General Discussion

groundloop

(11,517 posts) Fri Jun 3, 2016, 12:37 PM Jun 2016

If Donald Trump gets rattled by press, how would he handle Putin?

Here's an interesting analysis by the Christian Science Monitor:

http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Politics/Decoder/2016/0601/If-Donald-Trump-gets-rattled-by-press-how-would-he-handle-Putin

WASHINGTON — If Donald Trump loses his cool because of the American media, how would he deal with personal challenges from world leaders?

Or to put it in blunter terms, if Mr. Trump can’t handle ABC, how could he stand up to Vladimir Putin?

It’s yesterday’s combative Trump press conference that sparks these thoughts, of course. The presumptive Republican presidential nominee harshly attacked reporters for pressing him on his promises of charitable aid to veterans’ groups.

Trump called one ABC reporter in the room a “sleaze.” He complained that the press wasn’t giving him credit for being generous. “You make me look very bad,” he said.

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But Trump’s evident anger was focused on a contretemps he should have expected. On Jan. 28 he held a televised fundraiser at which he said he’d raised $6 million for vets, including $1 million from his own pocket. Those are things that are easy to check, and reporters did.

In late May, The Washington Post questioned his handling of the money. Some veterans’ groups had indeed received checks, but the total was nothing near $6 million. Trump himself did not appear to have donated anything. What was the deal?

On Tuesday, Trump angrily outlined the donations. His foundation had made many of them, including his own $1 million gift, on May 23, after the Post story ran.

He continued berating the media to the end of the press conference.

“I find the political press to be unbelievably dishonest. I will say that,” he said in closing. “OK. Thank you all very much. Thank you.”

All in all, Trump seemed like someone with a thin skin. And look – the US media is one thing. They’re unpopular, they’re used to being called “Nazi moron” and worse, and it’s easy to hurl insults at them. But what’s President Trump going to do if a foreign leader, having seen this display, decides for his or her own purposes to taunt the new US leader?

Because they will. Personal relationships are a big part of geopolitics, for better or worse. Handling them is one of the most important aspects of the presidency. It’s where the personality of the person sitting in the Oval Office really comes into play.

Well, foreign adversaries can be much rougher than ABC or The Washington Post, if they want.

Currently Trump’s problem with foreign leaders isn’t rooted in belligerence as much as in credulity, according to one critic. Trump seems easy to flatter.

Thus Vladimir Putin has said admiring things about Trump, and Trump has responded in kind. Trump has combined some words of admiration for North Korea’s dictator Kim Jong-un with criticism, and North Korea official media has now come out in favor of Trump, notes Jay Nordlinger of the right-leaning but anti-Trump National Review.

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