No one should be that surprised with the news of Trump’s temper tantrum and personal attacks on Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. News pundits wonder at what prompted the all out attack by Trump and his top aids, but I know the real cause. It seemed to be an irrational and disproportionate response to a relatively benign statement from Trudeau on the disagreement over tariffs. Some speculate that Trump didn’t want to appear passive prior to the summit with Kim (not Kardashian). Some speculate that he was only appealing to his base (especially farmers who have the most to lose with a trade war). But its the personal nature of the attack is the clue that leads me to the real reason.
Prior to the G6 Summit, Trump went out of his way to antagonize allies and in so doing, simply reinforced the world’s concept of him as simply ignorant. Trump seemed to have a particular thing against the Canadians. He claimed that the Canadians burned down the White House in the War of 1812, and also claimed the equally false claim that we have a trade deficit with Canada, Trudeau in particular. Once there in Quebec, the Canadian media highlighted several uncomplimentary issues about Trump. For example, it was pointed out that Trudeau was clearly taller than Trump, although Trump’s physical exam indicated that Trump was 2 inches taller than the Canadian Prime Minister. The speculation was that the extra inches in height (and adjustments to weight) were just enough to put Trump out of the range of being classified “obese”. As Marco Rubio learned, its not good to point out Trump’s physical shortcomings. However, the real topper was an article pointing out that Trudeau could hardly hold back laughing out loud as he presented a gift picture of the Hotel Trump’s grandfather owned that was used as a bordello back in the day. While Trump took the gift seriously and Sarah Huckabee-Sanders Tweeted how nice a gesture it was and how well the relationship was going. It became apparent that they had been fooled the morning Trump abruptly left. Apparently stewing on Air Force One, he issued the salvo of harsh, personal attacks.
Of course, behavior like this from anyone, let alone the President is not only irrational, it is also contrary to the welfare of the Country. It is totally consistent with his mental illness. Malignant Narcissists respond with rage whenever they feel slighted personally. The younger (and taller) Trudeau is sophisticated, educated and very popular. He got along very well with Mrs. Trump, and the dance they had together during his last visit led to some very poorly disguised snickers from the other guests (Melania reportedly had just refused to dance with Trump). If this explanation is accurate, then it highlights how dangerous Trump can be with the slightest of slights. It kind of reminds us of… the Great Leader.
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