EXCLUSIVE - NATO Frantically Tries to Trump-Proof President's First Visit
Source: Foreign Policy
A freaked-out NATO braces for Donald Trumps first meeting of the transatlantic alliance.
BY ROBBIE GRAMER MAY 15, 2017
NATO is scrambling to tailor its upcoming meeting to avoid taxing President Donald Trumps notoriously short attention span. The alliance is telling heads of state to limit talks to two to four minutes at a time during the discussion, several sources inside NATO and former senior U.S. officials tell Foreign Policy. And the alliance scrapped plans to publish the traditional full post-meeting statement meant to crystallize NATOs latest strategic stance.
On May 25, NATO will host the heads of state of all 28 member countries in what will be Trumps first face-to-face summit with an alliance he bashed repeatedly while running for president. NATO traditionally organizes a meeting within the first few months of a new U.S. presidents term, but Trump has the alliance more on edge than any previous newcomer, forcing organizers to look for ways to make the staid affair more engaging.
Its kind of ridiculous how they are preparing to deal with Trump, said one source briefed extensively on the meetings preparations. Its like theyre preparing to deal with a child someone with a short attention span and mood who has no knowledge of NATO, no interest in in-depth policy issues, nothing, said the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity. Theyre freaking out.
Still, despite these changes, experts are wary of how Trump will react to NATO meetings and their long-winded, diplomatic back-and-forth among dozens of heads of state, which can quickly balloon into hours of meandering discussions. One former senior NATO official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, described these meetings as important but painfully dull.
Read more: http://foreignpolicy.com/2017/05/15/nato-frantically-tries-to-trump-proof-presidents-first-visit-alliance-europe-brussels/
C_U_L8R
(45,018 posts)Trump is such a moron... oh, the shame.
PatSeg
(47,567 posts)This is so pathetic.
furtheradu
(1,865 posts)Horrifies me. The "best" I can hope for is we're ONLY embarrassed. Thank You for this post.
Vinca
(50,302 posts)dhill926
(16,351 posts)and expose him for the shit stain he is...
Lucky Luciano
(11,258 posts)bettyellen
(47,209 posts)Or they anticipate it would be too embarrassing or unproductive? I'm not thrilled about this since he seems to despise having a paper trail, or vetting, or facts...
vlyons
(10,252 posts)is my first thought too. What kind of faux pax shit show will Trump enact? How many think he will drag out his greatest electoral college win since the wheel was invented?
Chemisse
(30,816 posts)If he can't attend a NATO meeting without special "accommodations," he should not be on the world stage.
ATL Ebony
(1,097 posts)LuckyLib
(6,819 posts)of the office, get the hell out!
smirkymonkey
(63,221 posts)It's absolutely ridiculous that they should have to dumb down to cater to this pathetically stupid, immature man-baby.
I can't believe they are even entertaining the notion. Fuck him if he can't handle it. It will serve him right to be publicly humiliated.
sheshe2
(83,855 posts)and probably as much brain power.
Paladin
(28,271 posts)What a humiliation trump is.
C_U_L8R
(45,018 posts)He's never quite sure if people are making fun of him to his face.
You can see it when he gets that "i gotta fart' look.
He suspects someone is showing great disrespect - but the joke
is clearly going of his head. I think he doubletaked Obama and
Merkel as they artfully got under his skin. Hilariously thin skin.
So easy.
madinmaryland
(64,933 posts)Else You Are Mad
(3,040 posts)The other NATO nations will have secret meetings that exclude the US just so they can get some actual business done.
kimbutgar
(21,177 posts)I predict he will walk out and be bored within 30 minutes. They should have the photos ops at the end so he's not included.
And imagine the protesters who will be outside waiting for him. It's going to be a nightmare.
dixiegrrrrl
(60,010 posts)I can only imagine the part when everyone sits around and listens to translators.
and the fact he cannot hog all the limelight.
I hope they call him Drumpf.
For the hell of it, I looked up the 28 NATO countries. (He will be so lost without Russia.)
Original members:
Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, the United Kingdom and the United States.
The other member countries are: Greece and Turkey (1952), Germany (1955), Spain (1982), the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland (1999), Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia (2004), and Albania and Croatia (2009).
So hey..he should bring Melania along. She can talk in a lot of the languages they will be using.
kimbutgar
(21,177 posts)Martin Eden
(12,875 posts)It's a mistake to coddle a petulant child.
Demit
(11,238 posts)He's Billy Mumy's character in the Twilight Zone episode, who can send people to the cornfield.
Martin Eden
(12,875 posts)... but he has ample power to be frighteningly dangerous.
The thing is, We The People really need a way to take that dangerous power away from this ignorant petulant manbaby -- which would require his own party having a major role in that proceeding.
I don't know how far beyond the pale Donnie has to be for that to happen, but exposing his embarrassing dangerous deficiencies is a push in that direction.
It's a gamble as to what he might do if dissed on the international stage, but he's the biggest world threat right now no matter what. He has to be got rid of.
Interesting allusion.
Solly Mack
(90,779 posts)Bernardo de La Paz
(49,032 posts)colorado_ufo
(5,737 posts)Sunlei
(22,651 posts)dchill
(38,517 posts)wcmagumba
(2,889 posts)the money they owe and storm out of the room...drumph is one giant belching a-hole!
moonscape
(4,673 posts)underpants
(182,868 posts)but make sure it's THE BEST chocolate cake
Flaleftist
(3,473 posts)Lots and lots of trans fat, bigly. And zero exercise.
moonscape
(4,673 posts)COLGATE4
(14,732 posts)that if this identical statement - "NATO is scrambling to tailor its upcoming meeting to avoid taxing... (the) President's... notoriously short attention span" had been published in the mainstream press eight years ago there wouldn't have been a horrendous outpouring of incredulity and criticism? This is how far down the rabbit hole we've gone in just a little over 100 days. God help us.
underpants
(182,868 posts)It'll take a long time to figure it out.
Thomas Hurt
(13,903 posts)Flaleftist
(3,473 posts)Juliusseizure
(562 posts)I'd be serving Trump steaks, Trump Vodka and Trump water at every meal, and toast him for being a brilliant businessman/politician and the most powerful person in the world. He loves the ego boost.
I'd have very attractive young women serving the above and pretending to enjoy his company. He loves being with attractive women who find him irresistible.
I'd honor him with grand awards of knighthood, honorary greatest person awards, and other fake titles on fake gold medals. He loves the ego boost.
Then with all those distractions I'd had him sign documents he won't read to get the goods.