Ex-CIA chief warns Trump’s 'careless' and 'chaotic' decisions could spark 'another world war'

21 January

President Donald Trump's second term officially got underway on Monday, January 20 when he was sworn into office by U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Roberts.

Trump wasted no time issuing executive orders, from pardoning roughly 1500 of the January 6 defendants to calling for an end to birthright citizenship despite the fact that it is in the U.S. Constitution's 14th Amendment.

Trump also revoked security clearances for around 50 former intelligence and national security officials, including former National Security Adviser John Bolton and ex-CIA Directors Leon Panetta and John O. Brennan.

In a New York Times op-ed, Panetta — who also served as defense secretary in the Obama Administration — warns that Trump is bringing a reputation for a "chaotic approach" to an "increasingly dangerous and threatening world."

"Mr. Trump has always prided himself on being a dealmaker, pledging in his campaign that he would resolve such conflicts in the first few days of his presidency," Panetta argues. "But precisely because it is a more dangerous world, that's unlikely to happen. And if he tries and fails, the United States will appear weak. There is concern that Mr. Trump may have already started off badly by threatening Greenland, the Panama Canal Zone and Canada. Those are the kind of careless and disruptive comments that only undermine American credibility when it comes to dealing with real-world crises."

Trump, according to Panetta, is facing foreign policy challenges that are "far different from and more threatening than what he had to confront in his first four years" as president.

"Autocrats that once operated in their own spheres of influence have now joined together in an axis of mutual support and aggression," the former CIA director warns. "Vladimir Putin of Russia is not just a temperamental bully, but also, a tyrant who invaded the sovereign democracy of Ukraine and continues to threaten democracies in the West. Xi Jinping of China has made clear that he is prepared for a potential Taiwan invasion and wants to compete with the United States as a leading military power. Kim Jong-un of North Korea is not just threatening democracy in South Korea, but has also sent drones and thousands of troops to Russia to fight Ukrainians."

Panetta stresses that the United States will need leadership and "peace through strength," not chaos, in the months ahead.

"The president, as commander in chief, has the power and responsibility to determine America’s future security," the former Obama Administration official writes. "If he is careless with that awesome power, the United States could very well find itself in another world war."

Leon Panetta's full New York Times op-ed is available at this link (subscription required).

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