Category Archives: Foreign
NATO Brussels Breakfast Belgian Waffles
President Trump spoke up in his usual way at a NATO breakfast in Brussels. Which is to say overbearing.
He drove home the point, over and over, that all the member states need to pay their fare share. The U.S. pays more than other NATO members by far.
Brussels Breakfast Belgian Waffles
It’s a point often made by Trump opponents. But they were mortified.
Harley Davidson Trade War Surrender Monkey
President Trump thinks Harley-Davidson is a traitorous Trade War surrender monkey. It wasn’t always that way. That is until the E.U. slapped a 31% tariff on the company in response toTrump’s 25% tariffs on E.U. steel and aluminum.
Trump had considered Harley to be part of his base. But he left the motor cycle maker in a tough spot. His tariffs coupled the E.U. hit could add $2,200 to the price of each bike.
Harley’s customer base consists of American Baby Boomers. And they’re getting too old and fat to ride the Hogs. So the company looked abroad, building plants in Brazil, India and Thailand. And it plans a new plant in the E.U. which would dodge the tariff.
Trade War Surrender Monkey
That didn’t sit well with Trump. He tweeted that Harley raised the “white flag” and he threatened to tax them like “never before.”
Whatever that means.
Zero Tolerance
President Trump’s zero tolerance didn’t last long.The WSJ has a story about Honduran mothers with children on the wrong side of the border. They waited to be arrested. Border patrol agents obliged them and then took mother and child to a processing center.
Norms Have Changed
In a PBS interview Bill Clinton pined for the old days. He griped that norms have changed. And you can’t have your way with people against their will anymore.
Norms
Well, as Jimmy Carter used to say, “life ain’t fair.”
What Rocket Man Told Trump
Nobody but the translator really knows what Rocket Man told Trump at their summit in Singapore. But we do know Kim wouldn’t be there if not for his nuclear weapons. His nukes are how he communicates his fearsome awesomeness to the world.
Communicators
Speaking of communicating his fearsome awesomeness – where would President Trump be without his Twitter account?
Could be a long negotiation.
