President Trump called out the leading media institutions as "enemies of the people". He even made a list. The New York Times and TV channels CNN, ABC, CBS, and NBC all were included. "The Media spreads fake news, they are not my enemy, but the enemy of the American people", – said Donald Trump.
The fact that the mainstream American press is at war with Trump and likes to portray him as both inept and controlled by Russia is nothing new. The news is that Trump does not view this as a personal problem but a betrayal of the national interests of the American people.
At first he perceived distortion of his image, words and actions by the press as just hostility towards the new US president personally. But now it is clear to Trump that the leaders of the American press are using the exact same tactics on the public to create a false image of Russia, which, of course, creates a public attitude that is categorically negative to any idea of reconciliation between Russian and America. Any movement toward normalization of relations with Russia is clearly perceived by the press as manipulation by Moscow. This is why Trump called the American media the enemies of the American people.
Even the politicians have a poor understanding of politics. A funny example — a member of the US House of Representatives from California-Maxine Waters. Perhaps it is too forward to call her "an idiot", but there is a recording of a conversation with her and the Russian prank callers, Vovana and Lexus- respected lady callers working with the Prime Minister of Ukraine, Groisman. Ostensibly Groisman convinced Waters that Russian hackers launched a coup in the country of "Limpopo", overthrew the legitimate President "Barmaley" and put into power a "Dr. Dolittle". Limpopo is a river in South Africa. But such a country does not exist. But Maxine Waters — a sociologist by training, and a congresswoman with 40 years of experience was easily fooled. At the slightest mention of "Russia" she was ready to believe anything.
"The President of the Limpopo has lost the election, and he wants to move to Ukraine because he is afraid that Russian will do something to him", – said the prankers. "So he is afraid that they will kill him?! If anything, the US will be on your side, guys. I do not know how many intelligence operatives we have there, but we need more information about it. When I'm talking to them, I have to make specific examples. For example, that Russia continues its aggression in these cities and that Ukraine has a lot of people that are trying to defend themselves, and that we must keep the sanctions in place on Russia", — Waters said.
Unfortunately, Miss Waters is both typical and consistent in her views. She said something in the same vein before the prank call: "We are concerned about the fact that Trump is ready to throw himself into the arms of the Russian president, while he continues to attack Korea. I think Trump will drive himself into a situation where the American people will end up wondering, "what do we do now?"
Of course, Maxine Waters inane comments were not ignored by the internet. Hashtags like #SaveLimpopo and #FreeLimpopo immediately popped up. And then a torrent of jokes started about the role of the villain Dr. Dolittle in the overthrow of the legitimate ruler Barmaleyav in the distant land of Limpopo.
Against this political backdrop, Donald Trump’s political position faces serious opposition. His views have not been normalized yet. Perhaps this is also because his team has not been fully formed yet. Yes, and it right from the start, he has sustained personnel losses. As a result of the leaks of a confidential conversation with the Ambassador of Russia, Trump was forced to fire his security adviser, Gen. Michael Flynn.
The American press, which hates Trump with a passion, constantly bays for blood. Russia is a dangerous topic for all politicians who touch it. But then we have the press-secretary Sean Spicer making statements such as "Russia must return the Crimea" or the Defense Minister Mattis saying that "relations with Russia must be built from a position of strength".
All this does not really fit in with what Trump has previously said. It is clear that Russia will not give up the Crimea, and a conversation from a "position of strength" always ends up eventually being a conversation from a position of weakness, because ego often crashes on contact with reality. But we will remain open minded. Nothing is clear yet. So far all we have heard from the White House are buzzwords, not any real policies.
