Trump returns to face storm
US PRESIDENT Donald Trump returned to Washington yest after a brief overseas respite, facing an enduring and intensifying storm over his campaign’s contacts with Russia.
During two pomp-filled days in Paris and another two playing maitre d’ to professional female golfers driving, chipping and putting their way around his Bedminster course in New Jersey, Trump was in his element.
In the French capital, Trump played the role of honoured guest, wooed by new President Emmanuel Macron who was determined to reassert France’s importance on the world stage.
The visit seemed – and indeed was – tailor-made for Trump.
It was the presidency as he would no doubt like it, ceremonial, aggrandising and shorn of its onerous security briefings and tedious policy debates.
Trump even got to attend a military parade of the sort he is rumoured to have wanted for his own inauguration.
For a few days, the angry tweets and the rants against the media were largely gone. In their place, more than a dozen effusive electronic missives that were part tourist postcard, part thank-you note to a cherished host.
Trump variously thanked Macron “for the beautiful welcome ceremony”, for a “great evening” dining at the Eiffel Tower” and for “great conversations”.
“It was a great honour to represent the United States at the magnificent #BastilleDay parade. Congratulations President @EmmanuelMacron!” Trump wrote in one tweet.
Trump’s staff appeared to welcome the respite just as much as their boss, stealing away a few minutes for a latenight Parisian cocktail or croque monsieur.
But for staff, the release was tinged with a sense of exhaustion. The last few gruelling weeks have seen them fly the president from Washington to Poland to Germany, back to Washington, on to Paris and then to Bedminster.
In Washington, the Trump administration faces a fresh string of questions about contacts with a Russian lawyer and lobbyist, further raising the stakes in the federal investigation into whether Trump’s team colluded with Russia to tilt last year’s election.
Trump and most of his top associates have retained hardcharging defence lawyers.
The rolling storms have made life difficult on the face of planet Trump, without fundamentally altering its trajectory.
While investigations are sucking up vital oxygen in Congress, and lawmakers get asked about little else, there is so far little sign Russiagate is costing Trump votes.
His allies in Congress appear to be edging closer to repealing and replacing healthcare reform that was the signature legislative achievement of Barack Obama’s presidency.— AFP