Inauguration Day is Monday. President-elect Donald Trump is known as a disrupter, evidenced by his policies in his first administration, like pulling out of the Paris Climate Initiative, tearing up the Iran nuclear deal and much more.
Inauguration Day is Monday. President-elect Donald Trump is known as a disrupter, evidenced by his policies in his first administration, like pulling out of the Paris Climate Initiative, tearing up the Iran nuclear deal and much more.
And as we look at some of his cabinet nominees, it seems more change is on the horizon. So what will that mean for national security?
NBC Connecticut's Mike Hydeck spoke with Congressman Jim Himes, a ranking member on the House Intelligence Committee.
Mike Hydeck: Mr. Himes, welcome back. Do you feel the Israeli-Hamas ceasefire agreement has staying power, and if so, what's our role in the United States when it comes to helping it succeed?
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Jim Himes: Yeah. You know, obviously we're all very hopeful, both that it gets done, and it looks like it will. That allows for the release of the Israeli hostages. They get to go home to their families. Then it allows for, you know, hopefully, a flooding of humanitarian aid into Gaza to alleviate the humanitarian situation for the civilians there. So we all hope so. But, you know, it's always a little dangerous being optimistic about the Middle East. And I do think that the next steps are the hard ones, right? And, you know, the next steps would be to, you know, try to make sure that hostilities don't continue, and then, you know, to rebuild Gaza, and then to think about what the political solution is to, you know, a conflict that has been raging for 75 years. Very, very challenging stuff, but you got to take the first step, and the first step certainly, the return of the hostages will be a pretty magnificent moment, as will relief to the civilian population of Gaza.
Mike Hydeck: Are you heartened or relieved by any stretch, considering the reports are saying that the incoming Trump administration is working well during the transition with the Biden administration, specifically on this deal. They're both taking credit, but they're both saying they worked on it.
Jim Himes: Yeah, no, and I think that's probably true, right? I mean, the Biden administration has been working on this for over a year, and in fact, the deal sort of has the outlines that the president put on the table back in the springtime. And I also do think it took Donald Trump being very clear, and that message being clearly received by the Israeli prime minister that this thing had to be resolved. I mean, you know, candidly, I think the relationship between the Israeli prime minister, Prime Minister Netanyahu and Donald Trump, is stronger than the relationship has historically been with the current president, Joe Biden. So I think it's absolutely appropriate. Look, you know, presidents get to take credit for the stuff that happens and blame for the stuff that happens on their watch. So, you know, there's primarily a Biden victory, but there's no question that I think Donald Trump, and the prospect of Donald Trump assuming office in less than a week, was pretty critical to getting this deal done.
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Mike Hydeck: Now, President Trump, on the campaign trail, boasted he would be able to end the war between Russia and Ukraine. Have you seen any evidence that he's working on that, considering we're supplying so much of the firepower for Ukraine?
Jim Himes: Well, considering that the president won election on a whole series of promises to end the war this weekend, by the way, I'm expecting the Ukraine Russia war to end this weekend. He promised, of course, that inflation would be down to zero and the chicken would be cheap again. I'm waiting for that this weekend. As you can tell, I'm being just a little bit skeptical here. You know, the president-elect made all sorts of promises, and no, I don't think there's any chance at all that there's going to be a resolution to the Ukraine-Russia conflict before he takes office. That's what, three days from now. I actually don't think that this is going to be a conflict that's going to be resolved anytime soon in his new administration. So again, lots to think about. That's, I think, the fact, from a national security standpoint. How you want to evaluate an elected politician going back on the promises they made during the campaign, that, of course, is a decision for the voters of the United States.
Mike Hydeck: So we have an agreement with the UK and Australia when it comes to sharing submarine technology. It's called AUKUS. Do you think that's going to continue?
Jim Himes: I do. I do, and I think it's really important for the state of Connecticut, where, of course, we build those submarines, those Virginia class submarines, that are really a critical part of the AUKUS agreement. Look, the agreement is really important for two reasons. Number one, it is a really good bulwark against the expansion of aggressive power by the Chinese in the Pacific. You know, giving the Australians the nuclear submarines that we build is a huge step in the right direction of making sure that there's a balance of power there. And two, it's going to obviously be amazing for the state of Connecticut as we continue to hire up people to work in Electric Boat for great wages, doing really amazing and patriotic work. So by the way, Secretary of State nominee Marco Rubio in his confirmation hearing, just came out and said he's supportive of the deal, too. So anyway, I think there's some very good news for the country, for the stability in Asia, and in particular for the state of Connecticut around what I think is going to be the new administration's commitment to AUKUS.
Mike Hydeck: Last question before we leave, got about a minute. Speaker Johnson says he wants aid to California for the wildfire recovery there should be tied to raising the debt ceiling. What's your thoughts on that?
Jim Himes: You know, I don't know how. Let me take this in a direction that I don't usually go. I don't know how somebody who is a self avowed Christian, you know, who wears his Christianity on his sleeve, for whom Christianity is so essential, could look at people, thousands of people who have lost their homes, 27 or so people dead, and say, 'no, no, we're not giving you aid unless you give me something in return.' You know, my own reading of the Gospels is that when somebody is naked, you clothe them. When they're hungry, you feed them. So I'm a little perplexed by why Johnson is taking this turn. And look, I hear this all the time. When Connecticut was devastated by Sandy you know, people in the South were like, 'Why should we help the people of Connecticut?' Because the answer to that question is, because it's coming to your neighborhood someday, too, whether it's a hurricane or a tornado or a flood. Let's be decent human beings, doesn't necessarily need to be Christian, although, again, for the speaker who is such an avowed Christian to be taking this tack blows my mind. Let's just be decent about the fact that, you know, an awful lot of people got hurt through no actions of their own. And the government exists to provide aid, not to hold up aid hostage to something like the debt ceiling.
