Perfect distraction

IT’S not often that a national leader regards a visit from Xi Jinping as a chance to relax a little. For American President Donald Trump, the meeting with his Chinese counterpart tomorrow and Friday offers just that.

Mr Trump has presaged the top-level US-China meeting at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida, by saying Washington will act alone against North Korea if Beijing does not do more to increase pressure on its ally to follow the rules.

A looming nuclear threat on the 38th parallel could hardly be more concerning. Yet at least for the US president it distracts attention from his administration’s dealings with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

With an approval rating of 41.3%, Mr Trump is even below where Gerald Ford was at the same time in his presidency in 1974.

The new president is struggling to find a way to limit immigration from six majority Muslim nations and wondering why his healthcare reforms are stalling. He hopes that his pro-coal and oil energy policy can withstand court challenges from environmentalists.

It’s not easy to explain away his son-in-law’s links to China and Russia, either.

But the main game remains the fallout from the resignation in February of his national security adviser Mike Flynn and his links to Russia. Mr Trump is still struggling to counter claims that Mr Putin tried to prevent a Hillary Clinton election victory.

All the while, White House spokesman Sean Spicer grows in popularity, not as a trusted voice of the president but as a subject of ridicule. Beyond Melissa McCarthy’s Saturday Night Live send-ups, Mr Spicer has been a comic of sorts himself.

As Mr Trump began assembling his administration in December, the Herald expressed concern about the then president-elect’s links to Russia, “given they threaten to reward the man who respected Republican John McCain calls ‘a thug, bully and a murderer’.”