Trump & Co. talk on China, Russia and borders forms one opaque mess

On Friday President Donald Trump said of Russian President Vladimir Putin: "He is not looking at all to get involved in Venezuela, other than he’d like to see something positive happen. I feel the same way." 

But just like Rex Tillerson who preceded him, Trump's current secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, was left to explain a very different message. Last week Pompeo said Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro had been about to flee the country — but that the Russians persuaded him to say.

Either posture might make sense, but not both at the same time. If there is a way to reconcile them, nobody in authority is saying. 

Pompeo on Sunday said Trump made clear he wanted Russia to back off. "I think it was in a tweet several weeks back — the Russians have to get out. That remains our view,” Pompeo said Sunday. 

On Monday, however, Venezuela's foreign minister said Russia may send more military personnel there. Clearly that doesn't jibe with "not looking at all to get involved." 

This was reminiscent of 2016 when Trump was asked as a candidate about Russia's move to annex Crimea in eastern Ukraine. "He's not going to go into Ukraine, all right?" Trump asked an interviewer. "OK, well, he's there in a certain way. But I'm not there."

If perhaps he believed Putin would make no further encroachment, one would think Trump could have just said that.

North Korea, with which nuclear talks have stalled, fired short-range missiles on Saturday. Shortly after, Trump tweeted: "I believe that Kim Jong Un fully realizes the great economic potential of North Korea, & will do nothing to interfere or end it. He also knows that I am with him … Deal will happen!"

Stuck again on a different page, Pompeo on Sunday sounded less resolute. He said the U.S. was "evaluating the appropriate response," has "every intention" of negotiating with Pyongyang and "We're going to exhaust every diplomatic opportunity there is."

Then there's China. On Friday Trump said talks between Washington and Beijing on reaching a trade deal to end a tariff skirmish are going “very well." 

"We’re getting close to a very historic, monumental deal," he said. "And if it doesn’t happen, we’ll be fine too. Maybe even better.”

But in a flash, Trump vowed to hike tariffs again, on $200 billion in goods. "The Trade Deal with China continues," he said on Sunday, "but too slowly, as they attempt to renegotiate."

There was no effort to reconcile for those following how a deal that was "getting close" bogged down, or how it could be considered "monumental" yet "fine" if it doesn't exist.

One hopes this have-it-both-ways chatter is strategic. 

The short-term outlook for Trump's border-crisis response also appears clouded. He named, as his new head of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Mark Morgan — who served as the Border Patrol chief in the final months of the Obama administration. 

“Mark is a true believer and American Patriot. He will do a great job!” Trump tweeted. Despite the acclaim, Morgan had been forced out as Border Patrol chief in 2017, only days after Trump was inaugurated. Months earlier Morgan called for addressing issues in Central American countries that cause their residents to emigrate.

Such talk is off-message these days. And there was no immediate explanation for just what conversion Morgan or Trump aides might have undergone in their thinking.

Perhaps Morgan's Senate confirmation hearing will shed light, whenever it occurs.

By Dan Janison

dan.janison@newsday.comDanJanison

Dan Janison is a member of the Newsday editorial board.