Trumps Postings scheinen von Stephen Miller, LaFarge, UKIP und den europäischen Rechtsradikalen geschrieben zu sein. (….) Wäre ich die Queen, würde ich blitzschnell erkranken, um die TeaTime mit Trump absagen zu können. Oder mich durch Prince William (Duke of Cambridge) vertreten lassen, einem echten Wichtigtuer. Wäre ich Theresa May, würde ich ein neues Referendum anberaumen, eine Anti-Brexit-Kampagne starten, jeden russischen Einfluß verhindern und den Briten die Chance geben, in der EU zu bleiben. (…) Trump ist ein hemmungsloser Egomane und eine miese Version von Chaplins „Der große Diktator“. (Jerrold Atlas)
Trump has now become the „Demon Messenger“, mad at the whole world and determined to be „Disrupter-in-Chief“ wherever he goes. He did this at the G7. He did this at NATO. Now he did this during his UK visit (starting this while still in Brussels).
Trump’s xenophobic, racist postures against the changing demographics of the industrialized world have become even more apparent. It’s almost as if the script has been written by Stephen Miller and LaFarge and UKIP and the European Far-Right. He damned PM May by endorsing his „friend“ Boris Johnson (May’s rival who just resigned as Foreign Minister), told Europe that it’s „losing your culture“ by allowing immigration waves, then told May that she’s following a wrong-headed „soft Brexit“ allowing migration.
He lied about rising crime in the UK when it has decreased by 5%. He’s chosen to not help the UK with a bilateral trade deal. Brits sense that he’s getting a special visit while being so inappropriate, so anti-UK – 90% of Brits see him as a negative, racist influence.
The current interview at Chequers has Trump claiming his visit „very productive“, „incredible“. This is his repeated pattern – blast away, then deal! Instead, his transactional behaviour has shocked London, dismissed May for „not listening to his ideas“ and told the UK to get rid of criminal immigrants.
Were I the Queen, I’d develop a cold and either cancel her tea with Trump or have Prince William represent her – a true snob.
Were I May, I’d go back to her original anti-Brexit stance, call for another referendum, campaign against Brexit, keep all Russian money and cyber warfare out, and give the Brits their chance to stay in the EU.
We’ve now seen Trump’s „Theater of the Absurd“ internationally. It’s the same disruptive pattern offending other leaders. It’s the same pattern of behavior Americans watched yesterday as the congressional intel committees grilled FBI executive Strzok for political gain (to enable Trump’s narrative demeaning the FBI and the Mueller investigation of collusion with Russia). 10 hours of disgusting goading of the witness but gaining absolutely nothing!
We have seen Trump ignore Trudeau (after attacking him personally at the G7), avoiding his „friend“ Macron at Brussels, blasting the NATO leaders for not contributing more immediately to defense spending, grandstanding and blustering. Putin was the winner while alliances and democracy were weakened.
This was „tribalism drinking at the public trough“ to weaken 70+ years of building cooperative alliances. It’s the Trump way „shaking things up“. It’s not textbook diplomacy. It’s the Teleprompter Trump vs the Tweeter Trump. It starts with „me“ and finishes with „me“. It’s totally, inappropriately Trump. It’s a bad version of Charlie Chaplin’s „The Great Dictator“.
That’s why I suggested that this is May’s opportunity to „push the reset button“ and get rid of the Russian-assisted Brexit suicide.
This is what historians call a „watershed moment“, a time of clashing fears and hatreds dividing nations. In the US, this is the time of „the Reality Show“.
Jerrold Atlas, Psychohistorian, NYC
Illustration: Joern Schlund
