The War of 1812 in 2017

The last time the British and Americans fought each other – 1812 – the Brits burned down our White House. But while Donald Trump applauded the U.K. as it opted out of the European Union – a decision seems to suffer from waning popularity even in the strongholds in the British Isles that championed Brexit – and heralded the conservatives who brought that vote home, Donald Trump’s interminable and unrepentant hoof (tweet?) in mouth disease is making him wildly unpopular even with those segments of U.K. politics with whom he is most closely aligned. Tory PM Theresa May had to bite her tongue at Mr. Trump’s latest tweet-faux-pas. The U.S. and the U.K. are supposed to be allies, but it is clearly now a stretch for British leaders to maintain any semblance of closeness to American policy statements.

Reeling from a 9/15 firebomb attack on a London Underground (at Parsons Green), where 30 people were injured (some seriously) though without any fatalities, Londoners were reminded how stupid they were, how ineffectual their police force (Scotland Yard, no less) was and how their failure to contain their Muslim population was the root cause of their ills by Donald “the mouth” Trump. With a native-born Londoner arrested and the investigation in its nascent stages, the Donald could not stop himself, with zero facts to back him up, from tweeting:

9/15/17 3:42 AM: “Another attack in London by a loser terrorist. These are sick and demented people who were in the sights of Scotland Yard. Must be proactive!”

9/15/17 3:48 AM: “Loser terrorists must be dealt with in a much tougher manner. The internet is their main recruitment tool which we must cut off & use better!”

It seems that the “loser terrorist,” an 18-year-old, had not done anything obvious to fall within “the sights of Scotland Yard,” as Trump used this rather awkward and inopportune moment to tout his globally denounced Muslim-targeted “travel ban” as evidence why the United States gets it right while Europe does not.

9/15/17 3:54 AM: “The travel ban into the United States should be far larger, tougher and more specific-but stupidly, that would not be politically correct!”

Trump’s callous misstatements were echoing in negative headlines all over the U.K. press. These rather antagonistic and usually ignorant tweets are pretty consistent with Donald’s rather severe disdain for (a) facts and (b) anyone who chooses to do things in an un-Trump-like manner. His constant need to tell the world how much better his approach to anything is over what other world leaders choose for their own countries is sadly reflective of a deeply insecure human being. But it is who he is, and the messages are pretty much fodder for his Base that accept everything he tweets as gospel.

“Mr. Trump’s assertion that the assailants had been known to Scotland Yard angered Prime Minister Theresa May, who said it was not helpful for anyone to speculate while an investigation was underway. Mr. Trump was later briefed about the attack and called Mrs. May with condolences, according to a senior official, though he did not apologize.

“It was the latest episode in which Mr. Trump was at odds with Britain over sensitive security issues. In June, he criticized London’s mayor, Sadiq Khan, over his response to another terrorist attack, misconstruing Mr. Khan’s words. In March, the White House press secretary at the time, Sean Spicer, repeated allegations that a British intelligence agency had wiretapped Trump Tower, which British authorities dismissed as ‘utterly ridiculous.’

“Trump’s assertions were also a sign that for all the talk about a more disciplined White House under the new chief of staff, John F. Kelly — who has urged the president to have tweets vetted by his aides — Mr. Trump was still determined not to censor himself on social media and was fully capable of roiling the diplomatic waters with a single unguarded post.” New York Times, September 16^th.

Commenting on Trump’s tweets noted above: “‘It is never helpful to have speculation about an ongoing operation and I would include the president of the United States in that comment,” said [U.K Home Secretary] Amber Rudd, who said the tweet was not based on intelligence... ‘It is pure speculation,’ she told BBC1’s The Andrew Marr Show on Sunday.” The Guardian (U.K.), September 17^th. Human rights? Constitutional mandates? To Donald Trump: inconveniences to be manipulated.

As you might be aware from reading just about any international journal, not to mention more than a few contributions from Trump-despised mainstream media right here in the U.S.A. (including this blog), there are virtually no politicians running for top offices in the truly democratic world who want to be perceived as catering to just about anything “Trump.” My September 2^nd Turning Friends into Enemies blog provides a litany of Trump statements and actions that have alienated leaders from Canada, Germany, China, the Philippines, Mexico, the Islamic world (1.6 billion strong), other nations in Latin America and Asia, etc., etc. Europe thinks he’s baiting Iran in precisely the wrong way at precisely the wrong time over their nuclear accord.

We’ve seen how politicians everywhere are addressing the obvious feelings of their constituencies by distancing themselves from Donald Trump and his policies. With the possible exception of Israel, nobody seeking leadership roles in democratic nations is embracing a close and working relationship with the Trump administration. They may try. They may suggest there are still close ties, but when pressed… yeah, bad. On October 18^th, China begins a process of reconfiguring its Politburo (particularly the standing committee at the top) as President Xi Jinping consolidates his power further. Preliminary signals suggest that Xi is going to get a lot tougher on Sino-America trade and political ties; word has it he wants to put Donald Trump in his place.

Tuesday morning (9/19), Trump addressed the United Nations General Assembly. After bragging about the economic “successes” and the largest military budget in global history he has implemented in the United States, Trump attacked “Rocket Man” (a purposely insulting term for Kim Jong-Un) as being on a suicide mission and directly threatened to “totally destroy” North Korea if it continues its present path, slammed the untenable “radical Islamic terrorists” in many lands, condemned Iran as a terrorist state (lambasting at the “embarrassing” and “worst and most one-sided” Iran nuclear accord, hinting that the U.S. may well withdraw from that agreement), and decimated Nicolas Maduro’s regime in Venezuela.

Trump envisioned a join global fight to prevent the “triumph of evil.” His “America First” message was watered down, however, to reflect the obligations of any leader putting their nation’s priorities in first position. He did not take on Russia or China, but seemed to egg them on to diffuse a “depraved… band of criminals” of Kim Jong-Un regime into a completely, and very unlikely, denuclearized status. While nobody on the planet condones Kim’s nuclear program and his roiling threats, most world leaders believe Trump’s insulting rhetoric is making the risk of nuclear holocaust much more likely, baiting Kim Jong-Un to escalate his “tests” and threats.

Trump presented a dark vision of the world and the growing “evil” all around the world. We are “guided by outcome and not ideology” was a classic Trump message. The message on reforming the UN and focusing on the good work done in fighting disease around the world were positions generally held within the UN itself. But he suggested that support for displaced persons did not mean immigration, that money was better spent where they reside… without acknowledging that those lands may no longer be places sustainable for locals.

Bottom line: Trump demanded greater global efforts to reign in a nuclear North Korea even as he threatened to withdraw from an earlier parallel global effort, one that clearly was championed by Britain among others, in the internationally drawn Iran nuclear accord under the aegis of the United Nations. The world heard that America supported UN actions and policies only to the extent that they implemented American priorities and that the United States could not be relied upon to honor its treaty obligations. The presentation was clear but not well-received by the international community (except Israel). The US seemed to be parting company with the rest of the world to the extent international coalitions did not follow the American-dictated demands. It will be increasingly difficult for the United States to find willing international partners to benefit Americans.

The talk played well with the President’s base, however. “Who cares?! We don’t need them!” scream Trump’s constituents, just as they call for massive federal budget cuts. Going it alone, believing we can “do it ourselves” without international cooperation in an overly-globally-connected world, is not just absurd thinking; it means we have to foot the bill for costs we used to share with others. Think the Brits might like another shot at burning down the White House?

            I’m Peter Dekom, and the only consolation I can think of for having Donald Trump as our president is that at least we don’t have a possibly worse choice with Mike Pence who is waiting in the wings.