Well, well, well. So Melania had a “big operation” that lasted four hours, did she? President Trump revealed this little nugget this morning while holding forth about the state of the world this morning on the White House South Lawn. For weeks the White House has claimed that her operation was a minor one. Poor Melania.
If Trump has been trying to disguise the severity of Melania’s illness, he has been quite open about his muddleheaded desire to paste allies and woo tyrants. Trump’s latest brainchild is to return to his Russia with love aria, which he sang lustily yesterday as he proclaimed that Moscow should be invited to rejoin the G-7. Even as he disses America’s longtime allies, Trump seems to be obsessed with currying favor with the world’s dictators. If his meeting in Singapore goes swimmingly, he wants to invite Kim Jong-un to the White House. He also wants a summit with Vladimir Putin, sooner rather than later. Maybe Trump can sign a free-trade pact with Russia and North Korea to replace Europe, Mexico and Canada
Susan Glasser of the New Yorker reports that Germany is reorienting its foreign policy to treat America not as an ally but an adversary like China or Russia. In Canada proposals are circulating to impose economic sanctions on the Trump family similar to those imposed on Russian oligarchs. Maybe American tanks will be positioned on the border with Canada. Or Mexico.
Trump’s grand legacy looks like it will be uniting much of the world against America. Putin is crowing over Trump’s tariff threats against Europe, pointing out yesterday that he has all along warned against American unilateralism and hubris. “No one wanted to to listen, and no one wanted to do anything to stop these tendencies,” Putin said. “Here we are.” He has a point.
