It’s just possible Trump’s foes are exaggerating a little about how bad his foreign policy is
Many foes. Donald Trump on CBS Evening News, July 14:
Well, I think we have a lot of foes. I think the European Union is a foe, what they do to us in trade. Now, you wouldn’t think of the EU but they’re a foe. Russia is foe in certain respects. China is a foe economically … But that doesn’t mean they are bad … I respect the leaders of those countries.
Impossible to exaggerate the significance! Former UK deputy PM Nick Clegg, Channel 4 News, July 18:
Just set aside for a minute whether one likes or dislikes Trump’s tweets and his manners and his boorishness … but I think it is impossible to exaggerate the significance of the strategic shift such that the leader of the so-called free world now regards the European Union, if his latest pronouncements are to be concerned, as great a foe, if not greater than, Russia and China.
Trump-Putin summit, July 15:
Reporter: President Putin denied having anything to do with the election interference in 2016. Every US intelligence agency has concluded that Russia did … who do you believe?
Trump: My people came to me … they said they think it’s Russia. I have President Putin; he just said it’s not Russia. I will say this: I don’t see any reason why it would be.
Disgraceful! Anderson Cooper, CNN News, July 16:
You have been watching perhaps one of the most disgraceful performances by an American president at a summit in front of a Russian leader certainly that I’ve ever seen.
9/11! Pearl Harbor! Kristallnacht! Jill Wine-Banks, MSNBC July 16:
(Russians meddling in US elections is) just as serious to me as the Cuban missile crisis or the 9/11 attack. The President is taking the side of the people who attacked us. His performance today will live in infamy as much as the Pearl Harbor attack or Kristallnacht.
Treason! John Brennan, CIA director under Obama, Twitter July 16:
Donald Trump’s press conference performance in Helsinki rises to & exceeds the threshold of “high crimes & misdemeanours”. It was nothing short of treasonous. Not only were Trump’s comments imbecilic, he is wholly in the pocket of Putin. Republican Patriots: Where are you???
Bad day doesn’t Trump bad decade. Charles Hurt, Washington Times, July 16:
Nobody but the worst partisan hacks think Mr Trump “colluded” with Russia. Nor do any serious people think his victory was somehow not legitimate … as bad as Mr Trump’s performance in Helsinki was, it is not nearly as bad as … as allowing Russia to invade Ukraine … reneging on US assurances to protect eastern European allies with anti-missile systems … ignoring your own “red line” laid down in Syria after Syrian butcher and Putin-puppet Bashar Assad gassed his own people … (or) whispering to Russia that you will have more “flexibility” after re-election to surrender everything to Russian power. And let’s not forget the whole treasonous deal with Iran where the US government worked feverishly to lift sanctions against one of our most virulent enemies and state sponsors of terrorism. In the process, the US also gave the militant theocracy billions of dollars … and set them on a pathway to a nuclear bomb. Those are just a handful of diplomatic atrocities perpetuated by president Obama and … former CIA director John Brennan. … So, Mr Trump had a bad day. That is just one bad day, versus years … of bad days for you, Mr Brennan, and the rest of your dishonest, anti-American treasonous cowards.