News for the international mind.

Tag: trump

After Charlottesville, Confederate Statues Ousted Under Cover Of Darkness

Post author By lmacret
Post date August 17, 2017

Removing statue in Baltimore on Aug. 16 Jerry Jackson/Baltimore Sun/ZUMA

WASHINGTON, D.C. — City officials across the country are nervously trying to figure out how to avoid becoming the next Charlottesville as alt-right leaders and white nationalist groups vow to stage more rallies in coming days. A group claiming it is advocating free speech has planned a rally for Saturday on the historic Boston Common, with a group advocating racial justice planning its own gathering in opposition. Boston officials said they have laid down strict conditions, including no sticks, weapons or backpacks. “Make no mistake: We do not welcome any hate groups to Boston, and we reject their message,” Mayor […]

Tags altright, Charlottesville, confederate, mayors, next, protest, statues, trump, united states

Trump Or Trudeau, Deconstructing A False Choice

Post author By lmacret
Post date August 14, 2017

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in Toronto Rick Madonik

OTTAWA — One has brown hair, the other orange. One is effortlessly bilingual, the other horrifies editors of the Oxford English Dictionary. One openly calls himself a feminist, the other grabs female genitals. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau makes for a tempting contrast with President Trump. He seems like the picture of serene and right-thinking liberal mindedness compared with all of the United States’ most cartoonishly boorish elements. As a Canadian, I’m not surprised that the American news media and the Internet are saturated by swooning profiles. The Rolling Stone cover story “Why Can’t He Be Our President” was only […]

Tags canada, house, politics, trudeau, trump, white

War Game, Nightmare Scenarios Of A U.S.-North Korea Conflict

Post author By lmacret
Post date August 11, 2017

-Analysis- WASHINGTON, D.C. — A military confrontation with North Korea may now be “inevitable,” says Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.) The United States is “done talking” about North Korea, tweets U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley. President Trump threatens “fire and fury like the world has never seen,” then says maybe his language “wasn’t tough enough.” The North Koreans return verbal fire, talking of using “absolute force” to hit the U.S. territory of Guam and even “turn the U.S. mainland into the theater of a nuclear war.” In this moment of heated, belligerent rhetoric, planners in and out of government are diving […]

Tags Donald, guam, jong, kim, military, nuclear, trump, un, united states, war

The Fall Of Netanyahu And The Rise Of ‘Israel’s Macron’

Post author By
Post date August 9, 2017

Fatigued? Dennis Trainor Jr via Vimeo

-Analysis- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is having a bad week. First, the news last Thursday that the Israeli police is investigating Netanyahu for suspected bribery, fraud and breach of trust. The next day, his former chief of staff, Ari Harow, who is also under investigation, agreed to turn state’s witness in two cases involving […]

Tags corruption, Gabbay, indictment, investigation, israel, macron, netanyahu, politics, Temer, trump

Trump’s New Policies Are A Hit (They Are Obama’s)

Post author By lmacret
Post date August 8, 2017

Presidents Trump and Obama Marianique Santos/Planet Pix/ZUMA

-OpEd- WASHINGTON, D.C. — President Trump appears to have found himself a new national security adviser. His name is Barack Obama. Recent days have brought evidence of two foreign policy successes for the Trump administration: On Friday, a top State Department official who has served in the Obama and Trump administrations announced that gains against the so-called Islamic State have picked up sharply and that the militants have lost 78% of their territory in Iraq and 58% in Syria. The Washington Post“s headline (which the White House circulated in an email): “Under Trump, gains against ISIS have dramatically accelerated.” Then, […]

Tags diplomacy, house, jong, kim, obama, tillerson, trump, un, united states, white

The Good, Bad And Pointless Of Trump’s Immigration Plan

Post author By lmacret
Post date August 3, 2017

Tired, poor, huddled Kathy123

Admitting newcomers based on their skills is smart; cutting their numbers in half is a mistake.

