Subject: Politico: State Dept. spokesman: Trump isn't the only candidate worrying world leaders
From: "Garcia, Walter" <[email-masked]>
To: RR2 <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 22 Apr 2016 07:14:26 -0700

Sent this around over Slack, but wanted to flag here. Def think it'll be useful for when we hit Trump on foreign policy next week

State Dept. spokesman: Trump isn't the only candidate worrying world leaders<http://www.politico.com/blogs/2016-gop-primary-live-updates-and-results/2016/04/are-world-leaders-scared-2016-presidential-elections-222307?cmpid=sf>

The United States government is hearing alarm from around the world about who might replace President Barack Obama in the White House, a top State Department official said Friday. And it's not just about Donald Trump.

"There are scant few foreign leaders that he meets with where the issue doesn't come up in terms of the rhetoric in the campaign. Now, it's not always centered on one or another candidate, to be honest with you," State Department spokesman John Kirby said on MSNBC's "Morning Joe."

Kirby referred to past statements from Secretary of State John Kerry to that effect, pointing out that U.S. officials are hearing "some real concern about the rhetoric, the isolationist sentiments that some are expressing, and almost xenophobic ideas out there."

POLITICO reported<http://www.politico.com/story/2016/04/trump-terrifies-world-leaders-222233> Thursday on world leaders failing to be reassured by Obama on the possibility of Trump being president. The Manhattan real-estate mogul has said he would reassess its relationship with several long-time strategic allies, including the NATO countries, Japan and South Korea.

Ted Cruz has also raised eyebrows abroad with his vows to "make the sand glow" in the Middle East and his comments about Muslim immigrants, though Kirby did not explicitly mention the Texas senator by name.

"This notion that our leadership is neither present nor appreciated around the world is simply false," Kirby said. "People want U.S. leadership. Other leaders want to see us engaged. And the idea that we would somehow step back from that engagement really worries them."

Expressing his message for those concerned leaders, Kirby referred to the current

administration's ongoing outreach, including Obama's trip to Saudi Arabia this week to meet with members of the Gulf Cooperation Council.

"We can't control what's going to happen in the election or who the next commander in chief's going to be, but we sure can control what we're doing right now on the ground and around the world, and our commitment to engagement in so many regions," he said.

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Walter Garcia
Democratic National Committee (DNC)
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@WalterGarcia231<https://twitter.com/WalterGarcia231>
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