Reuters - U.S. President
Barack Obama's foreign policy legacy rests in part on a foundation of
unilateral actions that his successor Donald Trump could reverse with the
stroke of a pen.
Due to take
office on Jan. 20, Trump, the winner in Tuesday's election, campaigned at times
to dismantle Obama's nuclear deal with Iran and to reimpose sanctions Obama
eased on Cuba. Trump also disagreed with foreign policy decisions that included
the way Obama has deployed troops abroad to combat Islamist militant
groups.
In his most
notable foreign policy achievements, Obama, a Democrat, used executive
authorities that offered a convenient legal path around a Republican-controlled
Congress committed to blocking his agenda.
The U.S.
Constitution gives a president broad executive powers to enact foreign policy.
Both Republican and Democratic presidents have sought to exercise those powers
by issuing executive orders, presidential memoranda and what are called
findings.
"He (Obama)
relied on executive authority to build a foreign policy legacy," said
Thomas Wright, director of the Project on International Order and Strategy at
the Brookings Institution.
"That is
all vulnerable to countervailing executive authority by a Trump administration,"
Wright said.
Obama had
hoped to pass his legacy on to Democrat Hillary Clinton, his former secretary
of state, but she lost the presidential election to Trump, a Republican
businessman who has never held public office or served in the military.
TRUMP PLANS
UNCLEAR
Often
contradicting himself during the campaign, Trump made it difficult to know for
sure what policies he would pursue. Major constraints include budget caps, laws
he cannot reverse without Congress, and the pressure that will emerge to
replace policies he chooses to abandon.
Trump said in
an October speech that he would "cancel every unconstitutional executive
action, memorandum and order issued by President Obama" on his first day
in office, without saying who would determine their constitutionality.
A Trump
spokeswoman did not respond to a request for comment on Thursday on his latest
plans.
EXECUTIVE
ORDERS, ENACTED & RESCINDED
Perhaps
nowhere has Obama faced more congressional opposition than in his pursuit of
the 2015 deal with Iran, which Republicans and some Democrats said put too few
restrictions on Iran's nuclear program in return for too much sanctions relief.
Trump has vowed to dismantle it, although his statements on the deal have been
contradictory. A president may tighten and relax economic sanctions by
executive order.
"Anything
enacted by executive order can be rescinded by executive order," said
Zachary Goldman, a former U.S. Treasury official now at New York University.
Obama drew
enough support from Democrats to block a Republican-led resolution rejecting
the Iran deal, achieving a political victory but falling short of a consensus.
Trump will
have the added advantage of working with a U.S. Senate and a House of
Representatives controlled by fellow Republicans.
Senate
Republican Leader Mitch McConnell said on Wednesday he hoped Trump would
"see how much he can undo the unilateral actions the president took all by
himself, which would not require us."
CUBA, DRONES
Breaking with
longstanding U.S. policy on another issue, Obama restored diplomatic ties with
Cuba in 2015. But facing opposition in Congress to lifting a broad economic
embargo, especially from Republicans, he used executive actions to ease some
U.S. sanctions.
Obama capped
his Cuba efforts last month with a sweeping "presidential policy
directive," which also is reversible and sets forth mandates for
government engagement, people-to-people exchanges, and greater U.S. business
ties.
Trump has
taken contradictory positions on whether he supports the embargo or not.
Obama's aides
said the easing of restrictions was aimed at securing enough benefits for U.S.
businesses and travelers that it would be difficult, if not impossible, for any
Republican president to reverse the opening to Cuba.
Trump could
roll back Obama's efforts to create greater transparency about drone strikes.
Obama issued an executive order in July requiring annual disclosures about such
strikes.
MILITARY POWER
As
commander-in-chief, Trump will wield the power to mobilize the U.S. military on
short notice and without first seeking approval from Congress.
Obama deployed
U.S. troops to Iraq, Syria and Libya to help fight the Islamic State militant
group by relying on the authority Congress granted President George W. Bush to
battle al Qaeda. That same authority would allow Trump to ramp up U.S.
deployments in fights against Islamist militants if he chose to do so.
One former
U.S. intelligence official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the
president can approve covert action and needs only to brief relevant leaders in
Congress once the operation is under way.
Trump's
powers, however, are limited.
He pledged to
expand the Army, grow the Marine Corps, boost the Navy from 276 to 350 ships
and submarines, and raise the number of Air Force tactical aircraft from 1,100
to 1,200. For starters, that would require that Congress scrap government
spending caps under the Budget Control Act.
Trump's
support for water-boarding, an interrogation technique that simulates drowning,
also would meet opposition. Congress last year passed legislation barring the
use of waterboarding and other "extreme interrogation techniques"
widely considered torture. Obama signed the measure into law last November.
Reuters
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