Trump's critics in America say that the fake and empty summit with the North Korean leader is no more than just a pretty picture for the fall's Congressional elections. Trump needs to see a "Trump the Winner" in them. Otherwise, he could lose the shaky majority in Congress. In Singapore, Trump seemed like the winner at the historic meeting. There's a clinch with everyone — with China, Europe, and Russia.
Our staff reporter, Alexander Khristenko, will talk about America's internal affairs for this week.
Trump's advisors tried to derail the preparation for his meeting with Vladimir Putin. The Washington Post reported about the direct sabotage. According to the newspaper, Trump ordered to arrange a meeting with Putin as far back as last November, right after the leaders had talked on the sidelines of the APEC meeting in Da Nang. But no one in the White House lifted a finger. Trump's staff was playing its own game.
"After the meeting, the president said he wanted to invite Putin to the White House. We ignored it".
Trump's order was sabotaged by the National Security Council's staff as well.
"They decided: let's wait and see if he raises the question again".
And only now, more than six months later, are the preparations beginning. Apparently, they can no longer drown the thing in empty talks. The American president often speaks about Russia in the context of its return to G7, and return of Crimea to Russia, as well.
According to BuzzFeed, Trump shocked his G7 colleagues at the summit dinner. He wondered why the Western countries supported Ukraine, since according to him, it's one of the most corrupt countries. Also, he allegedly said that Crimea belonged to Russia since they speak Russian there.
Donald Trump: "Just so that you understanding: it was Obama who lost Crimea. It happened long before me. I'll repeat that especially for the fake news: President Obama lost the Crimea. Wait, yes, yes, it was his fault. It was because Putin didn't respect him. He didn't respect President Obama. He didn't respect our country or Ukraine. That was all President Obama, not Trump".
They say that the meeting between Putin and Trump may take place in a few weeks somewhere in Europe, where the US president will fly to for the NATO summit. The leaders of the alliance's members are already preparing themselves for his "fire and fury" diplomacy which was shown in Canada to the G7 leaders, most of whom were clearly insulted by Trump.
According to the WSJ, Trump called the EU president Jean-Claude Juncker a "brutal killer" because of the EU's trade policy. The Japanese premier also got similar treatment. While discussing the migrant crisis, Trump allegedly said that Tokyo didn't have that problem, but he could send Abe "25 million Mexicans, and [he'd] be out of office very soon".
But this is only a war of words while a full-scale trade war is in the making. After raising tariffs on steel and aluminum, the American president put a 25% tax on Chinese goods to the sum of $50 billion dollars. First of all, it'll increase the prices for electronic devices: smartphones and tablets. Beijing responded by raising duties on American pork, soybeans, oil, and coal for the same sum. Considering that the Chinese and American economies are the largest in the world, the trade war will affect everyone.
Christine Lagarde, IMF: "A so-called "trade war" with reciprocal tariff escalation wouldn't have any winners. There'd only be losers on both sides. The negative impact on the world economy would be serious not only because of the US's actions, but the responses of other countries as well. Notably, those that would be most affected such as Canada, Germany, and other EU countries".
But Trump is threatening Beijing with new trade restrictions. All this is despite the fact that Trump admitted that China helped him with North Korea. The historic summit with Kim Jong-Un took place. Trump clearly sees a North Korea without nuclear bombs, but with American resorts instead.
Donald Trump: “They have great beaches. You see that whenever you see them shooting their guns into the ocean. When I saw that, I thought "Guys, you need to build condos there." I told Kim: "You could have the best hotels in the world instead of guns there".
Trump optimistically claimed that there is no nuclear threat from North Korea. But on the arrival home, he was given the cold shoulder.
Kori Schake, ex-National Security Adviser: "The agreements made at the summit are even more obscure than the ones that North Korea has made in the past. The doubts about the meeting are sound. I don't think it'll have any important consequences".
This summit was farce; he tried to pull it from a total catastrophe. Despite the harsh criticism, the meeting with Kim Jong-un made Trump more popular in America. His approval rating jumped to 43%, which is the highest it's ever been. On the eve of the Congressional elections, the Republicans are uniting around the president, who has fulfilled almost all election promises except for one: to improve relations with Russia.
Alexander Khristenko, Nikolay Koskin, Vesti Nedeli, Washington.
