The Diplomat by Nancy OhanianYesterday, the NY Times reported that Señor Trumpanzee "upended two days of global economic diplomacy late Saturday, refusing to sign a joint statement with America’s allies, threatening to escalate his trade war on the country’s neighbors and deriding Canada’s prime minister as 'very dishonest and weak,' In a remarkable pair of acrimony-laced tweets from aboard Air Force One as he flew away from the Group of 7 summit toward a meeting with North Korea’s leader, Mr. Trump lashed out at Justin Trudeau. He accused the prime minister, who hosted the seven-nation gathering, of making false statements."At the same time, Bloomberg reported that Señor T's comments "undermine the G-7, a bloc that was once a pillar of U.S. foreign policy and has long acted as a defender of the global economic system. It could also cause fresh friction with his northern neighbor as tensions percolate over efforts to redraw the North American Free Trade Agreement." The joint statement Trump refused to sign is the one he had already agreed to, Everyone knows that the fat drug addicted slob in the White House is jealous of the handsome, fit and intelligent Canadian prime minister. Canada's tariffs are about half what the U.S.' are.
Trudeau’s office responded to the tweets with a written statement, saying the prime minister’s comments in public and in private with Trump were “nothing he hasn’t said before” and that he was “focused on everything we accomplished here at the G-7 summit.” Trudeau himself declined to comment during an appearance with Argentina’s president. "Good to see you guys," Trudeau said to journalists asking for reaction. "It’s a beautiful evening, a great weekend."A senior U.K. government official said Theresa May’s government stands by commitments made in the communique, and a similar statement was issued by the German government. “I think they’ll all come down on Trudeau’s side” with the possible exception of Japan’s Shinzo Abe, Kirton said. “This is clearly six versus one.”French President Emmanuel Macron has not responded to Trump’s post-summit tweets.Even before Trump’s shock reversal, Macron bemoaned the lack of G-7 unity, giving a hint that the tensions hadn’t been put to rest. Trump had at one point proposed that G-7 nations eliminate all tariffs, barriers and subsidies.“I heard President Trump say he wants maximum trade and minimum tariffs for G-7 members. Be my guest,” Macron told reporters Saturday. “We need seven to dance that tango, and the next move needs to be made by the one who first took a step backward.”In a tweet later, Macron said Trump’s isolation from the international community is “contrary to American history.”
Butcher's Helper by Nancy OhanianLater in the day he issued a statement: "We spent two days to obtain a text and commitments. We will stand by them and anyone who would depart from them, once their back was turned, shows their incoherence and inconsistency." Why is Trump doing this? Can an one doubt he was repaying a debt to his benefactor in the Kremlin?Yesterday, after the damage was done, Putin said he is ready to meet Trumpanzee "as soon as Washington was ready, adding Vienna could be a possible venue for such a summit."Putin: "As soon as the American side is ready this meeting would take place depending on my working schedule of course. The US president himself repeatedly said that he would consider such a meeting helpful. I can confirm this. It’s true."
Putin asked Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz on a visit to Vienna earlier this week to help organise such a meeting and that Washington was considering it.Under the conservative [neo-fascist, not conservative] Kurz, Austria has strived to act as a mediator between Russia and the West.While the EU-state imposed sanctions on Russia over Crimea along with the rest of the bloc, Austria did not expel Russian diplomats like other Western nations following the March poisoning of a Russian former double agent and his daughter in Britain, an attack London has accused Moscow of being behind.
Trump's Director of National Intelligence former Indiana Republican Senator Dan Coats told the Atlantic Council that Russia "is attempting to influence the midterm elections in the United States in November as well as divide the transatlantic alliance." His statements are sure to flip Trump out and send him into a rage.
Coats said Russia had already undertaken an “unprecedented influence campaign to interfere in the US electoral and political process” in 2016. Russia, Coats pointed out, has also meddled in France, Germany, Norway, Spain, and Ukraine. "It is 2018, and we continue to see Russian targeting of American society in ways that could affect our midterm elections," he said.Coats’ comments are aligned with assessments by the US intelligence community and US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who in his previous role as director of the Central Intelligence Agency warned that he expected Russia to attempt to disrupt the midterm elections....“These Russian actions are purposeful and premeditated and they represent an all-out assault, by Vladimir Putin, on the rule of law, Western ideals and democratic norms,” he said.“[Putin’s] actions demonstrate that he seeks to sow divisions within and between those in the West who adhere to democratic norms,” he added.
Is Congress going to let this slide? Probably. I don't see Ryan and McConnell standing up to Trump on this; do you? Max Boot is a conservative foreign policy expert but does anyone care that he's saying that "This transatlantic rift is a gift to Russia that amply repays Vladimir Putin's investment in helping the Trump campaign." It's the truth but Republicans aren't ready to hear it. John Kasich is leaving office and he said that Trump's pivot "does not protect or defend the national security interests of the United States or our allies." Who care what he says? Independent voters in November? Or is Putin taking care of that, as Coats alleges?
