Everyday Trump finds new always to alienate our friends— the few friends left after his two years in office. But he also tends to annoy us here at home. Because he is thin skinned, cannot abide criticism, and operates from a spirit of revenge, he has made the British ambassador persona non grata in Washington. Never mind that it was Ambassador Sir Kim Darroch who organized the royal welcome Trump received during his recent visit to London. Leaked cable communications revealed that, in a candid assessment of the U.S. government, the diplomat had called the Trump administration “clumsy” and “inept”. Trump responded calling Sir Kim “wacky” and “a very stupid guy”. Now the ambassador, feeling he could not do his job, decided to tend his resignation. And Trump had already stated that he would not deal with Darroch. Prime Minister Theresa May lamented the departure stating that it is essential for diplomats to submit honest assessments to the government. Well, that is precisely the point with Mr. Trump. His own staff is afraid to tell him the truth, according to Bob Woodward’s book “Fear: Trump in the White House.” Darroch did nothing but confirm what others have said and written, including former Chief of Staff John Kelly who called Trump and “idiot” and “unhinged.” All of the above has been repeated from different sources including people very close to the president and people who served in his cabinet like Rex Tillerson who supposedly called him a “moro”. Those assessments seem a lot kinder than what ambassador Darroch reported to his P.M. Furthermore, there is little hope that the situation will change, that the president will become better informed or learn from the criticism leveled against him. He doesn’t read, and therefore there is little hope that will become better informed. He resorts to insults, unverifiable accusations, lies, exaggerations on an hourly basis. And he does this with a straight face, with bombastic delivery and repeatedly using poor English as in “I feel badly,” for him or her. His personal lawyers have been candid about their opinions of the president. We heard and saw Michael Cohen describe Trump as a liar and a cheat. John Down, also his former personal lawyer, described Trump as a “f***ing” liar.” He probably saved Trump from being indicted of perjury because he advised strongly against Trump’s wish to an interview with Special Counsel Robert Mueller. We wish he had encouraged him to agree to the interview. He would be gone by now. He has no loyal friends, and his pettiness and arrogance have earned him numerous enemies and he said about the late Senator McCain: “I’m not a fan,” which apparently was interpreted by an aide to hide the name of a ship named in McCain’s honor. That happened during his visit to Japan where he managed to offend P.M. Abe. As he strolls the world stage Trump leaves a trail of resentment towards this nation in every country. When he goes, it will take decades of dedicated diplomacy to restore those friendships.
Editorial