Trump: A solution in search of a problem

By Christopher B. Daly

One of the many perplexing things President Trump said in pulling out of the Paris climate accord was a line that seems to have little to do with the topic at hand.

At one point, he defended his decision to withdraw from the Paris agreement by saying this:

Thus, our withdrawal from the agreement
represents a reassertion of America’s
sovereignty.

American sovereignty?

That has not been a real issue since the end of the American Revolution. To get technical about it, it could be argued that the United States achieved its full measure of sovereignty on Sept. 3, 1783, when American negotiators signed a document with their British counterparts.

(Irony alert!) The “deal” was signed in Paris. The American delegation included Ben Franklin, John Adams, and John Jay. They ratified the military outcome of the revolution and set the boundaries between the new United States and the remaining British colonies in North America.

The negotiators met at the Hotel d’York, located at 56 Rue Jacob in the Left Bank of Paris. There is a plaque outside the building that notes the historic event.

In Article I of the treaty, the king of England “acknowledges [the 13 former colonies] to be free, sovereign, and independent states. . .” Since then, the sovereignty of the United States has never been in serious jeopardy, notwithstanding the darkest days of the War of 1812 when the British burned the White House. Indeed, since the end of WWI, the U.S. could be described as hyper-sovereign, working its will all around the globe and in outer space. No sane, fact-based person doubts U.S. sovereignty.

So, why that line in Trump’s announcement? Why rebut a claim no one has made?

I seriously doubt that Trump thought that line up by himself. Instead, it has all the fingerprints of Steve Bannon, the leader of the “nationalist” faction within the Trump administration. Since Bannon does not take questions, we can only infer his intentions. My guess is that he wants to send a signal to Trump’s political “base.” The signal sounds like this: we know you suspect that sneaky pipsqueak countries snooker the U.S. all the time, and we are going to make you feel better by throwing our weight around.

I think Franklin would weep.