Poor show by Trump but he claims success

Ending a week of backlash over his performance at last Monday’s summit with Russia President Vladimir Putin in Finland, the US cantankerous-in-chief President Donald Trump claimed another title.

He was responding on reports his lawyer secretly taped him, then presidential candidate two months before the election seeking to silence a former model about Trump’s cheating on his wife.

In a Saturday tweet Trump asserted: “The good news is that your favourite President did nothing wrong.”

Favourite? Really? Anyway, he has claimed other titles: “very stable genius” and “like very smart”. A tiger doesn’t proclaim its “tigritude.” [Wole Soyinka]

NATO

The previous week as Trump prepared to fly to Brussel for a Nato summit, he faced criticism for claiming on Twitter that previous administrations’ “foolishness and stupidity” was responsible for current bad relations with Russia.

At the Nato summit he blasted member states for spending too little on defence.

He would later claim he pushed them to agree to do so.

Actually, they agreed to do so in 2014. They didn’t change the schedule to please Trump.

In Britain he lashed at Prime Minister Theresa May for allegedly messing up Brexit and thus threating a possible trade agreement with the US.

ELECTION

On meeting Queen Elizabeth, “King” Trump wouldn’t let the 92-year-old monarch walk ahead of him.

Even a five-year-old would, just in case she stumbled.

Somewhere along the way, Mr Trump hurled venom at German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s immigration policies.

However, it was in Finland at a joint news conference after the one-on-one meeting with translators, that Trump astoundingly said of meddlers in the 2016 US election, for example, “I don’t see the reason why it would be Russia”.

Answering a question he acknowledged “extremely strong and powerful” denials.

INDICTED

That’s despite the entire US intelligence community and some senior officials in the Trump administration long having concluded Russia interfered.

Moreover, just before Trump left Washington, DC, the Department of Justice had indicted 12 Russians for meddling.

Space here doesn’t allow stroke by stroke analysis of Trump’s showing in Finland. There were many other issues he could have raised with Putin.

According to the Russians, Putin and Trump made agreements.

Foreign minister described the encounter as 'better than super'. Mr Trump remains mum.

Anyway, Trump’s acceptance of Putin’s denials of Russian interference and implied denigrating the entire US Intelligence community infuriated some people most. A former CIA director described it as “treasonous”.

MEDIA

Media reported European leaders, some anonymously, labelled Trump’s showing as “frightening”, “devastating”. “abomination.

On Trump’s return, the NBCNEWS "created a Bureau of clarifications at White House" saying of it: “Four times in less than a week the president and his aides have attempted to say that what he said isn't what he actually had said.

Three times about Russia…” including replacing “would’ with “wouldn’t.” To Trump though, all was success.