Tags canada, David Perdue, immigration, low-wage immigrants, NAS report, RAISE Act, skilled workers, Stephen Miller, Tom Cotton, trump, united states

Power And Fear, Making Sense Of The Russian State Of Mind

Post author By
Post date July 31, 2017

What's nestling inside? James

-Analysis- During his presidential campaign, Donald Trump had promised to improve U.S. relations with Russia. His supporters said it was just the kind of bold move the world needed as escalating hostilities between the two nations stood in the way of solving major global issues from Syria to cybersecurity. Trump’s opponents, to this day, see […]

Tags bully, diplomats, economy, foreign policy, power, putin, russia, sanctions, trump, weakness

LGBTQ Plus Society

L, G, B & T — Deconstruction Of An Acronym

Post author By
Post date July 28, 2017

Rainbow Pride March in Chandannagar, India Pacific Press/ZUMA Wire

Perception (and treatment) of gays and lesbians may be different from transgender people — but in different ways, depending where in the world you are.

Tags bisexual, gay, lesbian, lgbt, transgender, trump, united states

Trump’s Cuba Policy Proves Obama Was Right

Post author By
Post date July 18, 2017

Havana, street scene Bryan Ledgard

The Obama administration sought a Cuba policy aimed at helping ordinary Cubans. Trump is keeping most of the policy in place, with one wrong-headed exception.

Tags cuba, embargo, obama, policy, trump, venezuela

Not A Game: Erdogan, Maduro, Trump And The Thirst For Power

Post author By
Post date July 17, 2017

Erdogan, center, marks the coup anniversary in Ankara Depo Photos via ZUMA

The new season of Game of Thrones, which premiered Sunday, will surely be filled with all manner of sabotage, conspiracy, and politicking. The fictional world of author George R. R. Martin is essentially a timeless story of the pursuit of power as an end in itself. But that same show, it appears, is not only […]

Tags authoritarian, erdogan, maduro, trump, turkey, venezuela

The False Illusion Of Female Power In Politics

Post author By
Post date July 15, 2017

Women20 summit in Berlin on April 25 Patrick Van Katwijk/DPA/ZUMA

Britain, Poland and even Germany are all examples of how having women in power doesn’t necessarily translate into greater social or economic power for women.

Tags germany, lagarde, merkel, power, trump, women

Paris Will Always Be Paris, Trump Will Always Be Trump

Post author By
Post date July 13, 2017

Landing in Paris on July 13 Gisele Tellier/Future-Image/ZUMA

-Analysis- PARIS — “Paris sera toujours Paris …” When French singer Maurice Chevalier first released the classic tune in 1939, the aim was to brighten the mood of the curfew-burdened French capital as war approached, assuring them that “Paris will always be Paris.” Fast-forward nearly eight decades and another kind of showman has been trying […]

Tags bastille, france, geopolitics, macron, trump, visit

Trump And Bastille Day, How To Spoil France’s Celebration Of Freedom

Post author By
Post date July 12, 2017

Le roi des Kong Gravityx9/Worldcrunch montage

Why does France want to share its annual national party with a president that American history itself is already rejecting? In the UK, instead, a petition against Trump’s state visit has a million signatures.

Tags bastille day, france, macron, trump

G20 To Gaza, Conflicts Among And Within Nations

Post author By
Post date July 10, 2017

Palestinians in the Jabalia refugee camp in Gaza during a recent power outage. Mahmoud Issa/Quds Net News/ZUMA

-Analysis- On Sunday, the G20 summit concluded in Hamburg with a lot of hoopla but scant results. Seen by many as an opportunity for Donald Trump to advance his international agenda, the gathering of world leaders petered out when it became clear that few, if any, were willing to follow the American President’s lead on […]

Tags climate change, erdogan, g20, gaza, germany, protest, trump

The G20, Trump And A World In Search Of A New Leader

Post author By
Post date July 8, 2017

Xi, Merkel and Trump at the G20 in Hamburg on July 7 Christian Charisius/DPA/ZUMA

-Analysis- SAO PAULO — The G20, the club gathering the world’s biggest economies, is the offspring of two crises. First, the 1997 Asian financial crisis led to the creation of the group in 1999, as an annual summit for finance ministers and central bank governors. Their objective back then was to coordinate policies to stabilize […]

Tags brazil, china, g20, globalization, hamburg, isolationism, leadership, macron, merkel, multilateralism, obama, protectionism, Temer, trump

Trump And Russia, It’s Even More Complicated Now

Post author By lmacret
Post date July 5, 2017

Trump at July 4th ceremonies Zach Gibson/CNP via ZUMA

As President Trump prepares for his first face-to-face with Russian President Vladimir Putin, his plans for a reset with Russia are undermined by his own actions.

