Trump’s European tour a total fiasco

By Steve Christensen

Just when I thought our president could not be worse, he is.
Donald Trump’s recent trip to Europe was embarassing to the entire United States and nothing short of treasonous.
He insulted two of our biggest allies, railed against the organization that has kept peace in Europe for 69 years, and insulted the queen of England.
But that wasn’t the worst of his actions. His press conference with Vladimir Putin left the world in shock. Even members of this own party were aghast at what he said. He basically took the word of a ruthless dictator over our own intelligence community. Senator John McCain, who has been the conscience of conservative politics for many years, called Trump’s performance “disgraceful.”
Yes, Trump attempted to spin his remarks to suggest he didn’t mean to say what he said, but most people aren’t buying it, and I’m certainly not. His clarification is that he meant to say “wouldn’t” but said “would” instead. That is a lie. That is obvious if you listen to the rest of the press conference.
His “correction” only occurred 28 hours after the press conference. If he misspoke, he would have corrected his remarks immediately. Instead, he waited 28 hours and only after fallout from his own political party did he speak.
And what he said was feeble, at best.
Speaking about Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. election, Trump said Putin denied any involvement. He then said, “I see no reason why it would be Russia.” That is the “would” that he later said should have been “wouldn’t.” He heaped praise on Putin for being a strong leader, much in the same manner the praised Kim Jong-un last month. That meeting, which Trump call “triumphant” has proven to be a total waist of time.
It is clear Trump meant to throw our intelligence community under the bus. What he said in the press conference was what he meant and what he intended to say. Our intelligence agencies are unanimous in placing blame on Russia for meddling in our election. Yet, Trump takes Putin’s word over our entire intelligence community. His correction came only after numerous people in his own party were about to revolt. He praised Putin for being a strong leader and blamed past U.S. administrations for the condition of relations with Russia.
It should be pointed out that Russia was kicked out of the G8, making it the G7. And that was done for good cause by all seven countries, not the U.S. alone. He is a ruthless dictator hell-bent on restoring Russia’s position in the world.
Nearly everyone sees Putin and Russia as a threat to democracy the world over. Except Donald Trump, of course.
This is what John McCain said:
“Today’s press conference in Helsinki was one of the most disgraceful performances by an American president in memory. The damage inflicted by President Trump’s naivete, egotism, false equivalence, and sympathy for autocrats is difficult to calculate. But it is clear that the summit in Helsinki was a tragic mistake.
“President Trump proved not only unable, but unwilling to stand up to Putin.”
McCain went on to say:
“. . . these were not the errant tweets of a novice politician. These were the deliberate choices of a president who seems determined to realize his delusions of a warm relationship with Putin’s regime without any regard for the true nature of his rule, his violent disregard for the sovereignty of his neighbors, his complicity in the slaughter of the Syrian people, his violation of international treaties, and his assault on democratic institutions throughout the world.”
McCain concluded:
“Americans are waiting and hoping for President Trump to embrace that sacred responsibility (of upholding democratic ideals). One can only hope they are not waiting totally in vain.”
I fear we are all waiting in vain. It should be obvious to all Americans that Trump has in the past and continues to put his own interests above what is best for this country. He is an embarassment to all decent people.