and boldly proclaimed the coming North American decade, says the title now.” After casually discussing the end of his nation, the globalist also boasted about how the three economies on the continent have been put “together” over the last 20 years as part of the “implementation” of NAFTA.
Another major problem with Petraeus is the fact that he got caught leaking classified material, a serious crime. After rightly shaming Democrat candidate Hillary Clinton for her “mishandling” of classified information, choosing Petraeus to serve in any capacity would totally undermine the Trump administration’s credibility. It would also be a major boost for Clinton, who could then rightly slam Trump and other critics as hypocrites.
Finally, Petraeus has earned the enmity of Second Amendment groups, one of the most powerful voting blocs in America. Gun Owners of America, for example, the leading no-compromise pro-gun rights organization in the nation, sent out an e-mail highlighting the former general’s rabid anti-gun rights extremism. “Although Petraeus seldom speaks publicly on domestic issues, he hates guns so much that he teamed up with anti-gun leader Mark Kelly and his wife, Gabrielle Giffords, to co-found the Veterans Coalition for Common Sense,” GOA Chairman Tim Macy explained, noting that Petraeus’ anti-gun rights group was working to push anti-constitutional gun control.
Putting Petraeus in power would be tantamount to handing Trump’s foreign policy over to the CFR and the totalitarian Bilderberg crowd. But the pressure from GOA and other powerful organizations that backed Trump may have paid off, as the most recent reports indicate that the president-elect appears to have soured on Petraeus. Still, it is not over until it is over.
Former NYC Mayor Rudy Giuliani
Another name that has been repeatedly touted for secretary of state and other positions is former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who supported Trump all along, while much of the establishment wing of the GOP was frothing at the mouth over his candidacy. While his foreign policy experience is slim to non-existent, that is not necessarily a bad thing. What is more troubling to critics are the former mayor’s well-documented ties to neocon warmongers, anti-constitutional “terror” warriors, and other discredited establishment political factions. Giuliani was also a leading advocate of the Iraq War, which Trump repeatedly blasted as a monumental mistake.
On domestic issues, Giuliani has frequently taken fringe positions that put him way outside of mainstream America and far beyond acceptable Republican opinion. On gun control, for example, Giuliani has defied his party, the Constitution, and middle America by repeatedly and publicly supporting illegal infringements on the God-given right to keep and bear arms. As mayor, he also reportedly prevented city workers from reporting illegal immigrants to the proper authorities. He has been a cheerleader for illegal domestic spying programs, too, in addition to his disregard for the Fourth Amendment.
It is not entirely clear how deep Giuliani’s links to globalist organizations and outfits, such as the CFR, the Trilateral Commission, and the Bilderberg summits, actually are. However, he has never been shy about working with the CFR, and his policy positions have often been in line with the narrative peddled by the globalist establishment. He is also reportedly tied to various foreign governments, including unsavory ones, and has even lobbied for an Iranian Islamo-Marxist group that killed Americans and was designated as a terror organization at the time.
Former U.S. Ambassador John Bolton
Former U.S. Ambassador to the UN John Bolton has also been repeatedly cited as a leading contender to lead the U.S. State Department. Bolton would be a highly problematic candidate for constitutionalists and anti-establishment Trump supporters to swallow, however. While he often uses tough rhetoric to rightly slam the UN as a cesspool of corruption and tyranny, the former U.S. ambassador to the dictator’s club is also a neocon, a longtime member of the CFR, and an advocate of “reforming” the UN rather than abolishing it.
Even more troubling to many Trump backers is Bolton’s long record of supporting constant, undeclared, illegal war. Indeed, Bolton was a prominent cheerleader for the Iraq War. He was also a board member of the fringe neocon Project for a New American Century, a collection of warmongers and globalists who outlined the supposed desirability of a “new Pearl Harbor” before September 11, 2001, to goad Americans into more war.
Liberty-minded Senator Rand Paul (R-Ky.), who advocates following the U.S. Constitution, has suggested publicly that he would try to block Bolton over his hawkish warmongering record. Apparently at least several other Republicans are also very concerned about Bolton’s extreme support for ever-more undeclared war.
Certain neocons and establishment types who viciously opposed Trump have called for Rohrbacher to be nominated as secretary of state, but to have Bolton serving as his deputy. Presumably, the establishment’s goal would be to ensure that neocon-globalist policy continues to dominate the department. Some sources have suggested that such a pairing may even be a likely scenario. Anti-globalist, pro-Constitution, non-interventionist Americans should be very wary of Bolton and his associates.
Wrap-up
Short of Trump radically changing his mind and nominating somebody such as non-interventionist, liberty-minded icon Ron Paul to the post, Rohrbacher would almost certainly be the best choice for secretary of state. He may not be perfect, but nobody is, and his long track record is far better than any of the establishment-minded characters whose names have been put forward. It is not too late to make a great choice for U.S. secretary of state to help Make America Great Again.
Photos of Rudy Giuliani, John Bolton, and Mitt Romney: Gage Skidmore
Alex Newman is a correspondent for The New American, covering economics, education, politics, and more. He can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @ALEXNEWMAN_JOU.
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