The Ambassador Whisperer

The recently-released audio recording of the president dining with a group of donors at a fundraising event raises some fascinating questions.

The first question that came to my mind is, how did someone manage to record a conversation with the President of the United States simply by pressing record on his iPhone and setting it on the table? Clearly, the event organizers or the security detail was not paying very close attention. The fact that the president himself was oblivious does not shock me, but his staff should have been more careful.

Keep in mind that this was not an official meeting. The president was not dining with ambassadors, cabinet members, or State Department officials. He was dining with a group of donors, people who had paid a substantial sum of money to get them seated at the table with the president himself for nearly an hour and a half.

One of the donors suggested to that president that the US ambassador to Ukraine was causing trouble. What fact or evidence the did donor cite to back up this claim? He said that the ambassador was “running around telling people that [the president] would be impeached.”

(It should be noted that the donor eventually admitted that this assertion was not true - the ambassador, who had worked for four presidents, was highly professional and had said nothing of the sort.)

What’s most troubling is the president’s reaction to this false assertion. 

He could have handled it in a number of ways that demonstrated restraint, maturity, and an appreciation for decorum.

The president could have dismissed the comment outright. “Well, I don’t want to gossip. Let’s just enjoy our dinner.”

He could have referred it to the appropriate authorities. “That’s very interesting. I’ll have my State Department look into it.”

He could have looked past the comment and explored the subject more broadly. “How are our policies working in Ukraine? I’m hearing a lot of good things about natural gas exploration there.”

He could have disarmed the comment with humor. “Well, a lot of people think that I’m going to be impeached. I’ll show them!”

But the president didn’t do any of those things. Instead, he asked for the ambassador’s name. Clearly, he didn’t know anything about her. He had no idea whether she was really doing an effective job or not.

Then came an even bigger surprise. The donors could not remember he name, either, not even the particular donor who had suggested that she was making unflattering remarks about the president. No one at the table knew anything about the ambassador beyond the fact that she was a woman.

Despite this complete and utter lack of relevant information, the president saw fit to make a bold decision about the ambassador’s future.

“Get rid of her. Get her out tomorrow. I don’t care. Get her out tomorrow. Take her out. OK? Do it.”

Let’s think about this for a moment. The President of the United States, the most powerful person in the world, decided in the heat of the moment to fire a career ambassador whose name he could not even recall based on an unverified (and ultimately untrue) rumor that she had made an unkind remark about him. 

He didn’t indicate that that he would think about what to do. He just did it.

He didn’t ask for additional information about the ambassador’s record or what has going on in the country where she had served honorably as our representative. He made a decision based on complete ignorance.

He didn’t refer the matter to the department that would be in the best position to determine the most appropriate course of action for policy in Ukraine. He acted alone.

He didn’t know anything at all about the ambassador or her accomplishments. Based on one spurious comment, he concluded that she was his personal enemy and therefore needed to be fired.

All of these observations are troubling. They suggest that important decisions are being made without the benefit of adequate information or rigorous debate. The president makes decisions based on whims and emotion, and his decisions cannot be challenged.

Every country in the world now knows that they can have their US ambassador recalled (and their policies disrupted) simply by hiring a “donor” to whisper unflattering rumors into the ear of an insecure and impressionable president. The world is in an extremely dangerous place.