Apparently seeking once again to dispel his opponents’ scorn over his diplomatic practices, US President Donald Trump has tweeted out a video address. In it, he explains that world leaders sometimes meet and it’s a good thing.
It takes Trump just under a minute to state something that only needs spelling out in the craziness that is the current American politics: World leaders talk to each other. It’s called diplomacy.
“Many people have asked it, why do I meet with foreign leaders, why do I even waste my time. The fact is, it’s very important,” Trump says. “You have nothing to lose and you have a lot to gain.”
He then brings up the two recent diplomatic efforts that have incensed his opponents the most: the June 12 summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in Singapore, and the July 16 meeting with Vladimir Putin in Helsinki. The latter in particular caused a veritable storm in both Democrat and some Republican ranks, earning Trump the title of “traitor” for his refusal to call Putin out on what the #Resistance claims was Russian interference in the 2016 Presidential election and American democracy as a whole.
The meeting with Kim was comparatively well-received, with some hailing it as a milestone effort for peace in the Korean peninsula – though most of the work had arguably been done at the earlier meeting between Kim and his South Korean counterpart. Still, resisters are placing Kim and Putin in the same line of “murderous dictators.” The comments under the video are, unsurprisingly, mostly insults and calls to resign.
Trump wraps up by repeating what’s becoming a trademark phrase of his, again stating what should be obvious: engaging in diplomacy “is a good thing, not a bad thing.” He then adds, “especially if your president knows what he’s doing.”
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