In the first foreign trip of his second term, President Donald Trump chose to go to Gulf Arab states like Saudi Arabia and Qatar — and is notably doing so at the same time as he's trying to accept a $400 million jet used by the Qatari royal family as an Air Force One backup.

On the Wednesday episode of her show "Deadline: White House," MSNBC host Nicolle Wallace invited author Anne Applebaum and former Republican strategist Amanda Carpenter onto a panel to discuss Trump openly welcoming the largesse of foreign leaders seeking to curry favor with the U.S. government. Wallace observed that while Trump also went to Saudi Arabia for his first foreign trip of his first term, he also made stops in Israel and in Europe — something he's not doing on this trip.

The MSNBC host openly wondered: "What message does it send when this is all out in the open? When Trump is ... making [it] abundantly clear that the region where his sons are also publicly touting business deals is the focus and the priority?"

READ MORE: 'Be quiet!' Inside the 5 most explosive moments from Kristi Noem's 'laughable' testimony

"It's been pretty clear that this is the part of the world that his family and/or his entourage find the most interesting to do business in, and it's impossible not to conclude that that's that's why he's there," Applebaum said. "I think what's very unusual for Americans, is to see our president, our leader, acting not on behalf of the interests of all Americans, but on the interests of himself."

Wallace agreed with Applebaum's point, and then suggested that Trump's ease with accepting extravagant gifts from foreign leaders was undermining the "strongman" image he strives to cultivate among his base.

"In this country, there's nothing more sort of politically flaccid than being for sale," said Wallace, who was previously the White House communications director for Republican President George W. Bush. "It's completely untraditional in terms of the things that make Americans think their leader is strong, to look bought and paid for by mideast royalty."

"There's nothing sort of traditionally Republican popular among Republican voters to being completely possessed by the lavish gifts being given to an American leader," she added later in the segment. "We're supposed to be the people that they need. We're not supposed to need their benevolence and money ... It's not just gross and corrupt. It's completely politically feckless."

READ MORE: 'Doesn't have a clue': GOP congressman buries Marjorie Taylor Greene in heated exchange

Watch the video below, or by clicking this link.

- YouTubewww.youtube.com

From Your Site Articles
Related Articles Around the Web