The Road To Singapore I: A Special Place in Hell

Well, Li’l Donnie Trump has been busy, ain’t he?

 

By the time this posts, the low level fart or the high level shit storm in Trump’s wake out of Singapore will be the latest debacle du jour. How much went wrong with Li’l Donnie’s play date with North Korea’s Kim Jong Un will dominate the headlines for a day or two. Trump’s animosity with Canada’s Prime Minister Trudeau will be dumped on the garbage fire with everything else Trump does and says.

 

But before we move on….

 

Donald Trump’s conduct at this weekend’s G7 conference was nothing short of an embarrassment if you have more than two brain cells to rub together. If you only have zero or one brain cell, you’re probably grinning under the brim of your Make America Great Again, content in the “knowledge” that Trump sure showed them there “ferriners”.   

 

Right before meeting his fellow world leaders in the G7, Trump decides it’s a good idea to unleash punative trade tariffs against America’s allies and trading partners.

 

Then while heading out the door to the G7, he questions why Russia hasn’t invited back to make the G7 the G8 once again. Russia was kicked out for its invasion of Ukraine and annexing Crimea, two actions Vladmir Putin has done fuck all about reversing. So if the reason Russia was expelled still stands, why should Russia be invited back in? What, pray tell, has Vlad been whispering in your ear, Li’l Donnie?

 

Once at the G7 conference, Trump shows his contempt for the whole proceedings, showing up late for the first session which was on (get this!) women’s rights. Gee, Donnie, don’t you have enough pf a problem with women without rubbing in their faces your total disregard for them?  

 

Then Li’l Donnie leaves the G7 early so as to not be late for his play date with Kim Jong Un. Why did Trump agree to a meeting with Kim so close to the G7 date in the first place? The meeting with Kim puts Trump in the spotlight. The G7 is sharing the spotlight which hurts Li’l Donnie’s self esteem. Also the sessions wrapping up the G7 were on climate and the environment. Trump since taking office has shown nothing but contempt for any efforts towards improving the environment so why start now?

 

And THEN there’s the parting jab at Canada’s Prime Minister Trudeau, calling him “weak” and “dishonest”. Trump also disavowed the joint statement issued by the G7 nations.

 

As I understand it, this is what went down. Apparently, Trudeau was cordial to Trump which Trump apparently took to mean that he and Trudeau were besties forever.  But Trudeau in a press conference noted that Canadians are polite and reasonable but will not be pushed around. Canada would answer Trump’s tariffs with tariffs of their own. 

 

This is not a new position. Trudeau’s been saying this all along for over a week. But now it pisses Trump off and he petulantly decides he and Trudeau will not be besties anymore so THERE! 

 

And if Trump himself isn’t a big enough asshole, get a load of these guys.  

 

Larry Kudlow, Trump’s top economic adviser: “POTUS is not going to let a Canadian prime minister push him around … on the eve of this (the meeting with Kim Jun Un).  He [Trump] is not going to permit any show of weakness on the trip to negotiate with North Korea. Kim must not see American weakness.”

 

White House adviser Peter Navarro said Sunday on (where else) Fox News: "There's a special place in hell for any foreign leader that engages in bad-faith diplomacy with President Donald J. Trump and then tries to stab him in the back on the way out the door. And that's what bad-faith Justin Trudeau did with that stunt press conference."

 

Trudeau’s administration punched back Sunday. Asked repeatedly by reporters about Navarro’s “special place in hell” remark, Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland said: “Canada does not conduct its diplomacy through ad hominem attacks. One thing that I give thanks for is that I’m not responsible for explaining the reasoning behind any comments made by the officials of any foreign government.”  

 

A retort that would have more power if anyone in the Trump cap knew what ‘ad hominem’ means.  

 

It looks to me that’s not Trudeau’s comments per se but the timing of the remarks. Trump was ticked that someone was verbally standing up to him while on his way to meet with Kim Jung Un.

 

Trump's whining retorts and those of his cohorts also reflects a common complaint of bullies and cowards: “He hit me back.”  

 

Now… on to Singapore!