Under Trump, the US has unleashed its own wolf warriors

A suspected CIA-funded publication in Asia recently asked where all the Chinese wolf warriors have gone. It was referring to those supposedly rude envoys who harangued the governments of their host countries and foreign ministry spokespeople who confronted foreign reporters at news conferences.Well, Beijing reined them in long ago. But US President Donald Trump has unleashed his own. Open hostility towards host countries and their peoples seems to be a job requirement in Washington for a US ambassador, as well as not having any diplomatic experience.February was a very good or very bad month – depending on your political stance – for the US’ new breed of wolf warriors.Charles Kushner is the perfect example. The US ambassador to France was cut off from contact with the country’s officials for a while after he failed to show up when summoned over the US State Department’s comments about the death of a 23-year-old far-right activist in Lyon.The French foreign ministry blasted Kushner for his “apparent misunderstanding of the basic expectations of an ambassador who has the honour of representing his country” and announced that he would “no longer be allowed direct access to members of the French government”.It’s not the first time he has refused to attend a summons. In August last year, he snubbed the ministry by sending someone else in his place for a dressing-down after he wrote an op-ed in The Wall Street Journal blasting French President Emmanuel Macron for failing to curb antisemitism in his country. That was a particularly tense time as Macron was pushing Britain, Canada and Australia to formally recognise the Palestinian state at the United Nations during Israel’s genocidal war in Gaza.Protesters hold a portrait of far-right activist Quentin Deranque during a march in Lyon, France, on February 21. Photo: AFP