To everyone else, Emmanuel Macron’s speech to Congress yesterday was a forceful refutation of everything Donald Trump stands for, made all the more dramatic by the hugs and kisses earlier:
- The Washington Post: After hugging Trump, Macron tears down Trumpism
- The Associated Press: Macron Resists Trump’s ‘America First’ in Speech to Congress
- CNN: After the hugs and kisses, Macron rips Trumpism
- The New York Times: Macron Critiques Trump’s Policies in Speech to Congress
- The Wall Street Journal: Macron Warns of Heightened Tensions if U.S. Exits Iran Deal
The fact that the important thing about Macron’s speech was the way it refuted Trump and all he stands for presented our senior senator with a conundrum:
Practically everything the French president said had to be music to foreign policy wonk Graham’s ears. Yet… he’s trying so hard these days to play nice with Trump, even though he knows (and he knows we know he knows) the current U.S. president is wrong about very nearly everything.
So he applauded Macron without a word about how Trump’s policies had been slammed:
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina) today made this statement on President of France Emmanuel Macron’s address before a joint meeting of Congress.
“President Macron delivered an eloquent and inspiring address to Congress. He described the unique relationship between France and the United States which is based on common values that have stood the test of time.
“President Macron has been a great partner to President Trump in confronting the challenges of terrorism and globalization.
“In President Macron’s speech about preserving the post-World War II world order and rejecting the false promises of isolationism, I heard the voice of John McCain – an ally and kindred spirit for the thoughts expressed by President Macron.
“As to the Iran Nuclear Deal, it must be made better or we must withdraw. The Iran Nuclear Deal in its current form ensures a nuclear arms race in the Middle East. President Trump is right to withdraw if the deal is not made substantially better. I hope President Macron can convince the world community to bring about the much-needed changes.”
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Awkward…
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Today: “Donald Trump convinced North Korea and China he was serious about bringing about change. We’re not there yet, but if this happens, President Trump deserves the Nobel Peace Prize,” Graham said, according to Fox News.
I agree with Graham, if Obama can get one for nothing more than winning an election, Trump deserves one for his work in bringing North and South Korea together. Something that couldn’t be done in the previous 60 years.
And I’ll agree with YOU that Obama getting the Nobel under those circumstances was ridiculous.
As for Trump, here was my response to Lindsey:
And I’m willing to bet that along with Trump’s antagonizing the situation, the fact that North Korea’s test bed collapsing during the last test and China meeting with him to make sure that everything in his obituary was correct had something to do with it.
It wasn’t just the test bed, apparently based on the reports I read, the entire mountain collapsed and delivered a major blow to NK’s nuclear development ambitions. NK never does anything that is not carefully planned and works to its advantage over the short or long run depending on the situation. In this instance, making peace overtures to SK and opening a dialogue makes perfect sense in the NK leadership’s plans to resume as soon as the world stops looking so closely at their leader and his nuclear ambitions.