“My gut tells me more sometimes, than anybody else’s brain can ever tell me”:
Donald Trump (2018)
Once again, the world witnessed an American president defending a foreign autocrats rather than defending the credible analysis his nation’s finest intelligence agency.
During a 2018 post-summit press conference with Valdmir Putin in Helsinki President Trump was questioned about Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. Despite the unanimous agreements of every US. intelligence agency, bipartisan House and Senate committees and his own Director of National Intelligence that the “Russian government directed cyberattacks on members of the Democratic Party,” Trump responded, “My people came to me, Dan Coats came to me, and some others, they said they think it’s Russia. I have President Putin, he just said it’s not Russia. I will say this, I don’t see any reason why it would be.”
More recently, Trump has again delayed supplying desperately needed weapons to the Ukrainians while putting forth the outline of a “peace plan”, which could have been drafted in Moscow.
At last Monday’s Oval Office press conference, veteran ABC reporter Mary Bruce politely asked Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, “Your Royal Highness, the U.S. intelligence concluded that you orchestrated the brutal murder of a journalist. 9/11 families are furious that you are here in the Oval Office. Why should Americans trust you?”
As he is prone to do when asked a question he dislikes, Trump launched into a personal and insulting attack on Ms. Bruce and issued veiled threats against her network; effectively contradicting the CIA’s assessment the Crown Prince approved the 2018 operation that “killed and dismembered [journalist Jamal] Khashoggi in the Saudi consulate in Turkey.” The president continued in predictable fashion, “You’re mentioning somebody [Khashoggi] that was extremely controversial. A lot of people didn’t like that gentleman that you’re talking about. Whether you like him or didn’t like him, things happen, but he [bin Salam] knew nothing about it.” Surprisingly, the Crown Prince interrupted Trump interjecting, “Khashoggi’s death was painful and a huge mistake.”
Given Trump’s narcissistic belief his “gut” is more reliable than any well-informed advisors or intelligence resources, his willingness to unilaterally launch unprovoked attacks on sovereign states and order the destruction or boats and their crews in international waters, it is reasonable to question the president’s commitment to America, its founding ideals, its Constitution and international law. It might give some Americans pause to question the president’s priorities, and more importantly, his judgement, particularly given his unchecked authority over the country’s nuclear launch codes.
