Washington Post reporters Philip Rucker and Carol D. Leonnig have a new book coming out called “A Very Stable Genius” revealing more details about the dysfunctional catastrophe that is the Trump administration. As the title suggests, Trump is dumber than dirt. Of course, we knew that.
President Trump reveals himself as woefully uninformed about the basics of geography, incorrectly telling Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, “It’s not like you’ve got China on your border.” He toys with awarding himself the Medal of Freedom.
And, according to a new book by Washington Post reporters Philip Rucker and Carol D. Leonnig, Trump does not seem to grasp the fundamental history surrounding the attack on Pearl Harbor.
“Hey, John, what’s this all about? What’s this a tour of?” Trump asks his then-Chief of Staff John F. Kelly, as the men prepare to take a private tour of the USS Arizona Memorial, which commemorates the December 1941 Japanese surprise attack in the Pacific that pulled the United States into World War II.
“Trump had heard the phrase ‘Pearl Harbor’ and appeared to understand that he was visiting the scene of a historic battle, but he did not seem to know much else,” write the authors, later quoting a former senior White House adviser who concludes: “He was at times dangerously uninformed.” […]
Ya think? The book apparently goes deeply into Trump and foreign policy which is what interests me the most.:
Early in his administration, for instance, Trump is eager to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin — so much so, the authors write, “that during the transition he interrupts an interview with one of his secretary of state candidates” to inquire about his pressing desire: “When can I meet Putin? Can I meet with him before the inaugural ceremony?” he asks.
After the two leaders meet face-to-face for the first time — 168 days into his presidency at the Group of 20 summit in Hamburg — Trump promptly declares himself a Russia expert… “Tillerson’s years of negotiating with Putin and studying his moves on the chessboard were suddenly irrelevant,” the duo writes. “ ‘I have had a two-hour meeting with Putin,’ Trump told Tillerson. ‘That’s all I need to know. . . . I’ve sized it all up. I’ve got it.’ ”
I wonder why he was so anxious to meet with Putin in person? Yeah, I know …
And get a load of this quote:
“It’s just so unfair that American companies aren’t allowed to pay bribes to get business overseas,” Trump says, according to the book. “We’re going to change that.”
And this, of course:
At one point, after the department blocks the release of what the president believes was a pro-Trump memo, he calls Kelly ranting. “ ‘This is my Justice Department. They are supposed to be my people,’ Trump told Kelly,” the authors write. “ ‘This is the ‘Deep State.’ . . . Mueller’s all over it.’ ”
And this tracks with what we all have heard before about his reading and comprehension skills:
Some details are more harmless than disconcerting. Early in his presidency, Trump agrees to participate in an HBO documentary that features judges and lawmakers — as well as all the living presidents — reading aloud from the Constitution. But Trump struggles and stumbles over the text, blaming others in the room for his mistakes and griping, “It’s like a foreign language.”
It goes on to describe the failed attempts by various former members of the administration to remove Ivanka and Jared,and Trump abusive behavior toward Kirstjen neilson, at last partially because he disdains her for being only 5’4″ I’m not kidding.
And this quote is a doozy. After the photo of Rob Porter’s ex-wife with a black eye surfaces, Trump said, “Maybe Holderness purposefully ran into a refrigerator to give herself bruises and try to get money out of Porter?”
The new information is interesting, and further fills out the story we already know about this chaotic, incompetent White House. But the most important aspects of all these revelations are the real-world consequences. Here’s just one example of how this ignoramus has single-handedly changed the way the world deals with America.
After that meeting with Modi where Trump made it clear that he didn’t have the slightest clue about India’s relationship with China, not even the fact that it shares a border, After that meeting, an aide told the authors, “ ‘the Indians took a step back’ in their diplomatic relations with the United States.”