Madeleine Albright is concerned Pres. Trump may be unprepared for his Asia trip by an understaffed State Department https://t.co/IZU1lFDavJ
— New Day (@NewDay) October 19, 2017
Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright on Thursday expressed concern over President Trump’s upcoming trip to Asia, saying there’s been a lack of preparation.
“Also there’s really not the support in the State Department. I’ve just been looking at the fact that most of the people in the bureaus that deal with those countries have not been named. We don’t have ambassadors in a lot of the places,” Albright told CNN’s “New Day.”
Trump is scheduled to travel early next month to China, Vietnam, Japan, the Philippines and South Korea in a 12-day trip.
{mosads}Trump has yet to nominate a U.S. ambassador to South Korea, despite ongoing tensions with North Korea over its nuclear and ballistic missile programs.
Albright, who helmed the State Department under former President Bill Clinton, questioned “the support system” surrounding Trump’s trip.
“So the bottom line is there are an awful lot of issues going on and a lot of discussion to be had. And so my concern is, basically, what is the support system for this?” she continued.
“Where has the president gotten his briefings? What is he going to say? What are the people that are in these discussions — what are they going to ask him? How is he going to respond?”
Albright said she still thinks Trump should take the trip but noted these types of tours “take a lot of work.
One of the most anticipated parts of the trip will be the scheduled meeting with Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, who has been criticized for his violent drug crackdown but been praised by Trump.