Rob Russo

We don't know.

We suspect.

Look, if you, what's, you know, often, who said it?

I can't remember who said it, but somebody said that an ambassador is an honest man sent abroad to lie for his country.

That is not the case when it comes to Pete Hoekstra.

We are getting unfiltered Trump.

And is that a pleasant thing to hear?

It isn't.

It isn't always a pleasant thing to hear.

Is it a helpful thing to hear?

I think in many ways it is.

We know where we stand.

There are no pleasantries.

There's none of the piffle diplomatic baffle gab that usually surrounds ambassadors.

You know...

Conversations between governments and ambassadors, particularly those from the United States and other countries where we have serious relationships, are often quite brutal.

We just don't see it because they're hidden behind the bow ties and ascots of diplomatic niceties.

And we're not getting that in the case of Pete Hoekstra.

I actually think that that's not a bad thing.

I think that that's probably a good thing because we need, at times, a bracing slap in the face to realize how serious the threat is to us and what that threat constitutes.