Editorial Desk :
Donald Trump wrapped up the official portion of his United Kingdom visit Friday, during which he had falsely denied criticizing his host, met with the Queen and maneuvered around a huge protest against his presence.
Trump ended up denying that he criticised the UK PM May, the day after a British tabloid published an interview with him in which he did just that. He dismissed the interview, conducted by a Rupert Murdoch-owned publication, as “fake news” saying it didn’t include his comments praising May.
Trump said his comments came after he “read some reports” that suggested the United Kingdom
would not be able to make a free trade deal with the US, but he said May and her representatives have since reassured him that will still be possible.
Trump took pains on Friday to praise May and reaffirm his belief in the special relationship between the US and the UK — “the highest grade of special” — during a news conference when questions focused on Trump’s comments a day earlier in which he criticized May’s “soft Brexit” plan and said she didn’t listen to his suggestions on how to exit the European Union.
Still, Trump — despite stomping all over diplomatic protocol by giving a critical interview as he headed to London — did not back away from his comments, reaffirming that he would handle Brexit differently than May and that he believes May’s chief political rival in her own party Boris Johnson “would be a great prime minister.”
In the usual way by which he has repeatedly flip-flopped his statements Trump also said on Friday that he apologized to May for the interview, though it appears his apology was about the paper’s omission of his comments praising her, not his criticism.
Such an ideologically elastic person may be a superb businessman–but to be the commander-in-chief of the free world requires one to have more qualities than the ability of changing one’s mind whenever one wants to. It would have been inconceivable in an earlier generation to have a blimp of Trump looking like an angry baby flying over London–but such is public hatred for Trump in the UK was completely crowdfunded by the UK residents.
Meanwhile Trump blasted his NATO allies for not spending enough on defense, calling them “delinquent” and even suggesting they double their commitments. He repeatedly interrupted NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, at one point making Stoltenberg praise him. He insulted Germany, calling it a captive to Russia because it imports energy from the country.
Trump also threatened to walk alone if European allies didn’t pay more, seeming to suggest he might pull the US out of NATO. He ultimately declared the summit a success in a bizarre impromptu press conference shortly after French President Macron disputes that NATO countries agreed to Trump’s demands. But it was too little, too late. Close US allies were insulted, the stability of the alliance was shaky, and the US commitment to the defense of Europe was uncertain at best. Putin could not have done a better job.
NATO, which stands for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, was formed in 1949 by the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, France, and several other European countries. The goal was to create a powerful military alliance to contain Soviet expansionism after World War II.
While NATO leaders probably wouldn’t say this publicly, the alliance still exists mainly as a way to deter Russian aggression on the European continent. The alliance’s Article 5 provision, which states an attack on one is an attack on all, helps to keep Moscow from invading any of NATO’s 29 members, especially those in Eastern Europe. Indeed, if Putin ordered an invasion of, say, Estonia, then the US would be treaty-bound to come to Tallinn’s aid. Putin, surely, doesn’t want to start a war with America.
So instead of all-out war, Putin has long tried to divide and undermine the NATO alliance. For instance, he has interfered in NATO members elections in favor of pro-Russian candidates. He has threatened NATO’s political and military leads to question allies own security and the commitment to their friends. It’s one thing for the President of Russia to actively undermine a military alliance that basically exists to thwart his ambitions. It’s another thing entirely when the president of the United States does it.
His indecisions, his indecency and his lack of understanding that diplomacy for international relationships is not business deal for monetary gain which has made President Trump most unfit for the US world leadership. To be blunt, he got elected with the Russian help, he is most damagingly following the Russian agenda in international relation. In short he is a disruptor of international order for peace, democracy and human rights built by the USA in close cooperation its Western partners.
Donald Trump wrapped up the official portion of his United Kingdom visit Friday, during which he had falsely denied criticizing his host, met with the Queen and maneuvered around a huge protest against his presence.
Trump ended up denying that he criticised the UK PM May, the day after a British tabloid published an interview with him in which he did just that. He dismissed the interview, conducted by a Rupert Murdoch-owned publication, as “fake news” saying it didn’t include his comments praising May.
Trump said his comments came after he “read some reports” that suggested the United Kingdom
would not be able to make a free trade deal with the US, but he said May and her representatives have since reassured him that will still be possible.
Trump took pains on Friday to praise May and reaffirm his belief in the special relationship between the US and the UK — “the highest grade of special” — during a news conference when questions focused on Trump’s comments a day earlier in which he criticized May’s “soft Brexit” plan and said she didn’t listen to his suggestions on how to exit the European Union.
Still, Trump — despite stomping all over diplomatic protocol by giving a critical interview as he headed to London — did not back away from his comments, reaffirming that he would handle Brexit differently than May and that he believes May’s chief political rival in her own party Boris Johnson “would be a great prime minister.”
In the usual way by which he has repeatedly flip-flopped his statements Trump also said on Friday that he apologized to May for the interview, though it appears his apology was about the paper’s omission of his comments praising her, not his criticism.
Such an ideologically elastic person may be a superb businessman–but to be the commander-in-chief of the free world requires one to have more qualities than the ability of changing one’s mind whenever one wants to. It would have been inconceivable in an earlier generation to have a blimp of Trump looking like an angry baby flying over London–but such is public hatred for Trump in the UK was completely crowdfunded by the UK residents.
Meanwhile Trump blasted his NATO allies for not spending enough on defense, calling them “delinquent” and even suggesting they double their commitments. He repeatedly interrupted NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, at one point making Stoltenberg praise him. He insulted Germany, calling it a captive to Russia because it imports energy from the country.
Trump also threatened to walk alone if European allies didn’t pay more, seeming to suggest he might pull the US out of NATO. He ultimately declared the summit a success in a bizarre impromptu press conference shortly after French President Macron disputes that NATO countries agreed to Trump’s demands. But it was too little, too late. Close US allies were insulted, the stability of the alliance was shaky, and the US commitment to the defense of Europe was uncertain at best. Putin could not have done a better job.
NATO, which stands for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, was formed in 1949 by the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, France, and several other European countries. The goal was to create a powerful military alliance to contain Soviet expansionism after World War II.
While NATO leaders probably wouldn’t say this publicly, the alliance still exists mainly as a way to deter Russian aggression on the European continent. The alliance’s Article 5 provision, which states an attack on one is an attack on all, helps to keep Moscow from invading any of NATO’s 29 members, especially those in Eastern Europe. Indeed, if Putin ordered an invasion of, say, Estonia, then the US would be treaty-bound to come to Tallinn’s aid. Putin, surely, doesn’t want to start a war with America.
So instead of all-out war, Putin has long tried to divide and undermine the NATO alliance. For instance, he has interfered in NATO members elections in favor of pro-Russian candidates. He has threatened NATO’s political and military leads to question allies own security and the commitment to their friends. It’s one thing for the President of Russia to actively undermine a military alliance that basically exists to thwart his ambitions. It’s another thing entirely when the president of the United States does it.
His indecisions, his indecency and his lack of understanding that diplomacy for international relationships is not business deal for monetary gain which has made President Trump most unfit for the US world leadership. To be blunt, he got elected with the Russian help, he is most damagingly following the Russian agenda in international relation. In short he is a disruptor of international order for peace, democracy and human rights built by the USA in close cooperation its Western partners.
