On Wednesday, President Trump publicly contradicted several long-stated policy views, bringing his stances more in line with Washington orthodoxy. Meeting with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, Trump said of the military alliance: “I said it was obsolete. It’s no longer obsolete.” A week after calling China the “world champion” of currency manipulation, a common refrain on the campaign trail, he told The Wall Street Journal, “They’re not currency manipulators.” Trump also shifted positions on the U.S. Export-Import Bank, telling The Journal it’s actually “a very good thing, and it actually makes money,” including for smaller companies. He also suggested he might re-appoint Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen, whom he has previously criticized. This all comes a week after Trump appeared to abandon his campaign views about foreign intervention by bombing a Syrian government air base. “Circumstances change,” White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said when asked about the 180-degree turns in several major policy areas.
Within hours, Trump abandoned positions core to his campaign.
Watch his u-turns on Russia, NATO, China and Syria https://t.co/lXuyH7uVNy pic.twitter.com/zYDYIhsWmM
— CNN (@CNN) April 13, 2017