Trump is Unraveling Before Our Eyes
Day 1000 of the Trump Presidency was one of the worst. As the impeachment inquiry gains momentum and the President's decision to abandon the Kurds in Syria appears even more disastrous, Trump is unraveling before the nation's eyes.
Axios: "A GOP official in California told Axios' Margaret Talev: "The needle on the Batsh*t Crazy Meter may have gone past the red zone today."
Democrats in the House held a vote to condemn Trump's troop withdrawal from Syria. The vote was 354-60, with most Republicans joining Democrats in castigating Trump's decision to abandon our Kurdish allies.
The vote was an embarrassing setback for the President, but it wasn't his worst moment yesterday.
You have to feel sorry for any foreign leader who has to sit through a press conference with the President. Yesterday, during a press briefing with Italian President Sergio Mattarella, Tump unleashed a tidal wave of lies that is way too long to list but which CNN debunked here. It included long-discredited conspiracy theories and bizarre allegations about CrowdStrike and a DNC computer server, a plot by FBI Director James Comey, former deputy director Andrew McCabe and former President Barack Obama to prevent his election, and accusations about the Kurds releasing ISIS prisoners to make him look bad. It was the usual collection of absurd and absolutely fact-free accusations that the President has become known for. Trump also took the opportunity to defame the Kurds; they are "no angels," and made a peculiar reference to sand, Turks, Russia and the Kurds.
Washington Post: "He was sitting in the Oval Office next to the president of Italy, and referring to the battleground between the Turkish military and Syrian Kurds.
“They’ve got a lot of sand over there. So there’s a lot of sand they can play with.”
And, as you might expect, he also had to congratulate himself on his brilliance.
Washington Post: "Trump called the U.S. withdrawal from northern Syria a “strategically brilliant” decision that keeps “our soldiers totally safe.”
Not everyone agrees.
Washington Post: "His former ISIS adviser, veteran national-security official Brett McGurk, took to Twitter with a sharp rebuke: “Trump has no idea what’s happening.”
In order to prove his brilliance [and possibly that he isn't totally uncaring as to the fate of the Kurds], the President also circulated a letter that he sent to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warning him against a Syrian invasion. It reads like a note passed around in elementary school, although on better stationery.
Wash. Post quoting from Trump letter: "Let’s work out a deal! . . . [History] will look upon you forever as the devil if good things don’t happen. Don’t be a tough guy. Don’t be a fool! I will call you later."
Erdogan wasn't impressed with Trump's threats and threw it away [in the bin].
The House resolution and quickly evolving impeachment inquiry has obviously unnerved the President and later in the day he melted down during a meeting with Congressional leaders to discuss the situation in Syria. He called Speaker Pelosi a "third-grade" politician and trashed former Defense Secretary James Mattis.
CBS News: "A Democratic source familiar with what transpired said Mr. Trump also insulted former Defense Secretary James Mattis, calling him "the world's most overrated general." Mattis resigned in December over his opposition to a troop drawdown in Syria."
Edward Luce, the Financial Times' US national editor captured the deteriorating situation precisely.
Twitter: Trump’s writing is that of a ten year old; his grasp of how the world works closer to a five year-old: and his behaviour that of a mentally ill 73-year-old man. This is why America has a 25th amendment.
By: Don Lam & Curated Content
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