The Trump Regime’s Qatar Position Just Became Even More Incoherent

Does Trump know that we have over 10,000 troops stationed in Qatar? Does he understand how strategically important our position there is? Did he know before pointing a finger at Qatar? Does he know now? Did someone tell him?

I have no idea what the answer to any of those questions is. A statement released by Secretary of State Rex Tillerson this afternoon calling on Arab nations to end their blockade of Qatar may give you the impression that word has reached Trump's desk that our position in Qatar is very important, but that's apparently not the case.

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson called on a Saudi Arabia-led coalition to ease its blockade of Qatar, saying that the cutoff is hindering the fight against Islamic State and provoking food shortages. [...]

Tillerson said the blockade had led to food shortages and forced families to uproot themselves and pull their children from school.

“We believe there are unintended consequences, especially during this holy month of Ramadan but they can be addressed immediately,” Tillerson said.

That's all well and good and it's more or less what I would expect the American State Department to say, but there's a problem.

The problem is Trump is still Trump. Trump spoke at a press conference with the president of Romania where he contradicted the position of the State Department.

That's a good question. What is the point of Rex Tillerson saying anything about anything?

I've asked the same question many times and I don't have a good answer. I can't really think of any reason why we have a secretary of state under Trump.

Even if the secretary of state believes himself to be carrying out Trump's bidding, Trump may reverse (forget?) his own position within minutes. To what extent does Trump even have positions? How can you even serve Trump if you have no fucking idea what he really believes or wants?