UK, Germany, U.S., Canada, France,
Japan, and Italy
(May,
Merkel, Trump, Trudeau, Macron, Abe, Conte)
At the
recent G-7 in Quebec, Canada from NY Magazine here (a very fine
article).
Highlights up to this point:
French President
Emmanuel Macron threatened to sign a
six-country agreement omitting the U.S. altogether. Canadian Prime Minister
Justin Trudeau vowed “to defend our industries and our workers and to show the
U.S. president that his unacceptable actions are hurting his own citizens.”
And,
even though Macron has bent over backwards to flatter and placate Trump, he has
found his efforts unrewarded for example: After a recent phone call with Trump
he labeled it as “terrible” since “Macron thought he would be able to speak his
mind, based on the relationship. But Trump can’t handle being criticized like
that” (a Macron source told CNN).
Not just U.S. trade and tariff policy but symptom of a
larger rearrangement of American alienation from its partners, For example, they
have attempted to prevail upon Trump to retain, in some form, a series of
agreements such as:
(1) The Trans-Pacific Partnership
(TPP)
(2) The Paris climate accord
(3) The Iran nuclear deal agreement
In every instance the negotiations foundered on
Trump’s allergy to compromise and immunity to reason. Some say, you can’t
negotiate a climate plan with a person who considers climate science a Chinese
hoax, or you can’t negotiate a trade deal with somebody who believes Canada
must be punished for the War of 1812 and burning down Washington and White
House.
(Historical Fact: It was England not Canada that
torched Washington, not Canada which BTW was not even a state until some 50
years later).
One by one, Trump’s personal relationship with the
leader of each major U.S. ally has been fatally poisoned for example:
With German Chancellor Angela Merkel, whom Trump
had repeatedly taunted
and likened to Hillary Clinton during his 2016 campaign. She was the first
major leader to give up on Trump, saying through her spokesman: “It’s difficult
to overstate just how enraged Germany is about Trump. And, in the UK, newspapers
print that Trump has grown frustrated with PM Theresa May and “her school
mistress tone.”
(May publicly corrected Trump’s circulation of fake videos
blaming Muslims for violence).
Trump says he sees May “As too politically correct” (Cited
by Trump advisers in the Washington Post).
Seems Trump gripes periodically about Merkel and May, largely because they
disagree with him on many issues and have had an uneasy rapport with him.
My 2 Cents: The article says it all very well and
concise – and as a matter of fact, Trump was a poor example and very undiplomatic
for the U.S. and our long stellar record on trade deals … he failed and our
closest and best allies all know it, too.
Not just on his recent tariff “deal” but on a host of other
agreements, treaties, deals, and such – in a word he is a dismal failure.
Now the world waits to see how Trump performs with Kim Jong-un when they meet in Singapore June 12 on the most-serious topic of all: Nuclear weapons and peace in Korea.
Stay tuned and thanks for stopping by.
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