Tag: Trump the bully

Trump praises Pompeo over handling of NPR reporter: ‘You did a good job on her’

The Hill logoPresident Trump on Tuesday complimented Secretary of State Mike Pompeo for his handling of a dispute with an NPR reporter, making light of the incident and saying that the top diplomat “did a good job on her.”

Trump recognized Pompeo as “our great secretary of State” during remarks announcing his administration’s Middle East peace plan alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House, before referencing his clash with the NPR reporter unprompted.

“That’s impressive. That was very impressive,” Trump said, commenting on the applause that Pompeo received from the crowd when he said his name. “That reporter couldn’t have done too good a job on you yesterday. I think you did a good job on her, actually.” Continue reading.

 

‘Volatile’ Trump ‘verbally and emotionally’ abused ex-DHS secretary Nielsen because she refused his ‘illegal’ demand to close US-Mexico border

AlterNet logoFrom former Attorney General Jeff Sessions to former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, President Donald Trump has made life miserable for many of the Republicans who have been part of his administration. And the forthcoming Philip Rucker/Carol Leonnig book “A Very Stable Genius: Donald Trump’s Testing of America,” according to The Guardian’s David Smith, shows that there was also considerable tension between Trump and former Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen.

The Guardian has obtained a copy of the book, which has a January 21 release date on Amazon — and Smith reports that Trump believed Nielsen wasn’t tough enough when it came to U.S/Mexico border policy. Nielsen became secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in December 2017 and resigned in April 2019.

“In some instances,” Rucker and Leonnig write in the book, “the volatile president was verbally and emotionally abusive toward Nielsen. ‘Kirstjen, you’re just not tough enough,’ Trump would tell her. Trump complained Nielsen did not ‘look the part’ of Homeland Security secretary.” Continue reading.

Facing The Russian Dictator, Our Bullyboy President Cowered

The following article by Gene Lyons was posted on the National Memo website July 17, 2018:

It’s almost proverbial to say that every bully is a coward at heart. But that’s wishful thinking. In politics, many strongmen are like Vladimir Putin, ruthless, cunning and sadistic. As the world witnessed in Helsinki, a posturing blowhard like Donald Trump is simply no match for the Russian dictator.

Faced with a real thug, the trust-fund poser cowered.

Thankfully, Putin is also a bloody-minded realist. Because the disgraceful spectacle of Trump belittling America’s NATO allies, lying about it, and then cringing before the Russian dictator might otherwise tempt him to do something reckless. If the U.S. president is weak, the western democracies are still far stronger than Russia. But events are definitely moving in Putin’s direction.

View the complete post on the National Memo website here.