DeNiro throws F-bombs at Trump during awards
WITH a bleep on live TV and double fists raised in the air, Robert De Niro, pictured, got the theatre crowd on its feet at the Tony Awards with a rousing political introduction of his old friend Bruce Springsteen that was focused squarely elsewhere: on President Donald Trump.
De Niro, a staunch Trump opponent, dropped a couple of F-bombs heard clearly by the Radio City Music crowd yesterday.
The CBS TV audience heard dead silence instead before he raised his arms —— twice — and earned a sustained standing ovation.
The legendary actor urged the audience to vote in November and lauded Springsteen for his own political commitment before the singer sat at a piano for a moving performance based on his Springsteen on Broadway show that had him singing his classic hit, My Hometown.
De Niro said of Springsteen: “Bruce, you can rock the house like nobody else and even more importantly in these perilous times, you rock the vote, always fighting for, in your own words, truth, transparency and integrity in government. Boy, do we need that now.”
US President Donald Trump issued a volley of tweets venting anger on some of Washington’s closest NATO allies over the United States’ trade deficit, following a divisive G7 meeting in Canada.
“Fair trade is now to be called fool trade if it is not reciprocal,” said Trump, who flew from Canada to Singapore for a meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
“Not fair to the people of America! $800 billion trade deficit,” he said.
“Why should I, as president of the United State, allow countries to continue to make massive trade surpluses, as they have for decades, while our farmers, workers & taxpayers have such a big and unfair price to pay?”
Trump went on to lambaste fellow NATO members for paying disproportionately less than the US to maintain the Western alliance.
“The US pays close to the entire cost of NATO — protecting many of these same countries that rip us off on trade (they pay only a fraction of the cost — and laugh!),” he tweeted.
“The European Union had a $151 billion surplus — should pay much more for military!”
“Germany pays 1 per cent (slowly) of GDP towards NATO, while we pay 4 per cent of a much larger GDP. Does anybody believe that makes sense? We protect Eu- rope (which is good) at great financial loss, and then get unfairly clobbered on trade. Change is coming!”
Trump also renewed attacks on Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who had hosted the G7 meeting in Quebec.
“Justin acts hurt when called out!” the US president said in his latest tweet.
On Saturday, he called the Canadian PM “very dishonest and weak.”
Trump took aim at an unspecified news release issued by Canada saying, “they made almost 100 bln dollars on trade with u.s. (guess they were bragging and got caught!).”
The statements further escalate a diplomatic and trade crisis after top White House advisers lashed out at Trudeau, and the spat drew in Germany and France, which sharply criticised Trump’s decision to abruptly withdraw his support for a Group of Seven communique hammered out at the Canadian summit.
On Sunday, White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow accused the Canadian Prime Minister of betraying Trump with “polarising” statements on trade policy, saying on CNN that “(Trudeau) really kind of stabbed us in the back”.
Trade adviser Peter Navarro separately said: “there is a special place in hell for any leader that engages in bad faith diplomacy” with Trump.