When it comes to committing American troops abroad, Donald Trump adheres to the Pottery Barn rule: You break it, you own it. The rule, according to Bob Woodward, was invoked in 2002 by Secretary of State Colin Powell to warn George W. Bush about the consequences of invading Iraq.
“You are going to be the proud owner of 25 million people,” Mr. Powell told the president. “You will own all their hopes, aspirations and problems. You’ll own it all.”
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Because President Trump believes such concerns aren’t America’s business, he has been reluctant to involve U.S. troops abroad. So it’s surprising that he now appears eager to intervene in the mostly Democratic-run American cities that have been wracked by chaos, shootings and destruction in the weeks since George Floyd’s death at the hands of Minneapolis police.
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“Take back your city now. If you don’t do it, I will,” the president tweeted about Seattle back in June. The other day he likened cities plagued by unrest to “war zones,” and promised that Attorney General William Barr would be announcing something this week. The danger is that, even with clear legal justification, if he sends federal officers to do a job local law enforcement should be doing, and does it against the wishes of local mayors and governors, under the Pottery Barn rule he will quickly be blamed for problems he did not create even as he relieves those who did create them of any responsibility.
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