Trump shifts on prosecuting Clinton, opposing climate deal, supporting torture

Tuesday was a big day for President-elect Donald Trump and his transition team, beginning with his canceling and then agreeing to an important interview with The New York Times and ending with significant changes of policy on several major issues.

{mosads}While Trump the presidential candidate said he would want a special prosecutor investigating Hillary Clinton for the private server she used as secretary of State — often met by chants from supporters of “lock her up!” — Trump the president-elect now believes it is time to heal the nation and put prosecutorial attacks against Clinton behind us.

Good. It is time for certain Republicans to end their long term vendetta against Clinton. Trump the presidential candidate was wrong and Trump the president-elect is right.

President Obama should issue a full preemptive pardon of Clinton before leaving office, hopefully with support from Trump.

Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) and members of various House Republican committees should end their taxpayer-financed inquisitions against Clinton and address the real business of the nation, following the lead of Trump.

While Trump the presidential candidate suggested that climate change is a hoax and said he would abandon the Paris Accords to combat climate change, Trump the president-elect now says he has an open mind on the matter, leaving the impression that he may well stick with the global climate change agreement.

Good. Climate change is a clear and present danger to the health of the planet, with a widespread consensus of the world’s leading climate experts believing that the problem is extremely serious and that substantial international action is urgently needed.

Again, Trump the presidential candidate was wrong, and Trump the president-elect will be proven right if he supports the Paris Accords and action to combat climate change.

Trump the presidential candidate suggested that he would support the use of waterboarding, and even stronger measures, which was met by a number of leading military figures saying they would not obey any order to commit torture that they believe would be illegal.

On Tuesday, Trump the president-elect said that he was impressed by arguments from retired Marine Corps Gen. Jim Mattis against torture, and that he now believes that torture would not do the good things that its advocates claim it would.

Again, good. Torture is wrong, illegal and ineffective. Mattis took the same position as many military leaders, dating back to George Washington when he was the commander of the Continental Army during the American Revolution.

Trump the presidential candidate was wrong on torture while Mattis, George Washington, human rights advocates and other opponents of torture were right. If the president-elect now agrees with them, that is good.

One of the most important issues to watch going forward will be Trump’s views about Russian dictator Vladimir Putin, which will be largely revealed by his choices for secretary of State and secretary of Defense.

Not long ago, I wrote in The Hill that it would be very positive if Trump chooses former Massachusetts Gov. and 2012 GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney to be his secretary of State.

It would be equally good if he also chooses Mattis to be his secretary of Defense.

If Trump chooses Romney for State and Mattis for Defense, he would be sending a signal to our leading allies around the world and to Putin and the Russian military that while he wants better relations between the United States and Russia, he would take a strong negotiating position and would not support Russian aggression.

We cannot know for certain whether the positions Trump evolved toward this week will be his final positions as president.

But they are definitely far preferable to the positions he advocated during the presidential campaign, and it will be fascinating to watch the right, the left and the alt-right react as events unfold.

Budowsky was an aide to former Sen. Lloyd Bentsen (D-Texas) and former Chief Deputy Majority Whip Bill Alexander (D-Ark.). He holds an LL.M. degree in international financial law from the London School of Economics. Contact him at brentbbi@webtv.net.

The views expressed by contributors are their own and not the views of The Hill.