Day 171: Donald Trump’s Disastrous Presidency Comes Into World Focus at G20
Capping a brutal day, news broke that Junior and Kush met with a KGB lawyer in June 2016.
Donald Trump’s weekends are generally filled with tweeting garbage and hacking up his golf courses. Those seems like better options after this weekend.
First, prodigal son Donald Jr. and wunderkind son-in-law Jared “Kush” Kushner were confirmed to have met with a KGB lawyer in Trump Tower in June 2016. Junior — who only confirmed the meeting after it was outed by The New York Times — described the gathering as one to discuss an adoption program.
Sure, bud.
He refused to confirm whether the presidential campaign was discussed, despite Trump’s then-campaign chairman Paul Manafort also being in attendance.
Meanwhile, Kush needs to amend his SF-86 again, as — surprise! — this chat wasn’t previously disclosed either — yet another instance of perjury.
Next, the Trump White House managed to bungle the whole “People’s Republic of China” = China and “Republic of China” = Taiwan thing. This is actually a pretty substantial slap in the face to China’s president Xi Jinping and China as a whole.
As we touched briefly on yesterday, prized child Ivanka Trump got to pretend to be the leader of the free world for a bit, as she took her dad’s seat at the table of G-20 leaders as they were discussing policies in Africa.
Ivanka’s experience on this topic is non-existent. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson or Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin were more than capable of manning the post for a bit, not some 30-something, unelected, unqualified, unpaid assistant to the president who is also his daughter.
Perhaps sensing just how bad the G20 was for him, Trump broke tradition and left the summit without a press conference. His brethren — including enemy of the free press, Russian president Vladimir Putin — used their time to shape narratives at the expense of the U.S.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said at his Saturday press conference that he thinks Trump believed his assurances that Russia did not interfere in last year’s U.S. election.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel used her press conference to defend the Paris climate change agreement that Trump pulled the U.S. out of earlier this year, calling the pact “irreversible.”
Recapping a disastrous G20 for the U.S., Australia’s Chris Uhlmann described what the new normal looks like for the U.S., its allies and the world as a whole with Donald Trump at the helm. (And remember, for Republicans, Australia represents America’s strongest ally.)
“…[Trump] has no desire and no capacity to lead the world.”
“The G20 became the G19…”
“…the U.S. was left isolated and friendless.”
“[Trump] wastes his precious days as president at war with the West’s institutions, like the judiciary, independent government agencies and the free press.”
“[Trump] was an easy, lonely, awkward figure at this gathering.”
“We learned that Donald Trump has pressed fast forward on the decline on the United States as a global leader. He managed to isolate his nation, to confuse and alienate his allies and to diminish America. He will cede that power to China and Russia.”
“…we’ll miss [America] when it’s gone.”
171 days in, 1291 to go
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