PM still walks a fine line
POINT COUNTERPOINT
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau continues to walk the “sunny ways” tight-rope whenever he goes to Washington, and especially when he sits in front of the Oval Office fireplace with the increasingly most dangerous man in the world.
As far as I can tell that fire still hasn’t been lit. But that may just be a matter of time: black smoke rising from a chimney at the White House signaling the end of the world as we know it, confirming what many have feared for some time -- well before last year’s U.S. election, now almost a year ago. If you know what I mean.
Has it really been that long? Seems like yesterday. And still the several investigations into the extent to which Russia committed an act of cyber-warfare to affect the outcome of the presidential election, and who was involved, plod on.
Will they – Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation especially – end in time, with irrefutable evidence of collusion, or not? Or will the man in the White House who continues to call it a “hoax” kept alive by the “fake news media” find a way to make it all go away?
To be clear, that is the news media, what used to be called the free press, that doggedly publishes reports – often citing unnamed insider sources - critical of President Donald Trump; such as a recent report about Secretary of State Rex Tillerson calling him a very unflattering name after a high-level meeting at the Pentagon.
The same news network that broke that story, NBC, also reported Trump wanted a tenfold increase in the U.S. nuclear arsenal. It cited three unnamed sources with knowledge of what was said at the Pentagon meeting.
Trump denied the accuracy of that story this past Wednesday. More troubling perhaps, from NBC’s perspective, was a written statement from his wellrespected Defence Secretary, James Mattis. He called the report “absolutely false,” adding “this kind of erroneous reporting is irresponsible.”
Trump seized the opportunity later in the day to take it one very big step further on his favourite social media venue, Twitter, suggesting it was time to muzzle not just NBC, but “network news” in general:
“Network news has become so partisan, distorted and fake that licenses must be challenged and, if appropriate, revoked. Not fair to public!”
Trump’s contempt for the inquiring news media, despite the U.S. Constitution’s guarantee of Freedom of the Press, was queried during his meeting this past week with Trudeau in the Oval Office. His response led the Washington Post to call it “perhaps his most chilling comments yet about the freedom of the press.”
An online transcript of the media question-and-answer session with Trump and Trudeau, as well as their opening remarks makes interesting reading. References to the ongoing “tough” NAFTA negotiations were to a large extent preempted by Trump’s keen interest in the U.S. nuclear arsenal and his threatening attitude toward the news media.
“We are here with a man who has become a friend of mine, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Mrs. Trudeau,” Trump said. “Thank you so much. Appreciate it. And we are discussing many things, including NAFTA. But we have discussions scheduled for quite a few subjects, and I think we both look very much forward. And I want to just tell you, Justin, great honor to have you both with us. Thank you. Thank you very much.
“Thank you. It’s great to be back here in the Oval Office,” Trudeau replied. “As the President said, a lot of things to discuss. We have an incredibly close relationship - two countries that are interwoven in our economies, cultures, and in our peoples. But we have a good partnership, and there’s always ways to improve it - always issues we need to talk through. And that’s why having an ongoing, constructive relationship between the President and the Prime Minister is really important. And I’m glad to be able to meet with you here again today. Merci beaucoup.”
A reporter asked Trump the supposedly big question of the day, at least from a Canadian perspective: “Is NAFTA dead?”
His response was . . . well, typically hard to decipher:
“We’ll see what happens,” he replied, “We have a tough negotiation, and it’s something that you will know in the not-too-distant future. But we are going to be discussing NAFTA, and we’ll be discussing defence because we have a great - I mean, these are truly great and original allies, and their mutual defence is very important. And I guess we’ll also be discussing mutual offense, which people don’t mention too often. But offense is part of defense. So we have many things to talk about, but NAFTA will certainly be a big factor today. Okay?”
“Do you want to increase the nuclear arsenal?”
“No, I never discussed increasing it. I want it in perfect shape. That was just fake news by NBC, which gives a lot of fake news, lately. No, I never discuss - I think somebody said I want ten times the nuclear weapons that we have right now.
Right now, we have so many nuclear weapons. I want them in perfect condition, perfect shape. That’s the only thing I’ve ever discussed . . . And it’s, frankly, disgusting the way the press is able to write whatever they want to write. And people should look into it.”
What “people” apparently remains to be seen. “Chilling” indeed.
Trump glanced over at Trudeau as he said those last few words, as if assuming sympathetic agreement.
I think it’s fair to say the Prime Minister of Canada was biting his tongue.
But at some point, he too must dare to speak truth to power. Or he is not the man many of us thought he was.