I’m very puzzled.
The Donald seems to have a major big thing for NK and Kim Jong Un and I can’t figure out why. This latest schmooz - case in point.
I know he has a propensity towards autocrats and assholes - Putin, Erdogen, MBS, etc. but those guys all have international power and value to him, and to the Republican/White House agenda in some way. Kim and NK, not so much really. So why? What’s the point of all this effort to cuddle with a person and a country that has almost no personal or agenda value to him? And that latest schmooz was not spontaneous. That was well planned.
So, my theory is… well first off, let me state that I don’t believe that The Donald has the ability to actually plan long term anythings or strategize. And that he is super duper easy to manipulate. Granted, I’m sure he gets along just fine with a person who is quite willing to suck up to him and has no problem lying for their own benefit like Kim.
Here’s my theory: Someone has persuaded him that he can go into the history books as the “President who finally normalized relations with NK”, a la Nixon with China. So he’s on board. And the purpose behind it is to distract while the domestic agenda is being implemented willy nilly.
a) A flashy, made-for-TV spectacle,
b) Drawing focus to himself,
c) Paid for with other people’s money,
d) Laden with boasts and grand promises,
e) With nothing to back them up,
e) Doomed to certain failure,
f) For which he will suffer no personal liability.
Efforts to read any more into it will, IMO, be fruitless.
So, basically, Trump sucks up to the strongmen Obama was hostile to, and comes down on Iran because of Obama’s “worst deal in the history of the universe”.
Because all things Obama must be undone, whether it makes sense or not.
I’ve been reading that the scene at the DMZ was “chaotic.” If true, I don’t understand how the SS allowed the U.S. President and his team to be so close to “chaos,” especially of the North Korean variety where soldiers and guards have itchy killin’ fingers.
As a guess, I think leaders of the world see Donald Trump as the easy to manipulate fool that he is. All you have to do is stroke his ego and offer him money and prestige and Trump will do anything you want, including putting a foreign nation’s interests above Americas.
My assumption is that North Korea knows this (they’re actually a very intelligent nation), and they have been using it behind the scenes. Constantly flattering him, discussing business opportunities that could open up for him in NK, telling him he can go down in history as one of the greatest US Presidents ever.
That is my guess. They’re manipulating our president who has dementia and narcissistic personality disorder.
Trump is obviously motivated by wanting a high-profile signature achievement on international affairs.
He and his administration are too stupid to put together anything substantive. Their skill set is limited to bullying and/or bribing.
Trump has the distinct advantage that he doesn’t mind cozying up to murderous dictators and attempting to bribe them. And my theory is Trump has a very sharp eye for leaders like himself, who need the same things he needs. He is very skilled at spotting this kind of “deal”, and I mean that unironically.
Trump also has the distinct advantage of not giving two shits about the future diplomatic/international consequences of his actions.
So, it makes sense that Trump is gong to make a run at any high-profile international issues that involve bribery and/or collusion that benefit him and his dictatorial counterparty at the expense of the respective nations involved.
I don’t know how it would pan out in the long term, but let’s be honest, there are situations in US international diplomacy where both sides have painted themselves into corners. They might benefit from a buffoon too stupid to care about walking through wet paint if you hang a medal on his neck.
The Secret Service can advise, shmooze, whine, bitch, argue, throw full on tantrums, threaten to resign and even “lose” the keys to the vehicle. They historically are really good at keeping Presidents within the lines of what they feel they can protect. Ultimately, the President is their boss. They don’t get to disallow anything.
Well yeah. But why? And why are the White House minions (who definitely have agendas) facilitating this? He can be talked out of things when necessary.
Yes they do. They are supposed to control situations, they can disallow certain things in certain situations (guns at rallies, people in buildings, etc.), they are supposed to make sure situations are safe for the president. If a situation becomes unsafe, they are to get the president out of there, regardless of whether the president wants to stay. If the president was demanding to stay in a place with bullets whizzing around, do you honestly think the SS would allow him to?
I’m just trying to understand if a chaotic scene unfolded around the president, and if so, why.
Nah. Not enough rich people in NK.
Although having a big ass ugly building with TRUMP in gold emblazoned on it smack dab in the middle of Pyongyang might attract a few of the foreign sort.
Doesn’t explain why the minions are facilitating him though.
Well, yeah. That’s obvious and a few of them have it down to a science. But why, (excepting KJU) NK?
yes
“They” being NK?
Hmmm…
After seeing the behind the scenes shit show that this meet-up was, you may be on to something.
Kind gives me a bit of a warm fuzzy to see his handlers lose control of him.
