The American President left the G-7 meeting early due to a pressing appointment: he has a summit with Kim Jong Un which may result in denuclearization of North Korea. Thankfully, despite the concerns of some at the beginning of the G-7 meeting, he left with a great relationship in place regarding our allies.
We know this because we were told by the President himself. From The Hill:
After the reporter asked Trump a question about tensions between him and other leaders at the G-7 summit, the president asked what network he was from.
“Who are you with out of curiosity?” Trump asked the reporter, who replied that he was from CNN.
“I figured,” Trump said. “Fake News CNN. The worst.”
“I would say that the level of the relationship is a 10. We have a great relationship — Angela [Merkel] and Emmanuel [Macron] and Justin [Trudeau]. I would say the relationship is a 10,” he said, referring to leaders from Germany, France and Canada, respectively.
Of course, Trump had a vocal critic of his analysis. Not from “Fake News CNN”, but rather from an American President. Trump, himself. From his tweets, mere hours later:
Based on Justin’s false statements at his news conference, and the fact that Canada is charging massive Tariffs to our U.S. farmers, workers and companies, I have instructed our U.S. Reps not to endorse the Communique as we look at Tariffs on automobiles flooding the U.S. Market!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 9, 2018
Even assuming that Trump had just discovered that he’d been humiliated during a photo op with the Canadian Prime Minister (Washington Examiner) or that Trudeau had publicly declared his own country’s strength in the same way Trump proclaims his (CNN), there are only two possible conclusions:
- Trump is a very poor judge of relationships and does not recognize when those relationships are not strong
- Trump is willing to lie to the press – and through them, to every one of his supporters – in order to present a momentary positive image.
If he was being honest while he attacked the reporter, the first interpretation is true; otherwise, he’s dishonest.
There were already tensions between America’s allies and President Trump. They want him to sign onto a climate change accord that would damage the American economy in exchange for political optics of “caring for the environment” (optics they are willing to hurt their own economies to achieve.) They are continuing to support the terrible Iranian deal hammered out by Kerry & Obama because they feel that getting the possibility of a positive result from the deal is better than abandoning the small successes achieved. There are massive problems because of the tariffs he is placing upon them – tariffs which he is justifying be classifying our trade with our neighbors as national security threats.
Lest anyone think that our neighbor and greatest trade partner, Canada, was the only nation who had its leader insulted, let me present other examples:
‘School mistress’ @theresa_may too afraid of offending people – @realDonaldTrump https://t.co/ASkyjDIoYF
— RT UK (@RTUKnews) June 8, 2018
The tale of the handshake at the G7. French President Emmanuel Macron gripped Donald Trump’s hand so hard, he left a mark. Make of that what you will. #G7 pic.twitter.com/EV99QYKnxV
— Rosa Hwang (@journorosa) June 9, 2018
(This was a response to an insultingly – and unexpectedly – strong handshake Trump gave Macron in their last meeting, attempt to play petty “dominance games”.)
This was a chance to repair relationships. Instead, they have worsened, and Trump is blaming others for the results of his actions.
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