Donald Trump is on third leg of his disastrous overseas trip and he is clearly trying to score high marks on his annual review with his boss, Russian president Vladimir Putin. His latest stunt: calling the European Union our "foe".
CBS is reporting that during a wide ranging interview with "CBS Evening News" in Scotland on Sunday, Trump lashed out at the EU while taking a softer tone towards Putin and China - shocking, I know.
Pull out your Trump-to-English dictionary, because this is what he said:
"Well, I think we have a lot of foes. I think the European Union is a foe, what they do to us in trade. Now, you wouldn't think of the European Union, but they're a foe. Russia is foe in certain respects. China is a foe economically, certainly they are a foe. But that doesn't mean they are bad. It doesn't mean anything. It means that they are competitive....I respect the leaders of those countries. But, in a trade sense, they've really taken advantage of us and many of those countries are in NATO and they weren't paying their bills."
Why is everything transactional with this guy? It is always about "deals" and "protection" and money. My god, allies cannot be broken down into those simplistic terms. But clearly no one has told him that. Or, most likely they did, but he ignored them.
Just a reminder that a few days ago at the NATO summit, Trump attacked Germany, saying they are "totally controlled" and a "captive to Russia" --- someone call Freud because the projection is strong with this one.
He further attacked Germany, one of our staunchest allies, by telling CBS:
"Germany made a pipeline deal with Russia. Where they're going to be paying Russia billions and billions of dollars a year for energy, and I say that's not good, that's not fair. You're supposed to be fighting for someone and then that someone gives billions of dollars to the one you're, you know, guarding against. I think it's ridiculous, so I let that be known also this time. I'll tell you what, there's a lot of anger at the fact that Germany is paying Russia billions of dollars. There's a lot of anger. I also think it's a very bad thing for Germany. Because it's like, what, are they waving a white flag?"
Wait, isn't this the same Russia that he claims it would be a "good thing" to get along with? That he thinks that he will "get along very well" with Putin?
And of course, he attacked Robert Mueller and the special counsel, saying:
"I think we're greatly hampered by this whole witch hunt that's going on in the United States. I think it hurts our relationship with Russia. I actually think it hurts our relationship with a lot of countries. I think it's a disgrace what's going on."
Um, I think what is hurting our relationship with Russia is their proven election hacking and the recent (48 hours ago) indictment of 12 GRU intelligence officers. But you know, let's blame the investigators and not the criminals. MAGA logic.
Here is the part of the transcript of the interview that talks about Russia, for those that missed it:
JEFF GLOR: I saw the conversation you had with Jens Stoltenberg which is a very direct conversation, as- as you approach the meetings with Vladimir Putin coming up. Do you expect a similar tone?
PRESIDENT TRUMP: I don't expect anything. I frankly don't expect -- I go in with very low expectations. I think that getting along with Russia is a good thing. But it's possible we won't. I think we're greatly hampered by this whole witch hunt that's going on in the United States. The Russian witch hunt. The -- the rigged situation. I watch some of the testimony, even though I'm in Europe, of Strzok. And I thought it was a disgrace to our country. I thought it was an absolute disgrace. Where he wants to do things against me before I was even, I guess before I was even the candidate. It was a disgrace. And then he lied about it. And you know, talking about shutting it down and 'we, we.' And he says 'oh I meant the American people' all of a sudden you know, he came up with excuses. I guess given to a lawyer, but everybody laughed at it. He was a disgrace to our country. He was a disgrace to the FBI. So when I look at things like that and he led that investigation or whatever you call it. I would say that yeah, I think it hurts our relationship with Russia. I actually think it hurts our relationship with a lot of countries. I think it's a disgrace what's going on. And then you look how, you know, partisan it is. You look at what's going on where -- and they know, they know that there's no way he can get away from those horrible texts that he wrote. So the other side does. But it's a very partisan thing.
JEFF GLOR: The Russians who were indicted, would you ask Putin to- to send them here?
PRESIDENT TRUMP: Well I might. I hadn't thought of that. But I certainly, I'll be asking about it. But again, this was during the Obama administration. They were doing whatever it was during the Obama administration. And I heard that they were trying, or people were trying, to hack into the RNC too. The Republican National Committee. But we had much better defenses. I've been told that by a number of people. We had much better defenses, so they couldn't. I think the DNC should be ashamed of themselves for allowing themselves to be hacked. They had bad defenses and they were able to be hacked. But I heard they were trying to hack the Republicans too. But, and this may be wrong, but they had much stronger defenses.
So his position is that because the crime occurred during Obama's Presidency, it isn't his fault? Or that he is not in the position to ask for Putin to send over those indicted? WHAT DOES HE THINK HIS JOB IS?
Breaking down our relationships with our allies, strengthening our relationship with our enemies. Putin is getting a great return on his investment - he appears to the the REAL dealmaker. Trump is just the pawn. And he is too stupid to realize it.
