Observer-in-Chief (September 18, 2025)

Welcome to Home & Away. This week’s edition is arriving a day early and a page shorter than usual, as I am about to board a plane for Paris. Also, John Ellis and I just released the third episode of our still new podcast, “Alternate Shots,” and some of what I would have written here I said there.

The Passive POTUS

When thinking about Trump 2.0, it is hard not to be struck by how assertive and omnipresent the president tends to be. Shutting down the southern border. Deploying the National Guard. Imposing global tariffs. Going after law firms, universities, foundations, media organizations, and individuals. Issuing executive orders at a record-breaking clip. Putting enormous pressure on the Federal Reserve. Paving over the Rose Garden and building a new ballroom. Posting at all hours of the night (on quite literally every imaginable subject, from Charlie Kirk to Jimmy Kimmel to Cracker Barrel’s rebranding to the NFL’s new kickoff rule) on Truth Social.

When it comes to foreign policy, though, the contrast could hardly be greater. “Passive” is the word that comes to mind. Exhibit number one is refusing to confront Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu over just about anything, from what has become an increasingly costly war of choice in Gaza to Israel’s ill-advised attack on Hamas leaders in Qatar to Israel’s expansion of settlements in the West Bank. President Trump fancies himself a peacemaker, but what he is tolerating jeopardizes what little possibility is left of creating a Palestinian state as well as expanding the Abraham Accords, a signature accomplishment of his first term. Secretary of State Rubio expressed the view that it may be impossible to end the war in Gaza, neglecting to point out that a principal reason the war is likely to continue is the absence of a serious, sustained U.S. diplomatic effort to bring it to an end.

Exhibit two of course is Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine. The president seems to have lost interest in negotiating an end to a war he boasted he could halt in 24 hours, and he keeps setting obstacles to imposing sanctions on Russia. He reacted to Russia’s dispatch of drones over Poland by posting, “What’s with Russia violating Poland’s airspace with drones?” rather than by standing alongside a NATO ally and denouncing Putin’s provocation.

One can speculate as to what lies behind Trump’s reluctance to take on either Netanyahu or Putin, but what is clear is that the costs of this reticence are great and growing. For starters, NATO and stability in Europe are weaker for it. So is stability in Asia, as China is surely drawing lessons from America’s refusal to stand by its European friends. Meanwhile, Israel is well on its way to becoming an international pariah and a potential target of sanctions. Washington’s standing in the Middle East and in Europe is falling as well. In foreign policy, as in life, what you don’t do can be every bit as consequential as what you choose to do, and acting as a bystander to history rather than attempting to shape it in constructive ways risks becoming a central feature of Donald Trump’s foreign policy legacy.

A Point of Clarification

I also want to include a clarification from last week’s Home & Away, Democracy at Risk. Several readers reached out to me asking why I questioned the desirability of demanding that voters provide proof of citizenship in order to vote. So, let me explain.

It is all about principle versus practice. Of course, only citizens should be able to vote in our elections. But the requirements for proving citizenship could be (and in some instances, have been) sufficiently onerous as to deny many citizens their right to vote. How? By demanding a passport or a certificate of citizenship. It sounds reasonable, but approximately half of adult Americans don’t have a passport. Many don’t have other forms of proof of citizenship, and what people tend to have, such as driver’s licenses or social security cards, are available to non-citizens. It takes money and time to get a passport, and the government is not in a position to issue millions of them any time soon.

Just as important, it is useful to keep in mind that voter fraud – the notion that the integrity of American elections is being undermined by millions of illegal voters – is simply a myth. There is no supporting evidence for what Trump loyalists are claiming. All of which is to say proof of citizenship requirements, unless readily available to those who qualify, could well be a cure far worse than the alleged disease it is meant to cure.

From Sea to Shining Sea

I also want to bring to your attention something I am involved with, namely, Sing Democracy 250. The goal is to use music to spread the word throughout this country about the importance and value of American democracy, as well as the rights and obligations of citizenship in the run-up to July 4, 2026.

The organizers of the movement have commissioned two original scores, one by Brandon A. Boyd, the other by Michael Bussewitz-Quarm. Each runs on the order of thirty minutes. The first, “Redeem the Dream,” is based on Langston Hughes’ poem “Let America Be America Again,” written in 1935. The other, “US,” is based on (you guessed it) The Bill of Obligations: The Ten Habits of Good Citizens.

The work premieres in Philadelphia less than a month from now, on October 12, with most of the concerts to be held between March 1 and December 31, 2026. So far what is being called the “All America Program” has commitments from 150 choirs for 80 performances across 34 states and the District of Columbia. The goal is to have it performed by choirs in all fifty states. It isn’t quite Hamilton, but it is something good and exciting.

Happy New Year

Last but far from least, Jews celebrate the start of their new year beginning sundown this Monday. Rosh Hashanah begins the High Holy Days, the ten Days of Awe, that conclude with Yom Kippur. It is always a time for reflection, and I expect this year the personal reflection will be comingled with thought about Israel and events in Gaza, anti-Semitism, and developments in this country. May it be a good and healthy and more peaceful year for one and all. And don’t forget to start dating your checks 5786.

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Richard Haass in the news

Tuesday, September 16: Alternate Shots Episode Three.

Wednesday, September 17: Squawk Box on U.S.-China Economic Relations.

Wednesday, September 17: MSNBC on Trump’s Second State Visit.