POLITICAL FIGURES/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Sen. Bob Corker, the Tennessee Republican who dished out scathing criticism of President Donald Trump, said Thursday [10-19-17] that the White House includes staff with instincts that run counter to ‘prudent norms.’…
Corker, the seasoned and smooth chairman of the Senate foreign relations committee, has taken off the gloves in recent weeks, speaking about Trump’s behavior as irresponsible and dangerous with a candor that has left many in Washington blinking in surprise…
But a few minutes later, politics intruded again when Corker was asked about food aid. The senator, who also focuses on anti-slavery issues, is pushing for changes to the way emergency food aid is distributed.
The current system benefits American businesses, but is deeply inefficient and badly undermines farmers in developing countries. Corker described it Thursday as ‘absolute stupidity.’ He pointed, in part, to entrenched interests in Congress, in the form of staffers who work on the ‘farm bill,’ which is being renegotiated this year and sets five years of eating and farming policy in the United States.
Corker was asked about reports that he’d intervened in June when Trump was considering an executive order that would require 100% of food aid, up from 50%, to be transported on US-flagged vessels. The requirement mostly benefits two New York companies, Corker said, and can mean that aid takes months to reach starving people.
Corker credited the President for understanding the issue and deciding not to go forward with the executive order, but he said the battle wasn’t over. He pointed to ‘forces’ within the White House.”
-Nicole Gaouette, “Corker warns of White House ‘negativist’ instincts,” CNN Politics, CNN.com, Oct. 19, 2017 11:31am