Emmanuel Macron
All Emmanuel Macron, Angela Merkel and Boris Johnson’s entreaties and demonstrations of affection to President Donald Trump were utterly pointless. He responded by humiliating them. Now, he threatens trade and financial reprisals if they fail to break the deal their countries made with Iran three years ago. Trump has reversed the US’s position, and its allies must fall into line. Seen from Washington, the UK, France and Germany are unimportant, or anyway far less important than Saudi Arabia or Israel.
In Les Chemins de la liberté (The Roads to Freedom), Jean-Paul Sartre wrote: ‘When a man admits his guilt, you always feel like hitting him, to smash what little dignity he has left.’ That holds true for countries, including those of the European Union. Macron says he refuses to talk ‘with a gun to [his] head]’, while Merkel finds it unfortunate that Trump has made things ‘even more difficult’ in the Middle East. Yet neither seems able to respond with anything but whining. Europe’s major business corporations feel obliged to comply with […]
Trump’s behavior is not ill-considered. It is highly calculated to upset people who don’t understand the inner game he plays.
Trump’s behavior is not highly calculated nor ill-considered. Trump does not act – he reacts. “If you hit me, I’ll hit you back.” It’s not that complicated and there is no strategy involved. He reacts like a frustrated toddler because his emotional development was arrested at the level of a toddler.
He is stupid, emotionally stunted,and willfully ignorant. He possesses just enough self-awareness to realize that at the G7 meeting he would not look good in comparison to a roomful of people who are intelligent, well-educated, and better experienced at governing than he will ever be. And looking good is the only thing he ever cares about.
He’s the guy at the card table who realizes he has a losing hand, so he flips over the table and stomps out while cursing all the other players. No one asserts that guy has grand plan.
People need to stop over-thinking this. He’s a sociopath – an angry, vindictive bully who only wants to hang out with the dictators he wishes to emulate, especially Putin, his favorite role model.
Occam’s razor is the operative theory here.
Trump is not playing a game.
He has caved to the neo-cons in America and the Saudis’ and Israel.
They all want war with Iran.
Trump has got the cunning thing going for him nothing more. When those who are of the trump mindset talk about the deep game he is playing I say look back at his history. What deep game did he play in business? All about the con job. Putting his name before the public. Creating, enhancing, profiting from the “trump brand”. When condemnations were flying about trump’s racism his son donald said “the only color my father sees is green” without a hint of irony.