No you’re the puppet!
Donald J. Trump and his assorted team of shills, led by his personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani, daily are railing about the “WITCH HUNT” and stating repeatedly (as if Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz clicking her heels) there is “NO COLLUSION.” Both typically in all uppercase as represented here. From Trump’s continued tweets and statements and behaviors, it is becoming clearer by the day whose side the president is on when it comes to the world stage.
In the days leading up to the G7 Summit to take place in Canada, Trump lashed out at the EU and Canada on trade tariffs. The Group of Seven, which has been in place for more than 40 years, has not reacted well to Trump’s “America First” policies and his comments that likely will lead to a global trade war as well as poor diplomatic relations. A Trump tweet on June 7th read: “Please tell Prime Minister Trudeau and President Macron that they are charging the U.S. massive tariffs and create non-monetary barriers. The EU trade surplus with the U.S. is $151 Billion, and Canada keeps our farmers and others out. Look forward to seeing them tomorrow.”
Earlier in the week, during a call between Canadian Prime Minster Justin Trudeau and Donald Trump, when discussing the relationship, Donald Trump wrongfully accused Canada of burning down the White House during the War of 1812. While attacking our current (and perhaps soon to be) former friends (the G7 consists of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States), on Friday morning, Trump was questioning why his buddy, Vladimir Putin, did not have a seat at the table, telling a gang of reporters: “You know, whether you like it or – and it may not be politically correct – but we have a world to run and in the G7, which used to be the G8 they threw Russia out, they should let Russia come back in.”
Russia was kicked out of the G8 because of Russia’s annexation of Crimea. It was done in 2014. Russia was added to the then-G7 in 1998 in recognition of Russia’s political and economic reforms at the time, most of which have been rolled back by Putin. At the time of their expulsion, Russia reacted that it was not a big deal. By this latest action, in which Donald Trump attacks what have been our friends around the world and continuing to be a strong advocate for Russia, Trump continues to show whose interests he is aligned with and demonstrates over and over that he is a surrogate for Putin and is “carrying his water” – the only open question is for what in exchange.
Daniel is a lawyer writing and teaching about SCOTUS, and is the author of the book “The Chief Justices” about the SCOTUS as seen through the center seat.