Trump’s sting in the tail for PM will end in crying game
heard it more than 25 years ago.
It seems, judging by Theresa May’s uncomfortable appearance on US TV this week, she too may have seen the film when she was pushed over her relationship with Donald Trump.
During an awkward interview on the CBS breakfast TV show This Morning, before travelling to New York for the United Nations General Assembly, the Prime Minister was asked about her relationship with the President.
Flummoxed, Mrs May was unable to name a single instance when she had influenced Trump’s opinion about anything.
She was then grilled over whether she trusted the President, the leader of our greatest ally, who according to the Washington Post’s Fact Checker blog has told more than 5,000 false or partially untrue statements since he took office in January 2016.
“When he tells you something, do you trust him?” she was asked. “Of course I listen to what the American President tells me,” she said.
But as Mrs May struggled for a definitive answer, she was pressed again.
“But do you trust him?” she was asked.
Distressed, she stumbled for a response before, like a frog, replying:
“Well, yes. I mean, we work together. We have a special relationship.”
Mrs May found out only too well why she should not trust the President.
Just a day before his only visit to the UK earlier this year, he trashed the Prime Minister’s leadership, warning she may have killed off any chance of a vital US trade deal.
Two days later after he arrived in London, he denied his comments despite what he said being recorded.
Mrs May’s less then glowing endorsement is well placed and so it should be.
On Tuesday, when Trump addressed the UN General Assembly he emphasised his administration’s intent to distance itself from international groups and pacts the US has previously embraced.
It deepened the existing chasm between the States and its traditional allies, all while he cosies up to Vladimir Putin.
Some 18 months into his time in the White House, his foes have him figured out while America’s friends are ducking for cover.
Trump’s off-script, erratic campaign-style rallies, complete with carefully scripted aspirations of his administration, suggest to large parts of the world he is a man who cannot control himself, much less the country he leads.
His America is without question out of kilter with much of the western world and while friends voice their fears, America’s enemies continue to gear up to take advantage.
On Tuesday, the world openly laughed at Trump as members of the United Nations’ General Assembly giggled after he boasted his administration had “accomplished more than almost any in the history of our country”.
It showed again how leaders have taken their own poll on Trump and found him wanting in about every department, concluding he is a global liability, not a global leader.
His lies and continual struggle with the truth should tell Theresa May all she needs to know about whether she can trust Trump.
Ever since he took office, America has been forced to endure its very own crying game.
We can but hope Mrs May has the strength to not let Trump become her scorpion from across the pond when it comes to a deal post-Brexit.
Mrs May was unable to name a single instance when she had influenced Trump’s opinion