Trump's weird lies at the G7 meetings
Today in The New Yorker;By Robin Wright
In response to:
As the world’s seven largest economic powers met in glamorous Biarritz, the lungs of the planet, in the Amazon rain forest, were ablaze. “I’m an environmentalist,” President Trump insisted, at a press conference on Monday, claiming that he knows more about the subject than most people. Yet hours earlier he had skipped the session on climate change, biodiversity, and oceans; the white high-backed chair reserved for him had been conspicuously empty. The White House insisted that he had “scheduled meetings” with the leaders of Germany and India, even though both were plainly in view at the climate session. (Never mind, as well, that the Trump Administration has rolled back at least eighty-three environmental regulations in less than three years.)
Trump also claimed that China had called his top trade negotiators “numerous” times during the two-day summit to signal China’s interest in getting “back to the table” to work on a deal to end the escalating trade war. On Friday, Beijing had announced retaliatory tariffs on seventy-five billion dollars of American imports—leading Trump to label China the “enemy” and the Dow to tumble more than six hundred points. On Monday, the President announced a surprise breakthrough. “You can say we’re having very meaningful talks, much more meaningful than I would say at any time, frankly,” he bragged. The Dow shot up almost three hundred points. Then, somewhat baffled, China’s Foreign Ministry denied any such recent calls—or any such progress.
Few expected the G-7 summit—which was founded in 1975, to foster collaboration on global issues—to produce much this year. Trump has proved irascibly intransigent on the world stage, even (or especially) with allies. The French hosts abandoned the usual formal communique signed by the seven leaders—from Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and the United States—pledging future courses of action. But, at a time of wide-ranging and often existential challenges for the world, the G-7 this year was arguably the least productive summit since the group was founded. It ended with Trump pontificating on his version of events—for more than an hour—spouting views that were often unworldly, occasionally unwise, and sometimes just plain wacky. It was a sorry ending.
At the final press conference, Trump called for Russia’s re-ëntry into the group of the world’s most advanced economies. (The G-7 expanded into the G-8, in 1997, to include Russia after the Cold War ended. But it expelled Russia in 2014, after President Vladimir Putin ordered the invasion and annexation of Crimea, then deployed men and matériel to aid separatists in eastern Ukraine.) Trump, who is due to host the rotating summit next year, said he would “certainly” like to invite Putin to attend. “I really think it’s good for the security of the world,” he said. Moscow’s intervention in Ukraine, a former Soviet republic, has only increased since 2014. Russia is still a pariah state globally. Last year, Washington sanctioned Moscow and expelled dozens of Russian diplomats because of Russia’s use of military-grade chemical weapons against dissidents living in Britain. And then there’s that pesky, largely unaddressed issue of Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. election.
The wackiest comment was Trump’s claim that the First Family has cultivated “excellent” relations with the North Korean dictator since diplomacy began—in three meetings—more than fourteen months ago. “The First Lady has gotten to know Kim Jong Un, and I think she’d agree with me—he is a man with a country that has tremendous potential,” Trump told reporters. But Melania Trump has never met Kim.
.....As the world’s seven largest economic powers met in glamorous Biarritz, the lungs of the planet, in the Amazon rain forest, were ablaze. “I’m an environmentalist,” President Trump insisted, at a press conference on Monday, claiming that he knows more about the subject than most people. Yet hours earlier he had skipped the session on climate change, biodiversity, and oceans; the white high-backed chair reserved for him had been conspicuously empty. The White House insisted that he had “scheduled meetings” with the leaders of Germany and India, even though both were plainly in view at the climate session. (Never mind, as well, that the Trump Administration has rolled back at least eighty-three environmental regulations in less than three years.)
Trump also claimed that China had called his top trade negotiators “numerous” times during the two-day summit to signal China’s interest in getting “back to the table” to work on a deal to end the escalating trade war. On Friday, Beijing had announced retaliatory tariffs on seventy-five billion dollars of American imports—leading Trump to label China the “enemy” and the Dow to tumble more than six hundred points. On Monday, the President announced a surprise breakthrough. “You can say we’re having very meaningful talks, much more meaningful than I would say at any time, frankly,” he bragged. The Dow shot up almost three hundred points. Then, somewhat baffled, China’s Foreign Ministry denied any such recent calls—or any such progress.
Few expected the G-7 summit—which was founded in 1975, to foster collaboration on global issues—to produce much this year. Trump has proved irascibly intransigent on the world stage, even (or especially) with allies. The French hosts abandoned the usual formal communique signed by the seven leaders—from Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and the United States—pledging future courses of action. But, at a time of wide-ranging and often existential challenges for the world, the G-7 this year was arguably the least productive summit since the group was founded. It ended with Trump pontificating on his version of events—for more than an hour—spouting views that were often unworldly, occasionally unwise, and sometimes just plain wacky. It was a sorry ending.
At the final press conference, Trump called for Russia’s re-ëntry into the group of the world’s most advanced economies. (The G-7 expanded into the G-8, in 1997, to include Russia after the Cold War ended. But it expelled Russia in 2014, after President Vladimir Putin ordered the invasion and annexation of Crimea, then deployed men and matériel to aid separatists in eastern Ukraine.) Trump, who is due to host the rotating summit next year, said he would “certainly” like to invite Putin to attend. “I really think it’s good for the security of the world,” he said. Moscow’s intervention in Ukraine, a former Soviet republic, has only increased since 2014. Russia is still a pariah state globally. Last year, Washington sanctioned Moscow and expelled dozens of Russian diplomats because of Russia’s use of military-grade chemical weapons against dissidents living in Britain. And then there’s that pesky, largely unaddressed issue of Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. election.
The wackiest comment was Trump’s claim that the First Family has cultivated “excellent” relations with the North Korean dictator since diplomacy began—in three meetings—more than fourteen months ago. “The First Lady has gotten to know Kim Jong Un, and I think she’d agree with me—he is a man with a country that has tremendous potential,” Trump told reporters. But Melania Trump has never met Kim.
Comments (5)
At the expense of 401k's. It is Bush Jr flasback of 2008 stock market before the crash.