FOREIGN POLICY/NATO/SENATE/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT/TRUMP PEOPLE: “Senate Foreign Relations Chairman Bob Corker bluntly warned Wednesday [7-11-18] that US influence around the world is ‘diminishing’ and said that President Donald Trump’s comments about NATO have been ‘damaging’ to American leadership in an apparent effort to ‘tear apart’ a critical alliance. Corker has grown increasingly unnerved about Trump’s sharp attacks against NATO, raising alarms that the President’s rhetoric and actions have ‘destabilized’ a key part of the post-World War II order…Corker’s comments come the same day the Senate overwhelmingly passed his plan calling on Congress to have a role to approve the President’s use of tariffs against other countries when he cites national security and a day after the chamber passed a symbolic measure reaffirming American support for NATO. All told, the fast-moving chain of events underscore the growing unease many Republicans have about Trump’s handling of foreign policy and his moves to destabilize bedrock American alliances — all the while making warm remarks about Russian President Vladimir Putin, whom most lawmakers view as an adversary to the United States.”
–Manu Raju and Elizabeth Landers, “Corker: Trump rhetoric ‘diminishing’ American leadership around the world,” CNN Politics, CNN.com, July 11, 2018 4:59 pm