A Snake in the Grass
After years of being blinded by the gaslit world of Trump’s social media feed, we’re used to ledes like this from AP: “President Donald Trump on Sunday said vandals are to blame for large swaths of dead grass on the National Mall near the World War II Memorial — in the same spot where Trump had a stage built and hosted crowds for his July 4 celebration.” There is so much of this garbage that it gets about as much coverage as any other addled man yelling at imaginary criminals to get off what used to be his lawn. But, at this point in Trump’s second term, the almost comical craziness of his social media feed is indistinguishable from the madness of his foreign policy, and with war and peace and the world order at stake, no one is laughing. Well, our enemies might be. In the latest act of Seoul-crushing craziness, Trump has rekindled his love for Kim Jong-un at the expense of several allies. The NYT (Gift Article): Trump’s Overture to Kim Jong-un Strains Alliance With South Korea. “In recent years, North Korea has not only expanded its nuclear arsenal but also repeatedly threatened to use it against South Korea, labeling its neighbor a ‘most hostile enemy.’ Its leader, Kim Jong-un, has also forged a mutual defense treaty with Moscow, dispatching troops and weapons to support Russia’s war against Ukraine. Despite these escalations, Mr. Trump, in a social media post, characterized North Korea as ‘unthreatening and respectful’ while boasting of his ‘very good relationship” with Mr. Kim.'” (Trump is losing one war while simultaneously ceding future wars.)
+ Tom Nichols in The Atlantic (Gift Article): Trump Will Make South Korea Pay for His Iran Humiliation. “America and the rest of the world are now witnessing a public exhibition of narcissistic rage. Trump embarked on a war for personal glory, and what he got instead was ongoing humiliation. He clearly finds it all unbearable. Trump both fears and respects the autocrats who rule Russia, China, and North Korea, and so he dares not cross them. Instead, he is seeking to assuage the psychic injury of his loss in Iran—including the American public learning of the shameful conditions to which he has subjected U.S. forces—by kicking America’s allies, the nations he can punish without fear that they will kick him back.”
+ Nichols’ diagnosis seems pretty accurate. Trump basically confirmed it the day after his Seoul selling. Trump lashes out at Oman as the preliminary deal with Iran expires. “In an interview with Fox News, the president lashed out at an American ally, Oman, that has been trying to mediate negotiations with Iran. ‘If Oman gets in the way, we’ll bomb the shit out of them.'” We’ve all been forced into becoming armchair psychoanalysts, but much of what we’re seeing from Trump (who is not exactly one to conceal his symptomatology) was predictable. What’s shocking, even given their years of self-serving sycophancy, is the extent to which Trump’s enablers continue to support him as his reasoning, his political support among voters, and America’s role in the world order continue to crumble. Maybe that’s what’s ruining the grass.
+ Scheduling Note: NextDraft delivery will be sporadic this week.
