3,
May 2017 Trump’s obsessions
President
Trump seems to be obsessively warm and effusive to some of the most brutal
dictators in the world. Following his inauguration, he reached out to Vladimir
Putin in the hope of warming relations with Russia and perhaps thanking him for
the role he played in torpedoing Clinton’s efforts. Earlier this year he invited President el-Sisi of Egypt
to the White House. El-Sisi is a former army
general who overthrew the democratically-elected president of Egypt in 2013. He imprisoned tens of thousands of
soldiers, police, judges, prosecutors, academics and journalists.
Following
Erdogan
of Turkey’s election, Trump called to congratulate him ignoring his assault on
free speech and imprisonment of tens of thousands of people following last
year’s coup.
Thailand’s
leader is another authoritarian leader invited to the White House. The
invitation will help fend off domestic opposition in Thailand. Prime Minister Prauth
Chan ocha seized power in a military coup three years ago.
His
latest infatuation is with President Rodrigo Duterte of the Philippines, the
authoritarian leader guilty of the extrajudicial killing of tens of thousands
of suspected drug suspects. During their
“very friendly conversation,” Trump invited him to the White House. This was
Trump’s latest impulsive gesture which caught members of his National Security
Council and State Department off guard.
Trump praised the dictator of North Korea, Kim Jong Un,
as a “smart cookie.” He recently stated
that he would be “honored” to meet the North Korean leader.
No comments:
Post a Comment