by Pa Rock
Citizen Journalist
Donald Trump and his entourage are headed home after a couple of days of hobnobbing with world leaders at the G-20 Summit in Osaka, Japan. Actually, he seems to have spent more time developing personal ties with some of the world's notorious dictators than he did promoting trade and security among traditional American allies.
Trump made it clear before heading to the summit in Japan that he would have an extensive meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, and when pressed by a reporter who wanted to know if he would discuss Russian interference in American elections with Putin, Trump shut the reporter down with "It's none of your business!" Then, while chatting with Putin publicly at the summit, both men appeared to be sharing a joke about the election meddling - with Trump asking the Russian leader to "please" not meddle in our elections.
That's probably not how Harry Truman would have handled the situation.
Then Trump turned his attention to China and announced that he and Chinese President Xi Jinping would be reopening trade negotiations between the two countries. Trump announced there would be no more US tariffs imposed on Chinese goods at the present time, and he seemed to be preparing to lift sanctions against Chinese tech giant Huawei - thus meeting one of China's non-negotiable demands with regard to the trade war.
But the ultimate bow to a dictator came when Trump flew to the Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) on his way back from Osaka. There he met briefly with North Korea's leader, Kim Jong Un, and rattled the long-established world order by stepping briefly into North Korea, the first American leader to do so since the end of the Korean War nearly seventy years ago - and an affront to the memories of the thousands of Americans who were wounded and killed in that bloody conflict.
But Trump met some personal goals during and after the G-20. He joked with Putin, and had a lengthy private conversation with the Russian leader. Trump began backtracking on his demands regarding Chinese trade, and he shook hands and exchanged pleasantries with the ruthless murderer who runs North Korea. We don't know exactly what happened in any of those meetings because what Trump does is "none of our business," but we can be fairly certain that he spent the better part of the past week hustling about and trying to impress the people he truly respects.
Wouldn't it be great if he had that much respect for his fellow Americans?
(And just for the record, any business conducted by our elected leader on the world stage IS the business of every American! We are a functioning democracy - and not some exclusive country club that caters only to its wealthy white members!)
Citizen Journalist
Donald Trump and his entourage are headed home after a couple of days of hobnobbing with world leaders at the G-20 Summit in Osaka, Japan. Actually, he seems to have spent more time developing personal ties with some of the world's notorious dictators than he did promoting trade and security among traditional American allies.
Trump made it clear before heading to the summit in Japan that he would have an extensive meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, and when pressed by a reporter who wanted to know if he would discuss Russian interference in American elections with Putin, Trump shut the reporter down with "It's none of your business!" Then, while chatting with Putin publicly at the summit, both men appeared to be sharing a joke about the election meddling - with Trump asking the Russian leader to "please" not meddle in our elections.
That's probably not how Harry Truman would have handled the situation.
Then Trump turned his attention to China and announced that he and Chinese President Xi Jinping would be reopening trade negotiations between the two countries. Trump announced there would be no more US tariffs imposed on Chinese goods at the present time, and he seemed to be preparing to lift sanctions against Chinese tech giant Huawei - thus meeting one of China's non-negotiable demands with regard to the trade war.
But the ultimate bow to a dictator came when Trump flew to the Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) on his way back from Osaka. There he met briefly with North Korea's leader, Kim Jong Un, and rattled the long-established world order by stepping briefly into North Korea, the first American leader to do so since the end of the Korean War nearly seventy years ago - and an affront to the memories of the thousands of Americans who were wounded and killed in that bloody conflict.
But Trump met some personal goals during and after the G-20. He joked with Putin, and had a lengthy private conversation with the Russian leader. Trump began backtracking on his demands regarding Chinese trade, and he shook hands and exchanged pleasantries with the ruthless murderer who runs North Korea. We don't know exactly what happened in any of those meetings because what Trump does is "none of our business," but we can be fairly certain that he spent the better part of the past week hustling about and trying to impress the people he truly respects.
Wouldn't it be great if he had that much respect for his fellow Americans?
(And just for the record, any business conducted by our elected leader on the world stage IS the business of every American! We are a functioning democracy - and not some exclusive country club that caters only to its wealthy white members!)
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