I have to admit it; I had a grin on my face when I learned that Kim Jong-un had threatened to call off the summit with Donald Trump because he said North Korea would not be backed into a corner by demands that they abandon their nuclear weapons. I was amused because I had predicted that something like this would happen after Trump, “the Great Negotiator”, jumped at the chance to meet with the North Korean dictator.  In doing so Trump unilaterally gave the Kim the prestige of meeting one on one with an American president, a boost on the international stage which his father and grandfather sought for many years.

I also have to admit that it made me happy that the Trump administration was apparently caught completely unaware by the North Korean announcement.  And understandably so, this coming after Trump bragged about the summit at his “political rally” as his supporters chanted, “Nobel, Nobel, Nobel…” in reference to their desire to see Trump to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts.  I’m sure that Kim Jong-un totally understood when making the threat that Trump not only has a lot invested in ensuring the summit takes place, but also that he gets some kind of agreement out of it.  Apparently “Little Rocket Man” is a much better negotiator than Trump because he now has Trump exactly where he wants him.  Let’s hope that “the Great Negotiator” doesn’t end up giving up the store to get some kind of agreement in order to save face.

I also had to giggle a bit when I heard that it was remarks by Trump’s newest National Security Advisor, John Bolton, that gave North Korea the excuse to make the threat.  I always believed that Trump’s appointment of the super hawkish Bolton, who was a big advocate of the Iraq invasion during the Bush administration and who has also advocated a military solution to the North Korean problem in the past, was a huge mistake.

Apparently, I was right. When asked during an interview on CNN’s State of the Union what an agreement with North Korea should look like, Bolton replied that the Trump administration wants a “complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearization” in its talks with North Korea, similar to the steps taken in the past by Libya and Iraq.  The Jim Jong-un is well aware of the fate of both Saddam Hussein and Muammar Gaddafi after they agreed to shut down their nuclear weapons programs and he is making it clear that he won’t be making that mistake.  No one stupid enough to make the comments Bolton made should be allowed within a mile of the White House, much less be made National Security Advisor.

I have also watched with interest the world-wide blow back after Trump’s announcement that he will pull our country out of the Iran nuclear agreement – the latest being that Boeing just lost deals worth a total of $20 Billion to supply two Iranian airlines with 110 passenger jets.  The loss of those contracts ultimately means the loss of American jobs.  European manufacturer Airbus will also be affected by reapplied American sanctions and will also lose their lucrative deals with the Iranians.  But never fear, Russian aircraft manufacturing companies are ready to step into the vacuum created by Trump.  I have watched the gasoline prices which every day Americans have to pay at the pump rise because of our departure from the Iranian deal will destabilized Middle East oil production   I also just read that the renegotiation of the NAFTA treaty are beginning to fall apart with Mexico and Canada balking at US demands.

Yep, I have to admit that I have taken a fair bit of pleasure as I watch the decisions of the “Great Negotiator” come back to bite him in the butt on the international stage, but at the same time those feelings of pleasure are too often accompanied by a certain amount of guilt.  After all when Trump falls on his face in the international arena, it is usually our country that loses.  Given that the US should be leading the rest of the world into a better future, it is usually other countries, especially our closest allies, that are also the victims of Trump’s unforced errors.  It doesn’t seem right to enjoy the fruits of Trump’s stupidity when others have to pay for his mistakes.

None of us are made safer by Trump’s mishandling of the North Korean situation. The world also became a more dangerous place when the US unilaterally pulled out of the Iranian nuclear agreement without just cause. Trump’s willingness to disrupt world trade with tariff wars threatens not only our economy, but that of the rest of the world as well.  His willingness to abandon the world order established and nourished by American leadership over the last 70 years for selfish nationalism reasons threatens the world stability we have fought so long to establish. When our closest allies can no longer trust the leadership and loyalty of the United States, our enemies gain an advantage.

I have come to the conclusion that it is inevitable that I feel strong emotions when we experience the results of Trump’s destructive vanity and his resulting inability to perform his job with competence; my mistake has been reacting with the wrong emotions.  It should not be pleasure that I feel when Trump’s incompetence and narcissistic personality results in disaster, it is pure anger that I should feel.  Yes, anger is the proper reaction to the damage which Trump daily inflects on this country and its image in the rest of the world.  We should also be angry that a large segment of our population was and remains gullible enough to believe his constant lies and despicable enough to cheer on his destabilizing antics. We are well within our rights to be very angry that Republicans in Congress are willing to ignore Trump’s malfeasance in office for political gain and/or to safeguard their political careers.

So perhaps it is not proper to take pleasure when Trump’s “know it all” attitude gets our country and the rest of the world in trouble, but we have every right to be angry, very angry.

Cajun    5/17/2018