This Is What European Diplomats Really Think About Donald Trump

[babylonsister]

https://www.buzzfeed.com/albertonardelli/this-is-why-european-diplomats-think-donald-trump-is?utm_term=.vqqAj1wJb#.gwVBoLX0m

This Is What European Diplomats Really Think About Donald Trump
Interviews with six top officials paint a picture of a president who is regarded even by allies as erratic and limited, and whose shortcomings are compounded by the ongoing chaos beneath him in the White House.
Posted on August 9, 2017, at 9:51 a.m.
Alberto Nardelli


LONDON – Even before the latest escalation of nuclear threats between Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un’s North Korea, senior diplomats and officials from the US's European allies have been warning that the US president’s approach to world affairs is extremely dangerous – pointing to his apparent ignorance of other countries’ history, his unfiltered use of social media, and the lack of a strong, experienced team around him.

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The current standoff is a dramatic illustration of the grave international concerns over Trump.

On one level, the officials said, he is something of a laughing stock among Europeans at international gatherings. One revealed that a small group of diplomats play a version of word bingo whenever the president speaks because they consider his vocabulary to be so limited. “Everything is ‘great’, ‘very, very great’, ‘amazing’,” the diplomat said.

But behind the mocking, there is growing fear among international governments that Trump is a serious threat to international peace and stability.

“He has no historical view. He is only dealing with these issues now, and seems to think the world started when he took office,” a diplomat told BuzzFeed News, pointing to Trump’s remarks and tweets about defence spending. “He thinks that NATO existed only to keep the communists out of Europe. He has a similar attitude in Asia-Pacific with Japan, ignoring that the US basically wrote their constitution.” During his presidential campaign, Trump called out Japan to pay more for the security US provides, including for hosting the US troops in the country. Japan’s constitution restricts its military options.

They also believe Trump’s foreign policy is chiefly driven by an obsession with unravelling Barack Obama’s policies. “It’s his only real position,” one European diplomat said. “He will ask: ‘Did Obama approve this?’ And if the answer is affirmative, he will say: ‘We don’t.’ He won’t even want to listen to the arguments or have a debate. He is obsessed with Obama.”

Another diplomat said it had proved impossible to discuss serious international issues, such as Libya, with Trump. And seven months into his presidency, the European officials say they are still struggling to figure out who else they can engage with in the US administration.

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https://www.buzzfeed.com/albertonardelli/this-is-why-european-diplomats-think-donald-trump-is?utm_term=.vqqAj1wJb#.gwVBoLX0m

[Hieronymus]

1. They've never understood how he became president.

Neither do I.

[Takket]

2. "seems to think the world started when he took office,"

Wow. That 100% nails it. Best summary of 45's policy positions I've ever heard.

[Danmel]

4. And the world will end when he dies

In his mind. So why worry about the future?

I just hope he goes before he gets us all killed. (Or millions of other people killed.)

[tanyev]

3. The Obama obsession is why I think the pee hooker incident really happened.

And if it really happened, there probably really is video. Although I suspect Trump just sat back and watched with that smug grin on his face.

[PatSeg]

5. Play word bingo whenever he speaks?

And we thought GW was an embarrassment.