A POT-POURRI OF THE DISASTERS OCCURRING IN WASHINGTON

The longer he’s there, the more ridiculous it becomes……

 

“And the hits just keep on coming!”

In a recent impromptu press conference, Trump lied about his predecessor as he also continued to bring up an on-going issue of American’s freedom of speech.  That being the right for NFL players to  demonstrate by kneeling during the national anthem.

 

The Trump lie was when he said that President Obama did not call the families of those military individuals that were killed fighting to protect America.  Obama’s team has immediately responded that Trump lied.  No, they have stopped saying that what Trump said was wrong.  Everyone today has seemed to have now decided to call it as it is:  “It was a bare-faced lie.”  When challenged, Trump just lied again and said that “He was told Obama didn’t call the families,” but when pressed, he could not remember who told him that…..YEAH RIGHT!

Trump’s way of communicating hasn’t changed, as in one paragraph of his statements about his political successes to date, Trump used the word “I”, 18 times, and of course, nothing that had gone wrong was his fault, only other people’s .

 

But the big issues as I see it is today under Trump, is the poor relationships between the US and our long-time allies.

 

What is happening today is a widening chasm of mutual disdain between the leader of the United States and its traditional friends in Europe and elsewhere. Trump sees these so called “friends” as self-interested freeloaders who must continuously be reminded of our major US power.  But in turn, these same “friends” see Trump as a lying, erratic force who everyday squanders American leadership.

Republican and Democratic lawmakers were largely split in their reactions to Trump’s announcement that he would terminate the Iran nuclear deal.  Of course, that’s if Congress doesn’t come up with a way to rewrite it to his liking. Many Republicans proceeded to congratulate the president and agreed it was time to get tough against Iran.  While many Democrats criticized Trump for what Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.) said was “clearly a political decision” only made to please his base voters “and definitely not a strategic one.” 

 

Well that makes total sense to anyone that knows this president as Trump only reacts on an immediate “gut level”.  That's because he’s not smart enough to have the concept of being strategic.  Basically, there isn’t a strategic bone anywhere in Trump’s body.

When Trump invited Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China to join him in holding Iran’s feet to the fire, Russia and China said there was nothing to talk about. The Europeans, in a joint statement, said they were eager to discuss their shared complaints about Iran, i.e.: its ballistic missile program and support for terrorism.  But they also said that there could be no changes in the nuclear part of the deal, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA.

 

Just before President Trump announced that he would decertify the Iran nuclear deal, French President Emmanuel Macron called his counterpart in Tehran to offer reassurance.  Macron’s office said in a statement: “No matter what Trump said, Macron told Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, Europe would continue to back the agreement.”

 

Yet instead of leading, Trump’s “my way or the highway” approach has been a detour from the multi-lateral road that the United States has traveled since going back to World War II. And as Trump has left behind, or has threatened to, cancel the premier international agreements of this century, from the Paris climate accord to global trade alliances and now the Iran nuclear deal, he has not had many willing followers.

 

As expected, the exceptions to this  approach are the governments in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.  They joined Israel in praising what Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called Trump’s “courageous” decision on Iran.

 

I have to say I agreed that the Iran deal was not as wide as it should have been, but it’s not the time to throw the baby out with the bath water via a temper tantrum by our immature US president.

 

Donald Trump continues to show the world that he is a walking contradiction.  Even those who call Trump their leader, sometimes are not felt bound by his bizarre demands.

 

Early in his administration, Trump gently chastised Israel for its West Bank settlements, saying that they “don’t help the process” and were not “a good thing for peace.” But he has remained silent, as Netanyahu’s government has approved additional West Bank settlements, leading some perplexed news commentators to speculate on whether Trump made a “secret” deal with Netanyahu.  Based on Trump’s history, that “deal” would not be out of the realm of real possibilities.

 

But once again, Trump has again taken credit for something he had absolutely nothing to do with.

 

The case in point was when the heads of dozens of Muslim-majority countries gathered in Riyadh to meet amongst themselves, and to listen to a visiting US presidential speech about a unified fight against terrorism.  Trump then went on to claim credit for the unity agreement on counterterrorism cooperation he signed with the other six members of the Gulf Cooperation Council.  This was an agreement that was being worked on for months between the Muslim countries.  This was well before Trump was even elected as US president.

In another area, last month in Turkey, Trump stated that bilateral ties under his administration were “better than ever,” relations .  But today, that relationship now seems to be at a modern all-time low, with tit-for-tat suspension of visa issuance earlier this month.

 

In addition, rather than “galvanizing” respect and unity, Trump continues to engenders resentment and division.

 

In other areas such as NATO, the membership had agreed back in 2014 to increase their domestic defense spending.  And it’s true that Trump’s exhortations and threats to diminish the US presence in NATO has in fact, spurred some countries to speed up that process.  Unfortunately, Trump’s subsequent chest-beating and taking credit for every positive NATO action has left many NATO nations irritated and bitter.

 

The  point with all this is that lord knows what the world will think about America after Trump is done trashing the greatest nation on the globe.

 

Let’s hope the special investigator, Robert Bob Mueller III will be able to rid this nation of this developing cancer called Donald J. Trump.

 

Copyright G.Ater  2017