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Trump’s Bluster Backfires Once Again

The reaction to Trump's Venezuela rhetoric across the region has been swift and overwhelmingly negative.
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Trump’s reckless Venezuela bluster is having the predictable effect of distracting attention from the crisis in Venezuela and undermining the regional response to it:

President Nicolás Maduro of Venezuela had become a pariah among fellow Latin American leaders as his beleaguered country staggered toward dictatorship. But a threat by President Trump to use the American military against Mr. Maduro’s government has united those leaders in a different direction: demanding that the United States keep out of the region’s affairs.

The right U.S. response to Venezuela’s crisis would have been to keep a low profile, support the efforts of regional governments to address the crisis, present a united front against Maduro, and do nothing to give Maduro a lifeline by turning it into a contest with Washington. Trump’s bluster had the opposite effect: it inserted the U.S. into the crisis in a way guaranteed to bolster Maduro domestically at the expense of his opponents at the same time that it distracted and alarmed other regional governments. The reaction to Trump’s rhetoric across the region has been swift and overwhelmingly negative:

Peru, which has taken some of the toughest stands in the region against Venezuela, issued a statement on Saturday condemning possible use of force, and Mexico said the crisis could not be resolved with soldiers. Brazil said renouncing violence was the “basis of democratic cohabitation.” And human rights groups in Venezuela rejected Mr. Trump’s threat.

No doubt Trump’s reference to a military option was another unplanned, ill-considered threat that he thought would show “toughness,” and like other threats he has made it is backfiring on the U.S. and its allies. The frequency with which Trump resorts of making these threats is not just a product of his poor discipline and bad judgment, but reflects his nationalist and militarist inclinations and his obsession with the appearance of strength. We can expect more of the same in response to future crises, and we should assume that the damage they do to U.S. interests will only increase with time.

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