Retired General Wesley Clark criticized Donald Trump’s temperament and inexperience and speculated about potential conflicts of interest at a Durham panel Friday.
Panelists at the event contrasted Trump’s rash decision-making to Hillary Clinton’s level-headedness in foreign policy and veterans affairs. A retired four-star general and former supreme allied commander of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Clark was joined by David Litt, former U.S. ambassador to the United Arab Emirates, Bruce Jentleson, professor of public policy and political science, and Dan Christman, retired lieutenant general and former superintendent of the United States Military Academy. The panelists answered questions from the audience at Tyler’s Restaurant & Taproom in Durham.
In his opening statement, Clark suggested that Trump may be refusing to release financial documents to hide business dealings with Russia, which he acknowledged he could not prove.
“My suspicion, and I cannot prove this, is those loans—hundreds of millions of dollars—are held in Russia,” Clark said. “We call on Donald Trump to release those tax returns, release them immediately and show America his business interests. Lay them out. We want to know who he might be working for.”
He referred to Trump’s leaked income tax returns from 1995, noting a potential stem for business activities with Russia.
“On Wall Street, they don't think you're a good businessman if you lose $916 million dollars in a year. In fact what they say is, ‘you're untrustworthy and we're not going to loan you any more money,’” Clark said. “He was absolutely persona non grata on Wall Street.”
Clark, now an investment banker, said Trump was forced to go overseas and, according to insider sources on Wall Street, Trump took out a large loan from Deutsche Bank.
“Who do you think might buy a loan from Deutsche Bank? Someone with money that’s a little funny color and has trouble moving that money,” Clark said. “If you're in Russia and you have enough money to pay a $400 million Deutsche Bank loan, then you're a good friend of Vladimir Putin.”
Although he reiterated he could not prove the connection, Clark asked the 40-person audience to “connect the dots” on Trump’s relationship with Russia.
“Why does he think Vladimir Putin is such a good leader?” he asked. “Why did he, at the Republican National Convention, take out the provision that provided for military assistance that was necessary for Ukraine?”
Foreign policy experience
The panelists criticized Trump for his unbalanced temperament, especially in high-pressure situations.
Jentleson said that whereas decisions are generally made by knowing relevant information and controlling emotions, Trump's process has been more erratic.
“Frankly, the thing that scares me the most about Trump is the way he makes decisions, especially if it's a crucial decision like the nuclear button,” he said. “That quality is ingrained in the person."
Unlike Trump, Clark said that Hillary “does [her] homework and makes reasonable decisions.”
Speaking to The Chronicle, Clark said Clinton has a successful approach to foreign policy, acknowledging that she has made mistakes in the past, however.
“She's the best qualified person in my lifetime to run for this office,” he said.
Though Clinton has received criticism for her response to the crisis in Libya, Clark defended her actions by comparing them to how her husband, former President Bill Clinton, responded to humanitarian crises during his presidency.
In 1994, Bill Clinton failed to take action during the Rwandan Genocide, but after the outbreak of the Bosnian War—including the Srebrenica massacre—in 1995, Clark said the then-president took an “enough is enough” approach in helping direct NATO bombings. Clark noted that Hillary Clinton is following in those footsteps.
Although Jentleson conceded that Clinton did take missteps in handling Libya, particularly in Benghazi, he said that it was a moment of learning for Clinton.
“There were mistakes, and they've been grossly exaggerated in a partisan way, but she's taken responsibility for it and learned from it whereas Trump, not sure he's ever admitted he's made a mistake,” he told the Chronicle.
The panelists also criticized Trump’s foreign policy platform. Jentleson labeled it “totally flawed.” Trump’s views on how to handle ISIS and other issues in the Middle East are misguided, Clark said.
“If you do what Donald Trump said, you just stay in there and seize the oil which is a nutty idea,” he said in the interview.
Clark added that he supported Clinton’s platform on how to combat ISIS, and Christman criticized Trump for refusing to guarantee protection for NATO states. Attacking the Muslim family of a slain soldier was a low point in the campaign, Christman said.
“Disparaging a Gold Star family is absolutely outrageous,” he said.
Jentleson noted that a Trump presidency would be extremely dangerous even with checks and balances.
“If he tells the military to torture, he is commander-in-chief, and it would be insubordination subject of court martial for an officer to refuse. If he orders the military to go bomb a country, he has that power as commander-in-chief to do that,” he told The Chronicle.
Jentleson added that “almost every country in the region is afraid” of Trump becoming president.
Veterans' affairs
With regards to veterans' affairs, Vivian Taylor, a first-year Divinity School student, said that although Clark did not have an answer to a question about how Clinton would handle GI bill benefit payments, the panel went well overall.
“I believe they are trying,” Taylor said. “I just want them to be straight-forward and clear and make sure our veterans who completed a full deployment in Iraq or Afghanistan get full GI bill benefits.”
In a different question, Clark noted that Clinton has a “very complete plan” on veterans affairs.
“She’s going to fix the VA or strengthen it, not send it to the private sector,” he said.
All panelists urged those considering stay home on election day to reconsider a Clinton vote. Litt warned Trump voters not to trust his promises.
“He knows how to bring people in and then throw them away,” he said. “People who he convinced to work with him, they are now left out in the cold.”
In terms of foreign policy and personality, Clark concluded that Trump did not have the requisite abilities to be president.
“If you vote for Trump, you're voting for a man who doesn't understand the issues, doesn't respect veterans and doesn't have the ability to work with allies,” he said.
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