BuzzFeed reports on how much attention US Government officials are paying attention to the pronouncements of President Trump when it comes to the recent G7 Summit:
Shortly after leaving the G7 Summit in Canada in June, President Donald Trump tweeted to say he had instructed US officials not to endorse a statement he had agreed to just hours earlier with other world leaders. Trump was displeased with something Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said during the summit’s closing press conference, which the president was following on TV from Air Force One.
But almost two months on, those instructions from Trump have never been acted upon, apparently ignored, two sources who were directly involved in the G7 process told BuzzFeed News.
US inaction means Trump effectively endorsed the final statement after all.
I couldn’t help but wonder if Fox News, reportedly President Trump’s main source of information about the world (and just think about that for a while!), had anything on this. A major search engine showed nothing. A visit to the Fox News website also showed nothing. It’s still a young story, though, isn’t it?
Not really, not generically. Steve Benen has more:
In April, for example, the president announced via Twitter that Russia should “get ready” because he was poised to launch a military offensive in Syria. White House officials found Trump’s declaration “distracting,” and proceeded “as if nothing had happened.”
A couple of months earlier, Trump asked Defense Secretary James Mattis to provide him with military options for Iran. The Pentagon chief reportedly “refused.”
Making matters slightly worse, last summer, the president published missives barring transgender Americans from military service. Soon after, the Joint Chiefs effectively ignored it, leaving the status quo in place.
Steve calls it an “alarming dynamic.” It’s well more than that.
First, it tells the observant so much about the level of incompetency in this Administration. I cannot think of similar stories for any other recent President. The inclination to hire loyal cretins and ignoramuses, as well as ideological fellow-travelers, is reinforced by this reaction by those folks who have spent their careers holding the United States together.
It sets a shocking precedent. OK, I’m not going to faint over it, as an institution as large as the Executive Branch will no doubt contradict the will of the guy at the top both inadvertently and purposefully, not to mention over legal constraints. Until this Administration, though, the purposeful group was definitely the outsiders, the extremists – just think of Col. Oliver North’s deliberate deceptions in the Iran-Contra scandal. (Col. North, USMC (retired), is now a top muckety-muck at the NRA, which is telling.) Now it’s arguably the good guys, those folks grounded in reality, who are deliberately ignoring the President. It quite probable they will get canned if the President ever notices it. It’s conceivable they could end up in court and end up convicted. And while they could be pardoned by a savvy President, it’s still a blot and a strain on honorable members of government who are trying to keep the boat afloat in the midst of a self-inflicted storm. But it’s a horrible precedent, because while we may appreciate the efforts of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and others to mitigate the sheer idiocy of the President, what happens tomorrow when someone we think of as competent is ignored?
This cannot come out well.
Third, what does this say about Fox News, assuming they refuse to run the story? Are they patriots under their deceptive skins? Are they just trying to keep him in power by not letting him know his power is even more limited than he’s already discovered? Or are they so confused by the situation that they’re melting down? This, by the way, appeals to my sense that those who are doing evil in the world tend to trip over their own feet and break their necks, eventually.
If this ever comes to the President’s attention, and is really true, it could cause a real shit-storm for those public servants. I’m completely conflicted over there their actions, as short-term they are doing good, but making the long-term a little less secure. Or maybe a lot less secure.
