Replies to post #254409 on Tornado Alley (PROG)

[BOREALIS]

Donald Trump’s Strange Trip To Mexico Shows That He Is All Talk, No Action

By Sean Colarossi on Wed, Aug 31st, 2016 at 6:59 pm

When Trump finally had the opportunity to show that he could talk tough and fight for his policies outside the setting of a political rally, he folded like a cheap lawn chair.

As Jason Easley wrote today, Donald Trump’s short visit with Mexican President Pena Nieto was bizarre, and Trump came off as rather weak.

So weak, in fact, that Trump didn’t even have the courage to discuss the one thing that has been central to his campaign since the beginning: the fact that Mexico will pay for a proposed wall on the southern border of the United States.

Trump’s success in the Republican primary was based largely on this promise and his commitment to enlist a deportation force to ship over 11 million undocumented immigrants out of the country.

These are huge applause lines at Trump campaign events, and his supporters claim they are evidence that Trump is a tough guy who isn’t afraid to say what needs to be said. Trump himself says that he won’t be like typical politicians who are “all talk and no action.”

But when the Republican nominee finally had the opportunity to show that he could talk tough and fight for his policies outside the setting of a political rally, Trump folded like a cheap lawn chair. He was the very definition of all talk and no action.

That was the Donald Trump that showed up in Mexico.

The truth is that Trump just isn’t that interested in working to implement policies in order to create a stronger America. His crazy immigration proposals don’t exist because he thinks they will improve the country; he came up with them because he knew he had to win over the crazies that now make up the base of the Republican Party.

And Trump certainly doesn’t care about striking deals or sitting down with world leaders to build a consensus around important issues. If he did, he wouldn’t have remained largely silent about an issue that has driven his campaign for over a year – especially in a setting where he could actually do something about it.

So let’s just be clear: Trump isn’t really passionate about immigration policy or building a wall or stopping crime, which he falsely claims is at “record levels.” He’s just passionate about saying and doing things in the moment that he thinks will get him good press.

If anything, that’s what his strange trip to Mexico proved.

http://www.politicususa.com/2016/08/31/donald-trumps-strange-trip-mexico-shows-talk-action.html

[fuagf]

Live: Donald Trump Calls Mexican President ‘a Friend’

By ALEX BURNS, MAGGIE HABERMAN and KIRK SEMPLEAUG. 31, 2016

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/31/us/politics/donald-trump-mexico.html?_r=0

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Trump Claims He’s a ‘Friend’ to LGBT People, LGBT Community Calls Him ‘Shameful, Disgusting’
June 13, 2016
http://latest.com/2016/06/trump-claims-hes-a-friend-to-lgbt-people-lgbt-community-calls-him-shameful-disgusting/

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Does Donald Trump Have Any Friends?

Kevin DrumDec. 30, 2015 1:36 PM



One of the things that kind of fascinates me about Donald Trump1 is the fact that he doesn't even pretend that his attacks are real. His latest 2-minutes hate has been directed at Bill Clinton, and he's pretty much admitted that he doesn't really believe the stuff he's saying. But if Hillary attacks him, he has to attack back. Here's Rebecca Sinderbrand ..

Trump on HRC: "Had to mention her husband's situation. And now it's the biggest story on television by a factor of 10. So you have to do it"

— Rebecca Sinderbrand (@sinderbrand) December 30, 2015

:

--
Trump on HRC: "Had to mention her husband's situation. And now it's the biggest story on television by a factor of 10. So you have to do it"
--

He had to do it—delivered with the usual Trumpish shrug of the shoulders. That's all. And if Hillary stops, he'll stop. It's business, not personal.

This is an odd quirk in Trump's personality. He seems to have an ironclad rule against ever attacking someone first. Even Vladimir Putin. Putin says nice things about Trump, so Trump has to say nice things back. Opposing candidates who don't attack him are "great guys." But if you attack first, then he has to fire off a nuclear retaliation. There's an odd kind of chivalry at work here, and I suppose it also provides people with a motivation to leave him alone.

This may also be responsible for the odd silence about Trump from everyone who knows him. I've been wondering for a while whether Trump has any friends. Real friends, that is. Not family members, not people who work for him, and not celebrity buddies who have a casual acquaintance with him. I'm talking about people he's worked with frequently and who like him. People he hangs out with regularly. People from his childhood or college years that he's stayed close to. Are there any?

I can't tell. Nobody from the New York development community seems willing to say anything about him, which would make sense if they all dislike him but don't want to trigger a temper tantrum. Who needs the grief, right? How about childhood friends? Not that I've heard of. Trump seems to view people almost entirely transactionally, as assets to be deployed, so it would hardly be surprising if none of them had stayed close. Given his penchant for demanding sycophancy, and lashing out instantly against even a hint of criticism, I suppose it would be hard to have any real long-term friends or even any long-term business pals. It's kind of sad, actually.

1Against my will, but there you have it.
http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2015/12/does-donald-trump-have-any-friends