Robert Reich says, "But, hey, he's likely to change his mind again.
Who knows?
Today Trump reversed his 2016 campaign stance on NATO. "I said it was obsolete; it's no longer obsolete," Trump declared, after a meeting at the White House with the alliance's secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg.
What changed his mind?
The same thing that changed his mind about bombing Syria.
And changed his mind about China being labeled a "currency manipulator." (Today he said it won't be.)
And changed his mind about building a wall along the border with Mexico. (His Secretary of Homeland Security now says “it’s unlikely we will build a wall.”)
And about renominating Janet Yellen to chair the Fed (He called her "obviously political" last September and accused her of keeping rates low to boost the economy and make Obama look good, but today said "I like her. I respect her.")
And about how easily and quickly he’d repeal Obamacare and replace it with something “beautiful.” (“Health care is really complicated,” he now says.)
And about releasing his tax returns, divesting himself from his financial empire once in office, the evils of Goldman Sachs, the irresponsibility of a president taking lots of golfing holidays, the importance of Michael Flynn, the central role of Steve Bannon, Barack Obama being born in Africa, and much, much else.
What is that mind-changing thing?
Trump’s own mind.
“I’m a very instinctual person,” he told Time Magazine a few weeks ago when explaining how he makes decisions.
What that means, we’re now learning, is that nothing he says reflects any basic principle, deeply-held belief, or carefully considered point of view. It’s all up in the air, all the time.
That might be some consolation to those of us who have been appalled at many positions he's taken in the past (such as the obsolescence of NATO).
