Henry Kissinger on Trump: "I believe Trump has the possibility of going down in history as a very considerable president." He could accomplish "something remarkable" in US foreign policy. On advisers: "A president has to have some core convictions. He couldn't get those from advisers"-Henry Kissinger on Face the Nation, 12/18/2016
[Mrs.] Clinton has previously touted praise from Kissinger.
“I was very flattered when Henry Kissinger said I ran the State
Department better than anybody had run it in a long time,” she said at a
Democratic debate in February."
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12/18/2016, "Kissinger: Trump could offer 'extraordinary opportunity' in foreign policy," Politico, Ian Kullgren
"President-elect Donald Trump could accomplish "something remarkable" in U.S. foreign policy former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger says.
"Donald Trump is a phenomenon that foreign countries haven't seen.
So, it is a shocking experience to them that he came into office. At the
same time, extraordinary opportunity," Kissinger said in an interview
aired Sunday on CBS' "Face the Nation."
"And I believe he has the possibility of going down in history as a very considerable president."
The new Republican president's "unfamiliar questions" could fill a vacuum left by President Barack Obama, who "basically withdrew" America from international politics, said Kissinger, who served enormous roles
under two Republican presidents, Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford.
"Because of the combination of the partial vacuum and the new
questions, one could imagine that something remarkable and new emerges
out of it," Kissinger said. "I'm not saying it will. I'm saying it's an
extraordinary opportunity.""
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Three sources in addition to Politico:
One: Daily Mail, 12/19/2016, "Henry Kissinger praises Trump as 'a phenomenon that foreign
countries haven't seen' and says his election is an 'extraordinary
opportunity'," Daily Mail, Sarah Dean
"On
December 11, [2016] speaking at the newly-established Nobel Peace Prize Forum
Oslo, Kissinger said Trump was a personality that has 'no precedent in
modern American history,' but cautioned against judging him on his
campaign rhetoric."...
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Two: Time: Kissinger declined to endorse a presidential candidate prior to the 2016 election:
9/2/2016, "Henry Kissinger and George Shultz Will Not Endorse in 2016 Election," Time, Tessa Berenson
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Added: Transcript of Face the Nation segment with Kissinger that includes Trump comments, third segment in program (scroll down at link):
12/18/2016, "Face the Nation Transcript December 18, 2016: Conway, Kissinger, Donilon," CBSNews.com
"[Host John] DICKERSON: We continue our conversation with former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger.
DICKERSON: What’s your feeling now about president-elect Donald Trump?
KISSINGER: I had not thought of President Trump as a presidential candidate until he became a presidential candidate.
And the first appearances, I thought it was a transitory phenomenon. But I give him huge credit for having analyzed an aspect of the American situation, develop a strategy...against the leadership of his own party and prevailing. Now his challenge is to apply that same skill to the international situation.
DICKERSON: You told Jeffrey Goldberg of “The Atlantic” that, with
Donald Trump, it could create opportunity, but also serious dislocation. What’s your assessment now on that?
KISSINGER: Donald Trump is a phenomenon that foreign countries haven’t seen. So it is a shocking experience to them that he came into office, at the
same time, extraordinary opportunity. And I believe he has the possibility of going down in history as a very considerable president,
because every country now has two things to consider, one, their
perception that the previous president or the outgoing president basically withdrew America from international politics so that they had
to make their own assessment of their necessities, and, secondly, that
here is a new president who is asking a lot of unfamiliar questions. And because of the combination of the partial vacuum and the new
questions, one could imagine that something remarkable and new emerges
out of it. I’m not saying it will. I’m saying it’s an extraordinary
opportunity.
DICKERSON: Do you have a sense of what his emerging foreign policy vision is?
KISSINGER: I think he operates by a kind of instinct that is a
different form of analysis as my more academic one, that he's raised a number of issues that I think are important, very important, and, if
they’re addressed properly, could lead to -- could create results.
DICKERSON: You have advised presidents. One of the things that voters have said about Donald Trump, since he
has no government experience, is that he will be able to surround
himself with good advisers. Is that really possible?
KISSINGER: A president has to have some core convictions. He couldn't get those from advisers. But he also cannot possibly know everything. It’s in the nature of the
presidency that most of the people you meet want something. So, to get
objective advice is hard, but that depends very much on the personality
of the president.
DICKERSON: What advice would you give incoming President Trump about advisers, about being the president in these times?
KISSINGER: One of the hardest things for the president is to
distinguish the routine issues that come through from the essential
issues that affect the long term, and not to let himself get sucked into the battles of the bureaucracy for marginal issues, and to keep them
focused and to keep his mind clear on what the fundamental things are
that he has to accomplish.
DICKERSON: Dr. Kissinger, thank you so much."
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/face-the-nation-transcript-conway-kissinger-donilon/
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