Trump turns to Europe's far right as he detains Latin American children

By Ishaan Tharoor
June 20 at 12:59 AM

A popular explanation of President Trump's politics argues that his success has less to do with ideology than personality. After all, the real estate tycoon-turned-reality television star is accustomed to wearing different hats. He has changed his party affiliation and can shift his views for the sake of expediency and self-aggrandizement. When the outside world expresses bafflement with the president's decision-making, insiders and political reporters point out his impatience, his impulsiveness and his preference for gut instinct over strategy.

But this week, we're seeing Trump's core political ideas come into focus. The administration's decision to forcibly separate thousands of migrant children from their families along the U.S.-Mexico border has turned into a political showdown. Lawmakers from both parties have decried the policy, which Trump falsely pins on his opponents. On Tuesday, Mexico's foreign minister deemed the separations “cruel and inhumane.”

“The Trump administration implemented this policy by choice and could end it by choice. No law or court ruling mandates family separations,” noted The Washington Post's Fact Checker. “In fact, during its first 15 months, the Trump administration released nearly 100,000 immigrants who were apprehended at the U.S.-Mexico border, a total that includes more than 37,500 unaccompanied minors and more than 61,000 family members.”

Link to tweet

Trump, though, has dug in, rejecting criticism of his actions and seeking to leverage the detained children's plight to get Democrats on board with legislation that will fund his long-desired wall along the Mexican border. But he didn't stop there.

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https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2018/06/20/trump-turns-to-europes-far-right-as-he-detains-latin-american-children