No Foreign Policy Experience, But Trump Did Try To Invest With Libyan Dictator

Donald Trump’s expressed admiration for Kim Jong Un and Vladimir Putin while demonizing our allies like Britain is alarming — especially given Trump’s expressed desire to suppress dissent.

Far worse, though, is Trump’s total lack of foreign policy experience — unless you count the time he profited off an oppressive regime and tried to invest with a dictator.

In 2009, Donald Trump decided it was a good idea to rent land at his New York estate to Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi. Trump has tried to downplay the Gaddafi deal — and at one point even plead ignorance the arrangement — but BuzzFeed News reports there’s even more to the story: Trump actively “sought to use the opportunity to gain access to [Gaddafi], who was in a position to release billions in investment capital.”

Are there other strongmen Trump has tried to invest with? Vladimir Putin is by some accounts the richest man in the world — and Trump’s admiration for Putin is reportedly reciprocal.

Given Trump’s investments around the world, can we trust that he would — as erratic and thin-skinned as he is — be able to act objectively as commander in chief? We know Trump’s agnostic to the exploitation of others when there’s a buck to be made, so anything is possible.

Published: Jun 13, 2016