THE FALLOUT
One month after sabotaging the G7 meeting with his refusal to endorse the Joint Statement that was released (with which he originally agreed), President Trump met with NATO allies last week and, subsequently, British Prime Minister May, and criticized all of those world leaders in one way or another (he also rudely kept 92-year old Queen Elizabeth waiting in the heat for her meeting with him), he then met with Russian President Putin, long considered a foe of the U.S., and publicly failed to hold him accountable for meddling in the 2016 election. Instead he praised him at a press conference immediately following their meeting yesterday...as illustrated in the following video.
Furthermore, he played a victim (in front of his adversary) with his denials and accusations surrounding his election, which made him appear as a weak and pathetic whiner...rather than as a commander-in-chief of the most powerful country in the world. Hillary Clinton continues to play a victim, but she lost her presidential bid...Trump did not, but acts as though he did.
Even long-time Trump ally, former Republican Speaker of the House, Newt Gingrich, was critical of his performance...
For an interesting take on that press conference, check out this article by former Chief Assistant U.S. Attorney, Andrew McCarthy.
President Trump's damage-control statement that he made today failed to believably rectify his many blunders, nor did it assuage the gravity of his entire fawning posture on full display towards Mr. Putin at this press conference. Today's explanation (where he changed one word, "would" to "wouldn't"), unequivocally, did not fit the context in which his original statement was delivered (it's clear from his statements made just prior to and after the word, "would," that what he originally said at the press conference was what he did, in fact, intend to say)...nor did it excuse the entirety of his self-damaging remarks he made yesterday.
By the way, was the Queen's choice of brooches that she wore for her meeting with the President meant to convey a subtle message? I guess we'll never know...
THE POLITICAL MIX
- Add Mr. Trump's seemingly juxtaposed erratic behaviour toward U.S. allies versus its long-time Russian foe to his over-the-top praises of NOKO Kim Jong Un following their summit in June and I'm left wondering who is running the country in the best interests of Americans. No doubt his allies are also wondering if he can be trusted with sharing intelligence information, etc., and whether he can be trusted to help in times of threats to their safety. Add all of that onto President Trump's trade war that he's initiated with many of the leaders of America's allies, and I'm wondering who's in charge of the Republican party.
- And, with the increasing far-left rhetoric of Democratic Congress/Senate men/women, such as Waters and Pelosi, who's running the Democrat party in anything but a nonsensical manner?
- Finally, with the purported damaging bias and animus against Trump of some of the top FBI, DOJ, CIA, State Department, etc. officials under the Obama administration, I'm wondering who's running those departments in an effective manner? The following two tweets by former President Obama's CIA and FBI Directors are a couple of recent examples that illustrate that animus.
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| Read full article: The Hill |
ADD A DASH OF TRADE WAR THREATS
Reuters reports that Fed Chairman, Jerome Powell, in his testimony before the Senate and House committees this week, mentioned that "rising world protectionism would, over time, pose a risk to a U.S. and global expansion that appears largely on track to continue."
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| Source: Reuters |
CONCLUSIONS
The U.S. seems to be in an utter mess, with a lack of (long-term) American-driven interest above that of (short-term) ego-driven and political-driven leadership and outright contempt/animus on full display in the White House, Republican, Democrat and Intelligence/Justice agency domains...and, with a lack of transparent accountability to anyone, especially the American people.
Exactly how this will eventually affect U.S. and global markets remains to be seen.
And, guess who's benefiting from all of this self-inflicted weakness and divisiveness...
Yes, President Trump...get a grip...the ball is, indeed, in your court...BUT...that doesn't absolve the Republicans, Democrats and DOJ/FBI departments from carrying out their due diligence to fulfil their respective sworn duties and oaths of office as they continue their work on behalf of the country.
* UPDATE July 20...
FROM THE FRYING PAN AND INTO THE FIRE
As if "Round One" wasn't bad enough, brace yourselves for "Round Two"...coming to the White House this Fall...and, still no one, including the President's own Director of National Intelligence, Dan Coats, knows what was agreed to between Trump and Putin at their private two-hour meeting segment of their Helsinki summit, nor was he aware of this invitation until this White House Press tweet was read to him on air immediately after it was released, as he was being interviewed at the Aspen Security Forum...what a fiasco!
* UPDATE July 21...
RIGHT HAND...LEFT HAND: NE'ER THE TWAIN SHALL MEET
Mixed messages from the Trump administration...
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| Source: Washington Examiner |
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| Twitter link to video |
What are people supposed to believe? What is the overall policy towards Russia? No one knows!
However, perhaps this Tweet best portrays Trump's true feelings towards Russia versus Americans...(by the way, he has failed to describe how was it a success and for whom...there's been no readout of, either his private meeting with Putin, or the meeting that followed, which included members of both administrations)...
As Director Coats recently said about ongoing Russian cyber attacks, "...the warning lights are blinking red again...Russia is the worst offender."
And, just when you thought it couldn't get any more chaotic...another one of Trump's picks, Fed Chair Jerome Powell, gets thrown under the bus...
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| Source: Bloomberg Politics |
This certainly appears to be a sloppy way to run a Presidency that may backfire, especially in the upcoming midterm Congressional election in November.
Republicans take note!