Tags kgb, putin, russiagate, trump, united states, warsaw

Ideas Syria Crisis

In Syria, The Next War Has Already Begun

Post author By
Post date June 20, 2017

Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoygu last month in Moscow Kremlin

Russia, Iran and U.S. are all looking beyond the defeat of ISIS in Syria. But the little game the great powers are playing is becoming increasingly risky.

Tags iran, isis, missiles, plane shot down, syria, trump

The Tide Of History, From Mar A Lago To Havana

Post author By
Post date June 16, 2017

Looking back from Cuba Atkinson000

What does Donald Trump see when he looks out toward Cuba? Havana, after all, is just a few hundred miles south of the U.S. President’s own coastal getaway at Mar a Lago, Florida. In Trump’s eyes, is the island nation still fundamentally a Communist enemy, even though the Cold War ended nearly three decades ago? […]

Tags Castro, legacy, obama, rapprochement, relations, trump, united states

Economy Eyes on the U.S.

Trump Conflict Of Interest Questions Wash Up At His Caribbean Villa

Post author By
Post date June 10, 2017

A view on the Château des Palmiers Sotheby's

The sale of property belonging to Mr Trump in the French Antilles could become a problem.

Tags conflict, france, interest, martin, saint, sale, trump, villa

The Know-Nothing President, Is This Trump’s Best Defense?

Post author By lmacret
Post date June 9, 2017

Trump and Vice President Mike Pence last month at the White House Ron Sachs/CNP via ZUMA

WASHINGTON — As former FBI Director James Comey held the political world in thrall Thursday from inside a packed Senate hearing room, House Speaker Paul Ryan walked into an unusually empty press briefing across the Capitol. Before Comey’s testimony about his private interactions with President Donald Trump had even concluded, Ryan joined an effort already underway among GOP lawmakers to place it in the best possible light for Trump. “Of course there needs to be a degree of independence” between federal law enforcement and the White House, Ryan said. But, he added, “The president’s new at this. He’s new to […]

Tags congress, gop, paul, ryan, trump, united states

Trump’s Defeatist America, Burning Questions For The World

Post author By
Post date June 3, 2017

Sunset in Washington DC Ted Eytan

-Editorial- PARIS — The world is witnessing an unprecedented diplomatic event. America is retreating as the world faces one of the most serious issues of our time — climate change. It’s deciding not to exert its leadership. It will be neither model nor guide. This continent-sized country is shrinking and retreating into itself, as it […]

Tags climate change, environment, greenhouse gases, paris agreement, trump, united states

Donald Trump’s Week-Long Stumble Across The World Stage

Post author By lmacret
Post date May 25, 2017

Trump and Netanyahu on May 23. Avi Ohayon/Israel GPO/ZUMA

WASHINGTON — President Trump arrived in Jerusalem this week with a most curious bit of information for Israeli President Reuven Rivlin. “We just got back from the Middle East,” Trump announced. “We just got back from Saudi Arabia.” At this, the Israeli ambassador to Washington, Ron Dermer, put his forehead in his palm. Did Trump not know Israel is in the Middle East? Did he not know he was in Israel? There was little time to contemplate this mystery, because Trump was moving on to generate more puzzlement at his meeting with Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister. Americans by […]

Tags East, israel, Mark, Middle, trump, Twain, united states

Controlling Information, From Montana To Manchester

Post author By
Post date May 25, 2017

Reporters ask questions in Washington D.C. in May. Alex Edelman/ZUMA

—Analysis— The simmering tensions between reporters and politicians in the U.S. have moved beyond the White House press room — and beyond just words. Guardian reporter Ben Jacobs was in the state of Montana on Wednesday to cover the hotly contested special election to fill a vacant Congressional seat. When Jacobs asked a question to […]

Tags france, Guardian, Manchester, terrorism, trump

Ideas Trump And The World

Hey World, Look Who’s Coming To Dinner

Post author By
Post date May 19, 2017

Donald Trump stepping out of Air Force One on April 13 Richard Graulich/Palm Beach Post/ZUMA

-Analysis- Donald Trump is not afraid of flying. Since taking office, he’s made it a habit to board Air Force One for back-and-forth weekend visits to his Mar-a-Lago Florida golf resort. But today, four months into his presidency, he takes off for his first overseas trip, with six international flights scheduled over eight days and […]

