[alaties]

I think ineffectual is wrong here, re: Trump. By State Department metrics alone, we pay more now for less people and less passports processed than before Trump took office. Anecdotally, we tend to have less State department representation at trade and industry conferences around the world. It's not very clear to my why we're spending more on the State department under Trump than any year under Obama if we're doing less with it...

You can compare the financial reports on their website: https://www.state.gov/plans-performance-budget/agency-financ... and https://2009-2017.state.gov/s/d/rm/rls/perfrpt/index.htm