April 18, 2018: The Trump Administration Doesn't Know what the Trump Administration is Doing

  

4/18/18: We learn again today. The Trump administration has no idea what the Trump administration is doing. Sometimes we’re getting out of Syria quick. Sometimes we’re hitting Syria with missiles and talking tough. Most of the time, the president is focused on insulting James Comey and couldn’t care less how many of his own people Bashar al-Assad slaughters. 

Sometimes, U.N. ambassador Nikki Haley says we’re going to increase sanctions on Russia. Sometimes the White House says, yeah, we are. Then the White House says, no, we’re not, and the reason Haley said we were was that Ms. Haley got “confused.” Clearly, this is better than admitting Trump has no idea what he wants. 

Cue the idiocy! 

Out steps National Economic Council Director and Head Presidential Cheerleader Larry Kudlow to explain to reporters. Kudlow chooses to ignore reports that it was the president himself who stomped the brakes and suddenly canceled plans, already announced by the White House, to sanction the Russians. It was easy to sort out, said Larry. Haley “got ahead of the curve. She’s done a great job, she’s a very effective ambassador. There might have been some momentary confusion about that,” he explains. 

Ah, poor Nikki Haley, the little lady – she was the problem – it wasn’t President Bloato’s fault!

 

Clearly, getting blamed for the idiocy of others did not sit well with U. N. Ambassador Haley. “With all due respect,” she replied in a statement obtained by Jake Tapper on CNN, “I don’t get confused.” 

In fact, I think we can already see that any promises that might be made to foreign countries by this president are to be trusted to about the same degree as a Donald J. Trump wedding vow. (See: 4/19/18.)

October 9, 2018: People Around the World Distrust President Trump

 

10/9/18: Nikki Haley announces she will be resigning as ambassador to the U. N., effective at year’s end. In a surprise press conference, she says it has been the “honor of a lifetime” to have served in the role. And look at what has happened, now that “the United States is respected.” 

Yes, that has never happened before!!! Other countries, she adds, “might not like what we do, but they respect what we do. They know if we say we’re going to do something, we’ll follow it through.” 

How true! They know we’re going to pull out of international treaties having to do with climate change. They even know we may pull out of the United Nations, in the end, which we helped create 73 years ago. They know we’re going to say NATO no longer matters, insult our closest allies, and mean it. They know if Trump says Trump loves Putin, you can be sure he loves Putin. They know if the president promises to tear up the treaty that kept Iran from getting nuclear weapons for a decade, he’s going to do it and not worry what comes after. And if Trump promises to rain down “fire and fury” on North Korea, but later says the North is “no longer a nuclear threat,” and the president tells fans he “loves” Kim Jong-un, one of the world’s most brutal dictators, well, yes. We are going to be respected at last!

 

You can rest assured we’re going to see this newfound “respect” reflected in a recent poll! According to Pew Research, confidence in President Trump “to do the right thing in regard to world affairs,” stands at 7% in Spain. Our allies in France and Germany are more optimistic. A whopping 9% of the French and 10% of Germans expect Trump to do what is right in the realm of world affairs. 

In addition, 57% of Western Europeans answer “no” when asked if the United States respects the freedoms of its own people. It’s the first time a majority has ever answered that question “no.” 

Finally, 70% of respondents believe, compared to ten years ago, that China plays a “more important role” in the world, 41% say the same for Russia and only 31% feel the United States is playing a more important role. The only good news: most people surveyed still say they would prefer that the United States – and not China – remain the world leader. Even if, under Trump, so far, we’re not.