In an interview, Rhodes said he took solace that Trump, who put new limits on commercial transactions and U.S. citizens’ travel to the island nation, had not ended diplomatic relations.
But “personally, part of what makes it difficult [to accept] is that we were six years into the administration and spent a year and a half of exhaustive negotiations before announcing” the Cuba opening, said Rhodes, who coincidentally spoke at a Cuban entrepreneurship event in Miami on Monday. “They seemed to do this in such a slipshod way. Years of work and painstaking negotiations are countered by what feels like very minimal work and thought.”
Rhodes isn’t the only Obama administration veteran who seems to be experiencing personal pain as Trump strips away portions of the 44th president’s legacy — on immigration, trade, the environment and, perhaps, health care. Ensconced in think tanks in Washington and New York, or in the private sector on both coasts, the Obama alumni network has become a diaspora of the disappointed as Trump tries to make good on his promises to upend much of what they had worked to accomplish.
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