Human Rights under the Trump Administration

Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson, has said that human rights is just one value that can be traded off in the service of an “America First” approach. President Trump has praised President el-Sisi in the face of ongoing human rights abuses in Egypt, called President Erdogan to congratulate him for seizing additional power in the Turkish referendum, and invited President Duterte to the White House notwithstanding the thousands killed under the cover of Duterte’s anti-drug campaign. Yesterday I spoke with WPR about what this means for human rights. Of course the U.S. record on human rights is far from unimpeachable. But when the U.S. signals that human rights is not a priority, authoritarian leaders understand they have more leeway. You can listen here.