“We’re going to take a very good look at it”, Donald Trump told reporters on Friday afternoon, asked about the bipartisan, bicameral legislation in support of the pro-democracy demonstrators in Hong Kong that is now on the president’s desk.
Late Wednesday, after the House passed the Senate version of the bill, we reiterated just how tough of a spot Trump was in. Not signing the bill risked infuriating the Senate just a month on from the Syria debacle and a month ahead of an expected impeachment trial, while signing it risked infuriating Xi Jinping and thereby deep-sixing the trade deal the White House desperately needs if the administration hopes to keep stocks perched at record highs.
Early reports suggested Trump would go ahead and sign the bill if for no other reason than not doing so would be pointless given that it already has a veto-proof majority. “[The legislation] will become law no matter what”, Democrat Chris Van Hollen said Friday. Asked if there was a veto-proof majority, he said “Absolutely”.
Read more: Trump To Risk Standoff With Xi, Will Sign Hong Kong Bill
And yet, there was no official word through Friday afternoon. Chinese media, meanwhile, continued to chastise American officials.
“US lawmakers have gone blind all together”, Global Times Editor Hu Xijin said Thursday, in a scathing tweet. “President Trump needs to sign the bill using braille”. “[A] hegemonic black hand [is] disguising inhuman violence as pursuit of human rights and democracy”, Xinhua declared, in a silly commentary published Friday. The piece also repeated the threat of “strong” retaliation.
At this point, Trump has made clear his reluctance to upset President Xi and imperil the trade deal. He should have signed the bill immediately, even if he didn’t agree with it because, again, it’s going to become law no matter what he does, and making enemies in the Senate right now is an extremely risky thing for the president to do.
But brilliant strategist Trump is not, which is why, during his outlandish, 53-minute interview on Fox Friday morning (see highlights here), Trump declared his support for Xi.
“We have to stand with Hong Kong, but I’m also standing with President Xi”, Trump said. “He’s a friend of mine, he’s an incredible guy”.
He continued: “We have to stand … if it weren’t for me, thousands of people would have been killed in Hong Kong right now”.
The above-mentioned Hu was incredulous. “President Trump told Fox, if it weren’t for him, thousands of people would’ve been killed in HK and HK would have been obliterated in 14 minutes”, he tweeted. “I don’t think it’s something a president should boast of and I don’t think there should be people who like to hear such hot air”.
Indeed. But America was subjected to nearly an hour of “such hot air” on Friday morning.
Hu’s tweet underscores the notion that there is no “right” answer here. But Trump being Trump, he managed to deliver something that was even more “wrong” than it would have been anyway.
On one hand, he emphasized that it is not a no-brainer for him to side with the people of Hong Kong over his “incredible friend Xi”, a contention that will only serve to heighten concerns about what may have been said on a June 18 call between the two leaders during which some sources say Trump promised to remain quiet on the Hong Kong issue.
On the other hand, he also suggested that were it not for him, Xi would have slaughtered “thousands” of people, a claim which, even if true, is so outrageously uncouth that Beijing is probably at a loss for how to respond.
And so, this pooch is thoroughly and irreparably screwed.
If (or probably “when”) Trump signs the bill, Congress will say it took him too long. Then, in short order, China will blame Trump for allowing US lawmakers to meddle in their affairs and Beijing will remind the White House that Trump accused Xi of hypothetically murdering “thousands” of people.
Have “stable genius” will travel.
Another flawless day at Shitshow, Inc.
Honestly this HK situation is getting out of hand. If anything it’s surprising China has put up with it for so long. Actually shows a great deal of restraint, especially since they were given cause to act once the protests became violent. At the end of the day it’s a Chinese province, and the fact it operated under 2 system 1 country doesn’t change that. China will never back down from this.
I believe the people of HK basically said “freedom or we’ll burn it down”. They are in the burn it down phase as the youth of HK have gone to full disaffected attack the system mode. I believe the CPC has not sent in the military because they would not be able to effectively control the ground (there are presently no military tactics that have proven effective in controlling a large modern urban population) thus get embarrassed by a bunch of children.
From Hong Kong to Russia and back into the White House: As one might imagine, the trump voter/supporter is focused on the “greater good” message of good versus evil. The grey areas and perceptions of a virtuous ideology is a fuel that fires the engines of religion-based finality. The trump/GOP supporter has the God-given allowance to ignore reality and embrace the Great Good — there is no conflict of hypocrisy in loving an ex-game show host who exudes lies and immorality. The very core of GOP thinking is based on a comment in a thread I found this morning (what-makes-people-vote-republican):
“”What we profess is important – not – what we have done””
Trump’s campaign manager says the president was sent by God to save the country.
See ==> “You’d do anything for me, wouldn’t you, Matty?” Trump asked from the back of the limo, according to Harry Hurt III’s 1993 biography, “Lost Tycoon: The Many Lives of Donald J. Trump.”
“Yes, sir, Mr. Trump,” Calamari replied.
Moments later, Trump upped the ante: “Would you kill for me, Matty?”
Calamari’s answer came quickly. “Yes, sir,” he said.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2019/02/28/matthew-calamari-went-viral-after-cohen-hearing-hes-real-he-loves-trump/
Entertaing ==> “We are actually looking at something in Moscow right now, and it would be skyscrapers and hotels, not casinos. Only quality stuff. But thank you for defending me. I’ll soon be going again to Moscow. We’re looking at the Moskva Hotel. We’re also looking at the Rossiya. That’s a very big project; I think it’s the largest hotel in the world. And we’re working with the local government, the mayor of Moscow and the mayor’s people. So far, they’ve been very responsive.”
Lebed: “You must be a very confident person. You are building straight into the center.”
Trump: “I always go into the center.”
Lebed: “I hope I’m not offending by saying this, but I think you are a litmus testing paper. You are at the end of the edge. If Trump goes to Moscow, I think America will follow. So I consider these projects of yours to be very important. And I’d like to help you as best I can in putting your projects into life. I want to create a canal or riverbed for capital flow. I want to minimize the risks and get rid of situations where the entrepreneur has to try to hide his head between his shoulders. I told the New York Times I was talking to you because you are a professional–a high-level professional–and if you invest, you invest in real stuff. Serious, high-quality projects. And you deal with serious people. And I deem you to be a very serious person. That’s why I’m meeting you.”
Trump: “Well, that’s very nice. Thank you very much. I have something for you. This is a little token of my respect. I hope you like it. This is a book called ‘The Art of the Deal,’ which a lot of people have read. And if you read this book you’ll know the art of the deal better than I do.”
When Trump returned from escorting Lebed to the elevator, I asked him his impressions.
“First of all, you wouldn’t want to play nuclear weapons with this fucker,” he said. “Does he look as tough and cold as you’ve ever seen? This is not like your average real-estate guy who’s rough and mean. This guy’s beyond that. You see it in the eyes. This guy is a killer. How about when I asked, ‘Were you a boxer?’ Whoa–that nose is a piece of rubber. But me he liked. When we went out to the elevator, he was grabbing me, holding me, he felt very good. And he liked what I do. You know what? I think I did a good job for the country today.”
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1997/05/19/trump-solo ( published in the print edition of the May 19, 1997, issue. )