Georgian Dream leader warns against putting 'too much hope' on Trump
Georgian Dream’s Executive Secretary, Mamuka Mdinaradze, today urged Georgians to avoid what he described as extremes of hopelessness or placing excessive hopes on the incoming presidency of US President-elect Donald Trump.
It was arguably the first notable shift in tone from Georgian Dream, which has previously been reliant, at least rhetorically, on the prospect of Trump indirectly or directly aiding the party retain power.
‘We should neither be hopeless nor place excessive hopes on the period following 20 January', Mdinaradze warned.
Mdinaradze noted that Trump’s main two promises were 'ending the war' in Ukraine and to 'defeat the deep state'.
'The positioning of our country after 20 January will depend on how well Mr. Donald Trump is able to fulfil his promises. First, whether he can influence the end of the war, and second, how he will defeat the informal influences within the US bureaucracy, which naturally works in our favour. If he can fully eradicate and defeat them, the pressure on us in any direction will be lifted. However, if unfortunately, he fails to do so, then this turbulence will continue', Mdinaradze noted.
On 1 December, in response to the US suspending the US-Georgia Strategic Partnership a day earlier, Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze dismissed the move as a ‘temporary’ decision made by Biden’s outgoing administration, adding that 'everything will be the way Trump decides [...] For us, the most important thing is our relationship with Donald Trump’.