Pence is Trump's global translator, spinning his pronouncements to soothe allies

SANTIAGO, Chile - Throughout his tour of Latin America, Vice President Mike Pence has cast himself to his hosts as a dutiful, even earnest messenger for President Donald Trump.

But in visits this week to Colombia, Argentina and Chile, Pence has acted more like Trump's translator.

Again and again, the vice president's statements have sounded somewhat discordant from the ones his boss has been delivering back home in the United States. More than delivering Trump's messages, Pence is repackaging them with a decidedly sober and diplomatic spin.

Peter Wehner, an adviser in President George W. Bush's White House, said Pence is traveling around the world like "the butler who cleans up the spilled milk and rug stains."

Keenly aware of how much Trump demands loyalty, Pence has been careful not to allow any substantive daylight between their positions, even though their rhetoric diverges.

After Trump alarmed leaders across the hemisphere by threatening military action in Venezuela, whose authoritarian government has plunged the nation into political crisis and economic collapse, Pence labored to all but erase the specter of U.S. intervention. Although the president reserves "many options," Pence said, he of course wants to restore democracy in Venezuela through "a peaceable solution," such as diplomacy and targeted economic sanctions. "What the world heard last week in the voice of President Donald Trump was resolve and determination," he said.

Trump has enforced strict migration policies, banning refugees from Syria and other majority-Muslim countries from entering the United States.

Yet when Pence stopped by a church in Cartagena, Colombia, to meet with a few dozen people who had fled neighboring Venezuela, the vice president said that Trump "sent me here with a message of compassion." He pointed out the United States' "long and storied history of generosity with regard to refugee populations."

Trump has framed his presidency around two words - "America first" - a slogan that has led U.S. allies to conclude that the United States was ceding its leadership position around the world.

But Pence has sought to assure allies, as he put it in remarks Wednesday alongside Chile's president here in Santiago, that "America first does not mean America alone."

And on trade, Trump routinely rails against agreements that he believes harm U.S. workers. "Bad deals," he thunders, or "stupid trade." But consider Pence's choice of words in a Tuesday speech to business and political elites in Buenos Aires: "As President Trump often says, every deal can be improved."

Then there is the case of Charlottesville, Virginia. Pence opened his trip in Cartagena on Sunday, the day after a spate of violence in Virginia. At his joint news conference with Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos, Pence was asked about the sharp criticism of Trump for not directly condemning white supremacists.

He defended Trump.

"President Trump clearly and unambiguously condemned the bigotry, violence and hatred which took place on the streets of Charlottesville," Pence said. Then, using far tougher language than Trump had, Pence added: "We have no tolerance for hate and violence, from white supremacists, neo-Nazis or the KKK. These dangerous fringe groups have no place in American public life."

On Wednesday, Pence aides said he was cutting short his Latin America trip by one day after a quick stop in Panama City and would return to Washington for a strategy meeting Friday at Camp David with Trump and the national security team.

In the 14 months since Trump tapped him to be his running mate, Pence has regularly explained and excused Trump's comments and actions - to fellow Republican elected officials and to the national media, as well as to world leaders.

"Vice President Pence's role has developed into him becoming the administration's top Trump translator - calmly communicating and reinforcing Trumpology to the GOP economic and social base, members of Congress and the business community," said Scott Reed, a fixture of the Republican establishment and the chief strategist at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

Wehner, now a senior fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center, said he could not think of an analogous time in American history when a vice president has so deliberately sought to explain the president around the world.

"The fact that he has to do so is a commentary on the sad state of affairs we're in," Wehner said. Arguing that the president has "a disordered mind," he added, "Trump will say what he wants, and any effort by Pence to interpret Trump's comments will come off as an exercise in futility. It will be like trying to piece together a shattered mirror."

Some Republican strategists see clear benefits for the country in Pence's adopted role. "Credit goes to Trump for extending authority, autonomy and an all-inclusive portfolio to his vice president, and credit goes to the vice president for always, to quote Vice President Cheney, 'salute smartly,' " said Mary Matalin, a former adviser to Richard B. Cheney.

GOP strategist Alex Conant, who advised the presidential campaign of Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., said Pence is "an invaluable asset for President Trump."

"While Trump is inconsistent and unfocused, Pence's presence is reassuring to allies on [Capitol] Hill and overseas," Conant said. "The more Trump listens to Pence, the better it will be for his presidency."

During a visit Tuesday to Quinta de Olivos, the presidential compound outside of Buenos Aires, Pence was asked by a journalist whether each time Trump "steps on his own message," such as with his threat of military action in Venezuela, it results in the vice president having "work to do" overseas.

For a moment, Pence appeared taken aback by the question. But after collecting his thoughts, the vice president answered by heaping praise on Trump, saying, "We have an American president who says what he means and means what he says."

"President Trump, in a very real sense, I believe, has brought the kind of broad-shouldered leadership to the world stage that has been lacking for too long, and the world welcomes it," Pence said. "And it's my great honor to be able to represent him around the world."

Previously:

• 06/19/17: Watch out Middle East, here comes Jared!
• 04/26/17: An unambiguous pledge from Trump
• 03/01/17: In speech to Congress, Trump aims to steady presidency after tumultuous start
• 02/13/17: As Flynn falls under growing pressure over Russia contacts, Trump remains silent
• 02/06/17: Team Trump finally organizes as prez heads to long weekend at Mar-a-Lago
• 11/17/16: Trump chooses unusual setup; Will govern by seeking counsel from concentric spheres of influence
• 08/15/16: Millennial voters see 2016 as bad joke
• 07/19/16: Trump's campaign is a resurrection - and second chance - for Dole alumni
• 06/14/16: Trump expands proposed ban on Muslim, Mideast immigrants
• 06/06/16: How Bernie Sanders missed his chance to beat Hillary Clinton
• 05/16/16: Inside the GOP effort to draft an independent candidate to derail Trump
• 05/05/16: As Trump takes the GOP's reins
• 04/18/16: While the GOP worries about convention chaos, Trump pushes for 'showbiz' feel
• 04/11/16: These 200 people could decide whether Donald Trump gets the GOP nomination
• 03/23/16: Trump's wide-ranging stands defy much of GOP's doctrine
• 03/22/16:Trump questions U.S. role in the world
• 03/08/16: Seeing Trump as vulnerable, GOP elites -- at goverrnors' retreat -- plot slow-bleed strategy
• 03/02/16: Jerry Falwell Jr.'s Trump endorsement draws objections from his late father's confidant
• 02/29/16: Why Rubio will soon start cheering on Trump
• 02/24/16: Nevada caucuses are Trump's to lose --- and he still could
• 02/08/16: Debate seems to halt momentum of 'Rubio bot'
• 02/03/16: In New Hampshire, GOP governors take aim at a resurgent Marco Rubio
• 02/02/16: The inside story of how Ted Cruz won Iowa
• 01/28/16: Trump's boycott of debate: Big mistake or crafty move?