When the bully gets punched!
The world is a mighty dangerous place.
You knew that.
Did you know that thanks to our foolhardy president, there are alarms being set-off around the world?
You knew that too?
OK.
Well, the misadventures of the Trump administration were on full view last week.
CHINA
There’s been a Chinese civilization for 3,000 years, starting with the Xia Dynasty.
Donald Trump, by comparison, has only been the president for a tiny fraction of those 3,000 years.
The Chinese probably see the 72-year-old Trump as nothing more than a tempestuous, big mouthed, whippersnapper.
He’s set in motion a series of tariffs aimed at China that could lead to Americans having to pay higher prices for goods made in China, and America’s farmers having fewer places to export their crops.
To Trump, that’s not as important as making China bend to his whims.
“We’re having a little squabble with China because we’ve been treated unfairly,” he told reporters.
When Americans are forced to pay as much as $800 per year more for goods (according to the trade consultancy Trade Partnership Worldwide) – that’s not the result of a squabble.
That’s a full-fledged trade war – that economists everywhere are calling a needless exercise in false bravado.
The result of the latest tariffs bears that out. Soon after they went into effect, the stock market went into a tailspin.
NORTH KOREA
There was a time, not long ago, when our romantic president professed his love for Kim Jong-un – North Korea’s irascible dictator.
They even went on a date, during that highly publicized meeting at the Capella Hotel in Sentosa, Singapore last June.
The whole world watched teary-eyed as Trump and his diminutive buddy embraced – with Trump’s hopes of ending North Korea’s nuclear ambitions.
I get a little misty, just thinking about it.
I shouldn’t have started this without a hanky.
Trump, to that point, had visions of Nobel Peace Prizes dancing in his head.
Kim Jong-un was hoping to have his country join the fellowship of nations after it had been an isolated curiosity for decades.
There had been kind words exchanged between the two leaders, that helped bring about that meeting.
Love letters, and the occasional use of terms of endearment.
“I was really being tough, and so was he. And then we would go back and forth. And then we fell in love, okay? He wrote those beautiful letters. And they’re great letters. We fell in love,” Trump told his cheering crowd during a speech last September.
That was then. This is now. (The now part isn’t so good)
There was another, unsuccessful, meeting between the two leaders in February in Hanoi.
That ended abruptly.
Probably, because Kim told Donald, that he has a new love interest – Vladimir Putin.
Kim fired off more missiles – probably to announce his leader-on-the-side (Putin) – and then they met last month.
Kim is such a flirt.
Meanwhile, Trump no longer seems to be confident he can persuade North Korea to get rid of its nukes.
How is that Trump’s fault?
Because of his professed deal-making prowess, he led the American public to believe something that may never happen.
IRAN
Last May, Trump decided to withdraw the United States from the Iran Nuclear Accord.
(Obama had been all for that accord; that’s all Trump really needed to know.)
Since then, Trump has frequently talked tough about Iran.
Last week, there was a report that there are plans to send 120,000 troops to the Middle East.
Trump immediately shot down that report, calling it “fake news.”
But, curiously, he did tell reporters, “We’ll see what happens with Iran. If they do anything, it will be a big mistake.”
Within hours of Trump making that statement, there was a new, troublesome, development. (see below)
IRAQ
The State Department, citing a threat linked to Iran, ordered a partial evacuation of the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad.
It’s clear: the leaders of Iran aren’t going to allow Trump to bully them.
They’ve watched his antics with North Korea and China
So, they’re ready.
Edward A. Owens is a multi-Emmy Award winner, former reporter, and anchor for Entertainment Tonight and 20-year TV news veteran. E-mail him at freedoms@bellatlantic.net.