TRUMP : THE MOUSE THAT ROARED

By now we all are familiar with Trump's lies and bluff. His disregard for facts, truth, history or diplomacy is embarrassing. Worse, his vice-president (Pence, "the pious"), his secretary of State (Pompeo, "the Benghazi prosecutor") and his NSC advisor (John Bolton, "the WMD illusionist") obviously bungled the whole Singapore summit preparation.

Their topsy-turvy approach, wherein the end was heralded instead of the beginning, created yet again the chaos which is this president's hallmark. Snubbing preparatory, exploratory talks, Trump ends up alienating everybody. One does not dare to imagine what passes on in the minds of the South Korean, Chinese and Japanese leaders. The clumsy, inappropriate choice of noise over content is hard to swallow.  Seldom has a major power ("great" is no longer the chosen term) acted as reckless in this most delicate talk about talks. True the policies regarding trade, climate, Iran, Cuba, NAFTA, NATO, TPP and the EU set the tone! Only Russia, Trump's kingmaker, is spared (almost).

For one who is familiar with Asian ways and protocol the disbelief is difficult to overcome. Not that the rapprochement between Pyongyang and Washington is out of the question but the loss of face returns Trump to his real dimension, that of a salesman in damaged ware and botched opportunities.