Tag: Middle East

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TRUMP INTERNATIONAL EMBARASSMENT

Trump’s International Tour is an embarrassment. When he first got started it seemed like he was on his best behavior; he let his entourage provide the embarrassment. Wilbur Ross marveled over the lack of protestors in Saudi Arabia as a sign of acceptance and good will for Trump. He received a public smack-down on twitter for that one (1).

When Trump arrived in Israel he talked about his great trip to the Middle East…yup, an excellent example of his intelligence and I am sure it was much appreciated in Israel.

He made a quick stop in Rome to meet the Pope and he made our happy loving Pope sad.

The Pope gave him a special gift—God, I love this Pope:

During an initially awkward meeting in Vatican City, Francis presented President Trump with a signed copy of “Laudato Si” — the pontiff’s 192-page work calling for a new partnership between science and religion to combat human-driven climate change. In doing so, the pope seemed to make a clear statement to a president who once called climate change a Chinese plot and is on the cusp of deciding whether to honor the Paris agreement on addressing global warming (2).

He then headed to NATO where world leaders were warned ahead of time to dump-down speeches and keep them short due to Trump’s well known short attention span (3).

While there Trump pushes past Montenegro Prime Minister so he could get in front for a photo opt. “Me first, me first–let me through, important man coming through.” His smug expression and suit adjusting say it all.

His speech at NATO where he scolds world leaders for not paying their share went over like a lead balloon and cemented the impression of his ignorance.

European leaders gazed unsmilingly at Trump while he said that “23 of the 28 member nations are still not paying what they should be paying and what they are supposed to be paying,” and that they owe “massive amounts” from past years — a misstatement of NATO’s spending targets, which guide individual nations’ own domestic spending decisions (4).

His speech was met with laughter and awkward silence…

Then he was caught calling Germans very bad and threatened to back out of deals with Germany. Smart foreign policy move? I think not. Merkel will best this buffoon.

According to Der Spiegel, Trump told EU leaders Thursday that the Germans “are bad, very bad” as he singled out the country’s automotive industry for criticism. “See the millions of cars they are selling in the U.S,” Trump said. “Terrible. We will stop this.” The president of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, reportedly responded by defending Germany (5).

I will leave you with this gem–ENJOY!

 

Mother of 3

Nurse

Colts Neck

Resources:

1 Wilbur Ross is happy that the Saudis didn’t protest Trump — but he misses a critical point, http://www.cnbc.com/2017/05/22/wilbur-ross-says-saudis-did-not-protest-trump-but-misses-key-point.html

2 Pope Francis presents Trump with a ‘politically loaded gift’: His encyclical on climate change, https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2017/05/24/pope-francis-presents-trump-with-a-politically-loaded-gift-his-encyclical-on-climate-change/?utm_term=.2aa61608aea4

3 NATO ASKS WORLD LEADERS TO PLAY DUMB SO TRUMP WILL UNDERSTAND THEM, http://www.vanityfair.com/news/2017/05/nato-donald-trump

4 Trump chastises fellow NATO members, demands they meet payment obligations, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-told-in-brussels-that-west-should-focus-on-values-not-only-interests/2017/05/25/7aa1865c-40cd-11e7-9869-bac8b446820a_story.html?utm_term=.d063639b71da

5 TRUMP CALLS GERMANS ‘BAD, VERY BAD’ AT EU LEADERS MEETING, http://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-germany-angela-merkel-616096

 

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JARED KUSHNER RESPONSIBLE FOR PEACE IN THE MIDDLE EAST

Middle Eastern War Zone Chique–preppy blue blazer coupled with dessert colored khakis and the standard issue blue striped button down. The Trump-Terror T-Time Flak Vest is new from Vineyard Vines will soon be available in golf green (this is a satirical comment; please forgive me Shep & Ian). Photo credit: DOMINIQUE A. PINEIRO

Trump has made Jared Kushner, his son-in-law, his principle Middle East advisor; making him responsible for peace in the Middle East.

Sure, that should be easy peasy.

Kushner has been tasked with the following jobs in this administration(2):

  • Running a new government office, The Office of American Innovation
    • Fighting the US Opioid Crisis
    • Handling Veteran’s Affairs
    • Managing Associated Press Reports
  • Reforming the criminal justice system
  • Vague Foreign Diplomat Role (Trump seems to pimp him out using his youth, quiet demeanor and fierce loyalty as a marketing tool; an effort to put forth a more reasonable/moderate front then Breitbart Bannon, Priebus or Miller–although can we just recognize that Miller and Kushner look like they can be fraternity bros)
  • Brokering Peace in the Middle East

What could possibly go wrong?

This 36 year old family member whose background is based on “real estate development”, who has never held office and has NO, yes, NO, experience in foreign policy has been thrown into the fire. His task list is so unreasonable and ridiculous it makes me feel bad for him, almost. When I first heard Trump was sending him to Iraq and eventually expects him to broker peace between Palestinians and Israelis, I thought for sure, Trump was setting him up for failure.

Also, there is that whole Russian thing.

Trump has alway claimed that he, his campaign staff, transition team and administration had no ties to Russia–well, we all know that is NOT true. With Manafort and Flynn gone, the ties to Russia only seem to multiple. Recently added to the list of those who denied Russian contact and then the facts proved them wrong….you guessed it, Jared Kushner.

This week the NYT’s broke a story about Kushner’s omissions of meeting with Russian Ambassador, Sergey Kislyak (same dude that caused trouble for Manafort, Flynn, Jeff Sessions and Carter Page) and the head of the Russian owned State Bank, a meeting which was arranged by Kislyak (4). Now these omissions, just as damning as Jeff Sessions’ omission when he too denied ever meeting with Russians under oath during his confirmation hearing for Attorney General, are shocking because in order for Kushner to gain top level security clearance, Kushner was asked to disclose ALL encounters with foreign government officials for the last 7 years. Kushner’s omission is particularly suspect knowing that Manafort and Flynn have already been burned for similar omissions.

For now there are lots of speculations and an ongoing FBI investigation—I can’t wait to hear the whole story.

Resources:

  1. President Trump has given his son-in-law the hardest job in the world: making peace in the Middle East. Does he have a prayer?, http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2017/02/jared-kushners-mission-impossible-214770
  2. Here Are All the Jobs Jared Kushner Is Doing at the White House, http://fortune.com/2017/03/27/jared-kushner-white-house-roles/

  3. Kushner Omitted Meeting With Russians on Security Clearance Forms, https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/06/us/politics/jared-kushner-russians-security-clearance.html

  4. More Trump-Russia contacts: Trump met Sergey Kislyak, aide Carter Page went to Russia last year, http://www.salon.com/2017/03/08/more-trump-russia-contacts-trump-met-sergey-kislyak-aide-carter-page-went-to-russia-last-year/