Tags diplomacy, macron, president, trump, united states, visit, wall, western

How Trump’s Big Mouth Sounds To The World

Post author By
Post date May 16, 2017

Trump pinata Paul Sableman

-Analysis- Last week, just a day after the abrupt dismissal of FBI Director James B. Comey set off the worst round of criticism Donald Trump’s young presidency, the next — and perhaps even more damaging — controversy was being ignited. The Washington Post is reporting that Trump allegedly revealed highly classified information to Russian Foreign […]

Tags Donald, intelligence, lavrov, leaks, president, trump, twitter, united states

Arming Syrian Kurds, A Nasty Thorn In U.S.-Turkey Relations

Post author By lmacret
Post date May 16, 2017

Kurdish fighter during anti-ISIS operation Kurdishstruggle/Planet Pix/ZUMA

As Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan meets with U.S. President Donald Trump, mutual objectives may be overshadowed by the Kurdish question.

Tags diplomacy, geopolitics, isis, syria, terrorism, trump

Ideas Trump And The World

I Support Trump But Firing FBI Chief Comey Was Wrong

Post author By lmacret
Post date May 11, 2017

Protests outside White House after Comey's ouster. John Middlebrook/Cal Sport Media via ZUMA

-OpEd- I’m a Donald Trump supporter. I voted for him and — 112 days in — I’d vote for him again. As a former member of Congress, I found his call to “drain the swamp” in Washington particularly appealing. D.C. needs a kick in the rear and I see Trump as the boot. But I’m not here to be a cheerleader for President Trump, and I’m not on his payroll. When he does something wrong, it’s my duty as a talk-show host, and as a citizen, to call him out. I always have and always will, so let me be […]

Tags comey, fbi, trump, united states

Eyes on the U.S. Ideas Trump And The World

Trump Control, From Comey To Korean Peninsula

Post author By
Post date May 10, 2017

New South Korean President Moon Jae-in Yonhap News/NewscomZUMA

-Analysis- Having spent his whole life running a family business, Donald Trump is still adjusting to the strategic art of control required to effectively run the White House — and help lead the world. Trump fired FBI Director James Comey on Tuesday, making him the shortest serving director since the 1920s. Comey had orbited in […]

Tags apprentice, diplomacy, Donald, In, jae, jong, kim, moon, trump, un, united states

Trump And The Death Of Republican Virtues

Post author By lmacret
Post date May 9, 2017

Who's the fairest of them all ...? Olivier Douliery/CNP via ZUMA

A party is united behind an aging New York playboy with no fixed principles but an insatiable urge to be on the front page every single day.

Tags Donald, mcconnell, mitch, trump, united states

Elections That Matter, And The Ones That Don’t

Post author By
Post date May 5, 2017

Voting in France on April 23 Kay Nietfeld/DPA/ZUMA

-Analysis- Donald Trump makes a lot of noise. In the past week alone, he made headlines for saying he thought being president of the United States “would be easier” and for calling North Korea’s Kim Jong-un “a tough cookie.” But friends and foes alike have advised us to pay attention to what he does more […]

Tags france, le, macron, merkel, pen, politics, trump

Protectionism, A False Promise For France’s Future

Post author By
Post date May 5, 2017

Workers protest at a Whirlpool plant slated for closure in France Chen Yichen/Xinhua/ZUMA

In France’s presidential campaign, like last year’s race in the United States, protectionism is being used to woo the struggling working class. But workers would be its first victims.

Tags economy, france, le pen, obama, tariffs, trump

Eyes on the U.S. Ideas Trump And The World

Duterte And Trump, When Tough Talk Leads To Deadly Action

Post author By lmacret
Post date May 3, 2017

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte Rouelle Umali/Xinhua/ZUMA

WASHINGTON, D.C. — During his campaign for the Republican presidential nomination, Donald Trump boasted that “I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody and I wouldn’t lose voters.” On the 100th day of his presidency, Trump invited Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, who has said that he used to roam the streets on a motorcycle looking for criminals to kill, to the White House. A Duterte state visit to Washington or Mar-a-Lago would be a ghastly spectacle, given the way the Philippines have pursued a war on drugs even more literal than the one in the United […]

