Sec. John Kerry Says Donald Trump Did Not Contact State Dept. Before Making Calls to World Leaders

Donald Trump has been on a dangerous, bumbling tour of calls and visits with world leaders—and he hasn’t even taken office yet. From praising Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte’s vicious anti-drug campaign, which the Los Angeles Times has described as a “bloodbath that has killed 5,000 people” to going on an unprovoked, unnecessary and downright dangerous Twitter rant against trade deals with China and their controversial military bases in the South China Sea.

As if that weren’t a rocky enough start to the Trump era, Secretary of State John Kerry confirmed Trump and his team did not seek consult with the State Department:

Secretary of State John Kerry said Sunday he’s trying to stay “a thousand miles away from the (Donald) Trump transition process” while acknowledging neither the President-elect nor his transition team have consulted with the State Department prior to Trump’s calls with foreign leaders.

President Obama and other presidents read State Department reports and take advice from career State Department employees, people who are experts in these matters, before taking any calls or meetings, many of which determine global safety and economic security. But not Donald Trump:

“We have not been contacted before any of these conversations. We have not been requested to provide talking points,” Kerry said at the Saban Forum in Washington.

“I do think there’s a value, obviously, on having at least the recommendations, whether you choose to follow them or not is a different issue, but I think it’s valuable to ask people who’ve worked the desk and have worked it for a long period of time their input on what’s the current state, is there some particular issue at the moment. I think that’s valuable and I would certainly recommend it, but obviously that hasn’t happened in a few cases.”