Mark Colley President Joe Biden is making his first big international splash at the G-7 summit in Carbis Bay, England. The countries are working on numerous policy issues, including a corporate tax rate, technology, trade, the pandemic and travel. In the meantime, Biden is cavorting with other world leaders, seen walking with French president Emmanuel Macron’s arm on his shoulder. It’s a stark contrast to former president Donald Trump’s appearances on the world stage, which were — in the kindest of terms — entertaining. In memory of the most entertaining — if not damaging — president this century, here’s the top four moments of Trump on the world stage 4) That North Korean summit File this under irresponsible things Trump did. He met with North Korea dictator Kim Jong-un twice during his administration, ending decades of precedent and appearing to make no progress on nuclear arms. Looking back, the meeting seemed so inconsequential. But it did take some of the ominous mystery away from North Korea in the public eye and made the country seem less like a mortal enemy to the US. Maybe that’s a good thing. Regardless, I’m sure there’s plenty of national security ramifications from this event that intelligence officials were… less than happy about. 3) Meeting with Putin… alone Who could forget when Trump met with Russian president Vladimir Putin alone and went to extraordinary lengths to keep the details of the conversation private. The meeting, which took place at the 2017 G-20 summit in Hamburg, Germany, was perhaps the most controversial meeting between the two world leaders. After the meeting, the Washington Post reported that Trump took his interpreter's notes and told him not to discuss the meeting with anyone. If we’re being honest, it seems very unlikely that anything nefarious is going on here. But on a more basic level, it’s concerning that the leader of the free world purposely kept his aides and administration officials out of the loop on his business with America’s biggest adversary. Yikes. 2) That famous picture It’s not always clear what moments are going into the history books when they happen. But if there was one picture you knew would instantly be remembered for years, it was this one. Taken at the G-7 summit in June 2018 in Canada, Trump and advisor John Bolton appear to be fighting against the world — literally. German chancellor Angela Merkel, Macron and Japan prime minister Shinzo Abe are seen glaring at a defiant Donald, creating a perfect microcosm of his presidency. 1) Gossip caught on camera at Buckingham Palace In December 2019, Macron, Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau, British prime minister Boris Johnson and Dutch prime minister Mark Rutte were caught on camera laughing at Trump during an event at Buckingham Palace. Trump called Trudeau “two-faced” after the hot mic moment went viral, but we all have to enjoy at least a brief moment of honesty from our political figures. “[Macron] was late because [Trump] takes a … 40-minute press conference at the top,” Trudeau said. “You just watched his team’s jaws drop to the floor.” And then, of course, there’s this golden SNL parody of the moment. More WBOB |
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