While the Republicans in this country may have trouble getting it into their thick, tapioca filled skulls who and what Trump is, no matter how often he tries to show them, the rest of the world seem to have twigged to it right off of the bat. And unlike the GOP, they’re not planning on rolling over and waiting to have their tummies skritched by their American master anytime soon.
Next week is the G20 summit meeting in Hamburg, and for once the leaders are researching more than where the best bars and restaurants are for taking their national expense accounts out for a breath of air. After the debacle at the NATO meeting in Brussels, they’re preparing to stand up and fight back. Against the oafish, petulant, bellicose manchild from across the Atlantic. They seem to have discovered the true meaning of the Elton John album name, “Madman across the water”, and he’s coming to town.
Many of the G20 leaders stood there in the lobby of NATO headquarters recently and got a tongue lashing from Hair Furor for welshing on their defense bets. This is quite cheeky from a guy with 4 corporate bankruptcies under his belt, including the near impossible feat of running a casino into the ground. And according to Politico, they’re not anxious for a repeat performance. The show original sucked, why sit through an encore? Several European leaders met in German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s office to suss out some strategy,
“The fact that we are meeting here today in Berlin is an expression of the fact that Europe is taking more responsibility in turbulent times,” European Council President Donald Tusk said. “We will speak with one voice.”
The gathering’s main point of consensus appeared to be that Europe shouldn’t shy from a confrontation with Trump.
“If free trade is questioned by a member state then we need to address this,” French President Emmanuel Macron told reporters after the meeting.
This G20 summit could get interesting real quick. Trump is used to dealing with foreign leaders individually, at Mar-A-Lago if possible to put him on his home turf, and he lays on the charm and like a kid with a new cell phone, tries to impress everybody with the apps. In Brussels he berated NATO, and at the G7 conference, he snubbed the other six by abandoning their stroll and waiting for a golf cart for a less than two block walk.
The global leaders are looking for a unified front to the world, and if Trump bucks them on issues like climate change and trade, they’re ready to respond, as a single voice;
“We want to send a message of united action from the G20 regarding the world’s concerns and problems,” Merkel said at the press conference with Macron and other European colleagues.
In addition to a discussion on climate change in the wake of the U.S. decision to withdraw from the Paris climate accord, Merkel said there would be a focus on “rule-based, multilateral and fair” trade. (italics mine)
This does not bode well for Trump. Rules are for wimps, that’s why tough guys like Trump are such winners. Trump spent his whole campaign, and noticeable time as President talking about how we’re getting screwed in foreign trade. Trump may be fond of screaming about trade imbalances and cheating by countries like China and Mexico, but both are G20 members, and apparently the G20 is prepared to tell him that there are rules, and just like NATO, an attack on one is an attack on all. This is not going to please The Inglorious Basterd.
The real fireworks is going to come if there actually ends up being a 19 on 1 wookie stomp. If he bloviates and threatens, and the rest of the conference tells him to “siddown and shaddup”, what does he do? Trump sells himself as a living Rambo with a rabid honey badger on top of his head. But without Twitter, he seems to be a total wuss. When pressed by uncomfortable questions or statement at press photo ops, his “punch back 10 times harder” answer is to look at the White House ushers and say “Thanks for coming everybody” and wait for the room to be cleared. I don’t think the other 19 world leaders are going anywhere, and what’s he gonna do, get up and stomp out of the meeting screaming “I quit!”? Unfortunately for him, this ain’t the Paris accord.