Tags Donald, drugs, duterte, geopolitics, president, trump, united states

Eyes on the U.S. Geopolitics

Trump’s Policy Toward Latin America Is Worse Than Just A Wall

Post author By
Post date April 29, 2017

Gazing through the border wall in Tijuana Peggy Peattie/ZUMA

-OpEd- BOGOTÁ –– For some time now, Latin America has not figured on the U.S. State Department’s agenda. If the continent did appear, it was at the bottom of the government’s list. This indifference has only grown starker since Donald J. Trump moved into the White House. This state of affairs is neither good nor […]

Tags american, chavez, colombia, foreign, hugo, immigration, latin, policy, trump, wall

Four Years, 100 Days: The Hard Work Of Popes And Presidents

Post author By
Post date April 28, 2017

No pause for president or pope Michael Vadon/Newsmax/Christoph Wagener/GFDL

-Analysis- Buenos Aires, 2013. At the ripe age of 76, Jorge Mario Bergoglio seems destined to wind down an illustrious career in the Catholic hierarchy as the widely respected and mostly beloved Archbishop of the Argentine capital. But the Holy Spirit (and the College of Cardinals) was destined to intervene, sending the Jesuit prelate to […]

Tags Donald, Francis, italy, papacy, pope, presidency, trump

From Anne Frank To Le Pen, What’s In A Name?

Post author By
Post date April 25, 2017

Portrait of Anne Frank in an exhibition in Frankfurt, Germany Andreas Arnold/DPAZUMA

-Analysis- Today Donald Trump will deliver a speech at the Holocaust Memorial Museum for the National Day of Remembrance. Safe to say, there will be prepared remarks, which neither Trump nor his top spokesman will write. This is no occasion for Trump’s verbal freestyling. Meanwhile, it was Press Secretary Sean Spicer, who two weeks ago […]

Tags france, front, holocaust, national, trump, wwii

Iran And Trump And The Art Of The Empty Threat

Post author By
Post date April 20, 2017

-Analysis- Fox News opted for the verb “slam” to describe the first significant comments about Iran from new U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. “Tillerson slams Iran nuclear deal as “failed approach,”” the conservative network headlined its story yesterday, following Tillerson’s remarks about the 2015 nuclear accord inked by President Obama. But there is another […]

Tags diplomacy, Donald, iran, khamenei, nuclear, trump

Ideas Trump And The World

What Trump Talks About When He Talks About War

Post author By
Post date April 14, 2017

Atomic cake Luis Alejandro Bernal Romero/Worldcrunch montage

-OpEd- When U.S. President Donald Trump recounted last week’s bombing of Syria to a Fox News journalist, the first direct U.S. assault on the regime of the war-torn country, he shared an anecdote — in vivid detail — about eating chocolate cake with Chinese President Xi Jinping at his Mar-A-Lago estate. Trump: “I was sitting […]

Tags afghanistan, airstrikes, bomb, foreign, missiles, policy, syria, trump, united states, war

A Dog For Trump? This Reporter Wags Her Finger

Post author By
Post date April 12, 2017

The Purrrresident jojothepojo via Instagram

-Essay- PARIS — Barack Obama’s family searched the country for a dog at the beginning of his presidency. Bo’s first paw steps turned the Obama White House into a home. Is it time now that his successor, President Donald Trump, should also acquire a pet? Caitlin Gibson wrote in the Washington Post that getting a […]

Tags checkers, obama, pets, presidents, trump, united states

French Elections, Europe And The Meaning Of Patriotism

Post author By
Post date April 11, 2017

Macron is the only openly pro-EU candidate Manuel Blondeau via ZUMA

Emmanuel Macron is the youngest candidate to be France’s next president. That’s not the only feature that sets him apart from the rest of the field.

Tags election, european union, france, le pen, macron, putin, trump

That’s A Long Time In Geopolitics

Post author By
Post date April 10, 2017

People attend the funeral of victims of the blast in Alexandria, Egypt on Sunday. Ahmed Gomaa/ZUMA

By now, that famous Harold Wilson quip “A week is a long time in politics’ can also just as well be applied to geopolitics. Last Monday, Egyptian President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi was enjoying the diplomatic courtesies and photo ops of a White House meeting with Donald Trump, as the world’s attention was mostly focused on […]

Tags affairs, assad, foreign, france, policy, putin, terrorism, trump, world

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