Best Defense
Thomas E. Ricks' daily take on national security.

Is Trump the U.S. version of Khrushchev?

Some striking similarities

Nikita Krushchev (Wikimedia Commons) President Donald J. Trump (DOD photo by U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Jette Carr)
Nikita Krushchev (Wikimedia Commons) President Donald J. Trump (DOD photo by U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Jette Carr)
Nikita Krushchev (Wikimedia Commons) President Donald J. Trump (DOD photo by U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Jette Carr)

That thought occurred to me after watching Trump’s appearance at the U.N. last month, which reminded me of the blustery Russian leader, who once told Western officials, “we will bury you.”

That thought occurred to me after watching Trump’s appearance at the U.N. last month, which reminded me of the blustery Russian leader, who once told Western officials, “we will bury you.”

By coincidence, the next day I happened to read this, in a new history of global Communism:

In July 1964, he [Nikita Khrushchev] authorized his son-in-law Alexi Adzhubei, to represents him in negotiations with the West German government. It was bad enough, in the Presidium’s view, that Adzhuebi had little experience in foreign affairs…. It was worse that Khrushchev showed he had no compunction about putting familial connections over his country’s interests.

Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons and U.S. Department of Defense photo by U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Jette Carr

Thomas E. Ricks covered the U.S. military from 1991 to 2008 for the Wall Street Journal and then the Washington Post. He can be reached at ricksblogcomment@gmail.com. Twitter: @tomricks1

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