Grump in Paris

TGrump in Paris.  Image source: Washington Post

[On his way to Paris, a]board Air Force One, Trump again lost his cool, this time during his phone call with May. He berated the British prime minister on Iran, trade and Brexit, among other topics. The White House did not announce that the call took place nor did it provide an official readout, but U.S. and European officials said in interviews that Trump’s mood was sour and his conversation with May was acrimonious.

On his flight there and throughout the weekend, Trump was preoccupied by political developments back in the United States. He watched TV with rapt attention as late-counting votes resulted in the Senate race in Arizona and a number of House contests to slip out of Republican hands, and as recounts got underway in Florida’s Senate and gubernatorial races. He also complained about the lack of congressional funding for his promised wall at the U.S.-Mexico border.

Trump sent political aides in Washington scrambling to prepare detailed briefings for him on the still-to-be-called races. He aired baseless allegations of voter irregularities on Twitter — writing from the plane that elections attorney Marc Elias was the Democrats’ “best Election stealing lawyer” but that he would send “much better lawyers to expose the FRAUD!”

Still, the president told aides he felt disconnected from the action in his suite at the U.S. ambassador’s residence in Paris — even as he consumed countless hours of television news on the trip.

[...]

“He was frustrated with the trip. And he’s itching to make some changes,” said one senior White House official. “This is a week where things could get really dicey.”

During his 43-hour stay in Paris, Trump brooded over the Florida recounts and sulked over key races being called for Democrats in the midterm elections that he had claimed as a “big victory.” He erupted at his staff over media coverage of his decision to skip a ceremony honoring the military sacrifice of World War I.

[...]

“He’s just a bull carrying his own china shop with him when­ever he travels the world,” presidential historian Douglas Brinkley said.

[...]

“Trump needs adulation, so heading into the midterms, holding these rallies, he was cheered and it became narcissistic fuel to his engine,” Brinkley said. “After the midterm, it’s the sober dawn of the morning.”

  WaPo

I like that. A bull carrying his own china shop.

Trump was awake Saturday well before dawn, if he got much sleep at all, tweeting at 4:52 a.m. Paris time a two-part defense of Whitaker as “highly thought of” and “outstanding.” Later in the day, he scuttled plans to attend a ceremony honoring the military sacrifice of World War I at an American cemetery outside the French capital, citing bad weather.

[...]

But Trump quickly grew infuriated by a torrent of tweets and media coverage suggesting that the president was afraid of the rain and did not respect veterans.

[...]

Trump told aides he thought he looked “terrible” and blamed his chief of staff’s office, and Fuentes in particular, for not counseling him that skipping the cemetery visit would be a public-relations nightmare.

Because he couldn't figure that one out on his own? I call bullshit. He didn't want to go, because it was misty, and he wanted to stay in and watch the TV election results coverage.

Meanwhile, Trump was plotting a shake-up in his administration. He told advisers over the weekend that he had decided to remove Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen and that he also was seriously considering replacing White House chief of staff John F. Kelly, who scrambled early this week to try to save Nielsen’s job.

The senior White House official, who speaks to the president regularly, said Trump has been grousing lately about getting rid of Kelly. “But he’s done this three or four times before,” this person said. “Nothing is ever real until he sends the tweet.”

[...]

During Sunday’s flight to Washington from Paris, aides filed into the president’s private cabin to lobby against the leading contender to replace Kelly, Nick Ayers, who is Vice President Pence’s chief of staff. These aides told Trump that appointing Ayers would lower staff morale and perhaps trigger an exodus.

Are they stupid? That was probably the very thing that cemented the deal.

On Tuesday, amid reports that the president had decided to oust deputy national security adviser Mira R. Ricardel over tensions between her and other administration officials, the first lady’s office issued an extraordinary statement to reporters calling for her firing.

[...]

In her role as No. 2 to national security adviser John Bolton, Ricardel berated colleagues in meetings, yelled at military aides and White House professional staff, argued with Melania Trump regarding her recent trip to Africa and spread rumors about Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, according to three current and two former White House officials.

Kelly has sought for months to oust Ricardel, calling her a problematic hire in the West Wing, and Mattis has told advisers that he wants her out as well, the officials said.

Hmmm...so why isn't she gone?

On Sunday, he got angry at Macron for his remarks at a ceremony honoring the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I. The French president denounced rising nationalism around the world and called it a “betrayal of patriotism,” with two of the world’s leading nationalists — Trump and Russian President Vladi­mir Putin — in attendance.

Trump told advisers he considered Macron’s comment a personal insult, and it came on the heels of a disagreement between the two leaders over Macron’s call for a “true European army.” At their bilateral meeting on Saturday, Trump appeared subdued and almost sullen.

"Almost"? Let's be honest, he's a big baby. He sulks and pouts and throws tantrums. It's good to know he can recognize a personal insult, though.

Once he was back home in Washington, Trump unloaded on his French counterpart, likening Macron’s call for a European army to Germany’s military expansion in World War I and World War II. Trump tweeted Tuesday morning, “How did that work out for France? They were starting to learn German in Paris before the U.S. came along. Pay for NATO or not!”

[...]

And then he attacked Macron for his unpopularity in France — while providing a bit of sloganeering advice.

“The problem is that Emmanuel suffers from a very low Approval Rating in France, 26%, and an unemployment rate of almost 10%,” Trump wrote on Twitter. “He was just trying to get onto another subject. By the way, there is no country more Nationalist than France, very proud people-and rightfully so!.. MAKE FRANCE GREAT AGAIN!”

Once he got home where he was encased in his bedroom bubble and felt protected again. Just like every other whiney bully in the history of the world.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

UPDATE 11/18:



He did well in France.

UPDATE 5/28/19: