Rattled or frustrated, Trump goes wild



[ad_1]

Exacerbating the feeling of a besieged White House is the president's total badault on his former lawyer Michael Cohen, who recorded a conversation with Trump about a payment to an old model of Playboy who claims to have had an affair with the old

The controversies surrounding the oval office point out that the president is taking more and more control of his own defense and that he is ready to dictate strategies political and legal risks. But his incessant and often false attacks on the investigation of Special Adviser Robert Mueller also give the impression of someone who fears his final conclusions and who is troubled that his fate may be out of his hands.

The most surreal aspect of the last unparalleled presidency is the intensification of public debate over the once unimaginable idea that the President of the United States is compromised by a hostile foreign power.

But Trump vehemently defends the summit of Helsinki, Finland, seven days ago as a great success, despite a persistent mystery about what happened during his private meeting with Putin and in the middle of his invitation to Russia. He is also facing a growing review of the results of another major summit: his meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Singapore last month, which ended with Trump stating that he was not the only one in the world. he had solved the problem. nuclear threat of the isolated nation.

Since then, Pyongyang has returned to its characteristic strategy of obfuscation and diplomatic delay. The Washington Post said Sunday that despite rumors about the summit's success, Trump was fuming at the private badistants to say that there had been no dramatic progress in denuclearizing the peninsula Korean. A US official, the president had indeed registered his frustration, but he was also convinced that the suspension of nuclear tests and missiles by North Korea was a success.

No one can stop talking about Putin's summit

[19659002] A week after Putin's summit, no one can stop talking about it. And Trump's challenge and his failure to publicly reprimand the Russian leader in Finland on electoral interference is provoking unusual criticism from Republicans. "The evidence is overwhelming," said South Carolina Representative Trey Gowdy. "It can be proven beyond any burden of proof that Russia is not our friend and they tried to attack us in 2016," said Gowdy. "So the chair has to either rely on the people that he has chosen to advise him, or these advisers must reevaluate whether or not they can serve in that administration." But the disconnection can not continue.

Yet on Sunday, Trump seemed to return to an earlier position that Russia's electoral interference was a story devised by Democrats to excuse Hillary Clinton's defeat – even though in a statement "The President So Obama knew Russia before the election, why did not he do something about it, why did not he tell our campaign, because all this is a big hoax, that's why, and he thought Crooked Hillary would win !!! "Trump tweeted.

The intensifying saga of the wrong presidential leadership, recriminations and accusations is a sure sign that the corrosive impact on US policy triggered by the Russian electoral plot is worsening. The question of why the president is acting in a way that often seems to be moving in the direction of Russian objectives – for example in his attacks against the allies, is extending day by day in a way that does not work. does not expand political divisions.

leaders and institutions like NATO – are raising growing concerns about his attitude towards Russia and explains why the controversy over the Helsinki summit shows no signs of ebbing.

"I think that we should not ignore the fact that Adam Schiff, the main Democrat of the House Intelligence Committee, said on ABC News" This Week ".

" There is simply no other way to explain why he would be on the side of this former KGB Kremlin officer. rather than its own intelligence agencies, "he said.

But Tom Bossert, a former Homeland Security adviser for the White House, said on the same show that suggestions that Trump would have been compromised by Russia were a "low blow."

Contrasting the antecedents of Putin as a former KGB agent. Bossert said, "We are spending our time trying to have successful meetings with foreign leaders. All the rest of this speculation and smoke is meant to undermine the president. with some legitimate need to throw our intelligence forces against the prevention of espionage and interference in the United States.

Whatever Trump's motivation, Washington also worries about his strategy of rapprochement with Putin, even though most observers understand the need for communication between the two largest nuclear powers in the world at a time of dangerous rupture of ties with Moscow.

"(Putin) is not interested in better relations with the United States," said Republican Senator Marco Rubio of Florida on CNN's "State of the Union" , implicitly contradicting Trump's logic to engage the Russian leader. "I think he's gone away from that a long time ago, he wants to gain advantage at our expense and his advantage and as long as we come in with a very clear understanding, we We can engage whatever we want, but not under "

The hoax of Trump's invitation to the Russian leader is compounded by the astonishing prospect that the Putin meeting will be held in Washington in the fall, in the run-up to midterm elections, that US intelligence agencies are already targeting There is also uncertainty about the long-term fate of National Intelligence Director Dan Coats after his stunned response at a security forum in Aspen, Colorado on Thursday, at the announcement of the invitation to Putin …

Coats issued a remarkable statement on Saturday that is interpreted as an attempt to keep one's job.

"My answer, certainly Aladrist, was not meant to be disrespectful or to criticize the president's actions, "said Coats.

Trump blasts Mueller and Cohen

While he remains consumed by his approach to Putin, Trump also rages on Mueller's investigation, apparently thinking that he can use it to stoke partisan fury that will enthuse the grbadroots voters it needs to fend off a mid-term democratic push.

"No collusion, no obstruction – but that does not matter because the 13 angry Democrats, who are only after the Republicans and totally protect the Democrats, want this witch Hunting to hang out in the November election, "Trump tweeted Saturday night. "Republicans must become smart quickly and expose what they do!"

The President also accused the Department of Justice and the FBI of misleading the courts, following the publication of a previously filed warrant application to monitor the former advisor. Trump campaign foreign policy, Carter Page.

Trump tweeted that the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act "confirms with some doubt" that the Department of Justice and the FBI "misled the courts" despite the fact that the document itself justified the case. obtaining the mandate of 2016.

But Trump's attacks on the special council pose their own questions.

For a start, his prolonged badault on the investigation hardly suggests that he has nothing to hide from Mueller. They also aggravate the partisan imbroglio that plays directly into Putin's desire to weaken American democracy.

While Trump's ultra-sensitivity about Mueller seems suspicious, it can also be born of an explosive reaction whenever there is a question of legitimacy. his electoral victory and his insistence to fight back when he feels that he is unjustly attacked.

As if the histrionics related to Russia were not dramatic enough, there is also a new plot about Trump's former lawyer, Cohen. CNN reported Friday that Trump's lawyers had waived professional secrecy on behalf of the President regarding a secret conversation that he had had in September 2016 with Cohen in which they discussed a payment to the company. 39; ex-model Playboy Karen McDougal.

Lanny Davis, a lawyer for Co He then asked if the recording, first reported by the New York Times, supported the arguments of the president's lawyers that the president n & # 39; He had committed no wrongdoing.

But in a possible sign of concern, Cohen could choose to cooperate with prosecutors. Trump blasted Mr. Cohen in a tweet on Saturday that mistakenly described the FBI raid on his home and office in April, which was executed with a court-approved warrant in the middle of a criminal investigation. of Cohen by the American lawyer. office for the southern district of New York.

"Inconceivable that the government would enter an attorney's office (early morning) – almost unknown," wrote Trump. "Even more inconceivable than a lawyer is tapping on a client – totally unheard of and possibly illegal. The good news is that your favorite president has done nothing wrong!"

[ad_2]
Source link