Donald Trump spent much of his campaign ridiculing “stupid” American presidents and diplomats who, according to him, were always getting duped by their foreign counterparts.
He insisted that the American people needed to elect him, a shrewd and savvy businessman, to put an end to this embarrassing trend.
Of course, that his record of achievement for the “First 100 Days” is the worst in US history speaks volumes. But no American president has ever been so stupid as to fall for this:
A photographer for a Russian state-owned news agency was allowed into the Oval Office on Wednesday during President Trump’s meeting with Russian diplomats, a level of access that was criticized by former U.S. intelligence officials as a potential security breach. …
The administration official also said the White House had been misled about the role of the Russian photographer. …
‘We were not informed by the Russians that their official photographer was dual-hatted and would be releasing the photographs on the state news agency,’ the administration official said.
(Washington Post, May 10, 2017)
Duh.
Adding national insult to his stupidity, this all transpired after Trump refused to allow any American photographer into the Oval Office for this event.
Reports are that Trump is “furious” at the Russians for leaking these pictures. No doubt because he has so much to hide – given his many suspicious ties to Russia. In this case, he clearly hoped there would be no pictures of him cavorting with the very Russians who Congress and the FBI are now investigating for colluding with his presidential campaign. I mean, really, how stupid can any American be?!
Then, in typical fashion, Trump tried to cover up his stupidity with a tweet:
Russia must be laughing up their sleeves watching as the U.S. tears itself apart over a Democrat EXCUSE for losing the election.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 11, 2017
The problem is that his attempts to deflect blame always seem so childish. In fact, he comes across like a five-year old, with cookie crumbs all over his face, trying to deflect blame after getting caught with his hand in the cookie jar. And this would be equally laughable if Trump were not the friggin’ president of the United States.
More to the point, here is how I diagnosed this Trumpian pathology at the height of last year’s presidential campaign:
The psychopathology afoot here is called projection. It is defined by people attributing to others traits, faults, and blame that inhere in themselves. And it explains almost every insult Trump has hurled at his opponents throughout this presidential campaign.
So when you hear him calling other people crooked, insecure, weak, beholden to special interests, liars, etc., be mindful that he’s just revealing self-conscious truths about himself, dimwittedly.
(“Forget the Clinton Foundation. Shut Down the Trump Organization!” The iPINIONS Journal, August 26, 2016)
Incidentally, this projection manifested itself during an NBC interview today. That’s when this P.T. Barnum of a president accused James Comey of being “a showboat … a grandstander.” Never mind that everybody knows Comey as the preternaturally staid FBI director he fired in typically grandstanding fashion two days ago.
In this case, “Russia must be laughing up their [sic] sleeves” as Trump stupidly undermines the functioning and shreds the integrity of every democratic institution. What’s more, he seems hell-bent on doing so in a vain attempt to claim the popular will Hillary won when she beat him by almost three million votes last November.
That said, I am constrained to note that Trump also spent much of his campaign ridiculing Obama as a weak and feckless president who commanded no respect on the world stage. To support his contention, he often cited the way Russian fighter jets continually menaced US warships, as well as the way North Korea kept testing ballistic missiles and throwing American citizens in prison.
Except that Russian fighter jets are still menacing US warships, and North Korea is still testing ballistic missiles and throwing American citizens in prison (adding a fourth just this week). Which must make Trump an equally weak and feckless president who commands no respect on the world stage, no?
Not to mention the mocking lack of respect Russia showed by duping him with that White House caper referenced above. Yet, apropos of being weak and feckless, the only thing this reportedly furious (self-proclaimed) strongman did in response was fire off a pathetic tweet about last year’s presidential election.
As it happens, tweeting is a curious feature of his projection. For Trump invariably tweets outrageous things to deflect media attention away from his many shortcomings, including a flair for brazen hypocrisy like this.
Related commentaries:
First 100 Days…
Forget the Clinton Foundation…
Channeling Nixon, Trump fires FBI director…
* This commentary was originally published yesterday, Thursday, at 6:26 p.m.