Trump’s New Zealand staff member Chris Liddell says he never supported separating children at the U.S. border

Donald Trump’s adviser in New Zealand, Chris Liddell, rejected reports that he supported the separation of children at the US border, describing it as a “terrible policy.”

In a rare interview, Trump’s deputy chief of staff contradicted reports earlier this year that he was in a meeting to approve the controversial policy and supported it during an informal vote.

“I’ve probably been to a thousand meetings here … We’ve never had a vote by hands.” Liddell told Jack Tame TVNZ Q + A this morning.

“If there had been a meeting like that, if there had been a vote, I certainly would have voted against separating children. I think it was terrible policy.

“And in fact, my office ran a policy process to come up with an executive order that clarified shortly after that separation of minors shouldn’t be part of our policy, so … You know, the damage is done. people report that. I think they reported that they invited me to the meeting, but whatever. “

Liddell, who was born in Matamata, is one of the president’s closest advisers and one of the few officials to survive four years of the Trump Administration. As deputy chief of staff, he coordinates policy at the White House and is helping lead the United States’ response to Covid-19.

In an extensive interview, he admitted that his job for Trump had taken a personal price, but that it was worth it.

“Look, I’ve lost friends by being here, I haven’t lost my soul … This is a moment of polarization. And some people have decided that just because I work here, I’m no longer a person they want to deal with.

He added: “It doesn’t make me feel very good. But again, look, I try to see the big picture. I believe in what I’m doing. I’m proud of what I’ve done here. I’ve had an incredible opportunity, with which I hope. have done something good. “

Liddell said he liked Trump because he was not afraid.

“Would I do the same things as him? No. But I think he’s made demonstrable progress, and I think he represents a core constituency in this country that desperately needs to be represented. And from my point of view, that’s worth it. ” noses and the criticism I receive externally for being here. “

Liddell avoided answering questions about Trump’s divisiveness and controversial decisions, such as failing to condemn white supremacists and challenging the legitimacy of the electoral process.

“Again, we are in this situation that I am working on here and it is not an issue I really want to get to.”

He was also reluctant to discuss the United States’ response to Covid-19, of which he was a key part. There have been more than 245,000 deaths in the US, and in the last day alone there were 170,000 new cases.

Liddell said the issue was becoming politicized and there would be “plenty of time for autopsies” next year. Now he focused on preparing the United States for the next “black swan” event or pandemic, saying that countries that had faced a serious outbreak in the past 10 years had been better prepared to deal with Covid-19.

“Covid has been a wake-up call to the world … that these types of pandemics are real. And to some extent, we are fortunate that COVID is relatively low on the death scale, you know.

“Something bigger and worse may actually be on the horizon … That’s where I spend a lot of my time, not dealing with the politics of who did what.”

Liddell has been nominated by the United States to become the next Secretary General of the OECD. That nomination has been divisive in New Zealand, because the Trump administration has been hostile to multilateral trade and international entities like the World Trade Organization (WTO).

Liddell said he believed in free trade but was not a “free trade ideologue.” He said that free trade was necessary after World War II, but its benefits had not been so obvious in the last 20 or 30 years for the United States.

“In fact, we have lost something like five million manufacturing jobs here. These are the main middle class jobs that I spoke about and that have had a terrible impact on communities, mobility, etc. do it, but it should. be a means to an end, and it has to be part of a cocktail of policies. “

Trump was not against international organizations, but felt that many had lost focus and direction, he said.

“Just going ahead and doing business as usual, business as usual is not the right answer for New Zealand. And you know, the OECD budget is roughly $ 500 million. New Zealand supports a part of that. the simple fact that it can have a discussion forum is not a particularly good use of New Zealand resources or time. “

He also defended the withdrawal of the United States Administration from the Paris Climate Agreement, which sets targets for countries to reduce emissions that cause global warming. He said the deal was about aspirations, but action was more important.

“There is no way that we are on track to meet the commitments, much less the goal. So, I think the problem we have is not aspiration and it is not necessarily, it is the lack of commitment and the lack of internal policies. because, again, the Paris agreement has some benefits, but it has some real weaknesses.

“It’s voluntary. And you actually have to integrate it into national politics. And I see that very few countries are doing that well, including New Zealand, dare I say, if I can be critical of New Zealand.”

“Now New Zealand has a good case. And I think the Zero Carbon Act was really good legislation, but it really has no foundation. It is an aspirational piece of legislation.”

Liddell was born in Matamata and attended Mt Albert Grammar School and the University of Auckland. After working for BECA and Carter Holt Harvey, he moved to the US in 2010 and held senior positions at General Motors (GM) and Microsoft. He began working for Trump in 2017.