So much respect

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has rebuffed Donald Trump’s invitation to attend a G-7 summit, which the president is keen to portray as a symbol of a return to normality from the upheaval of the coronavirus crisis.

[...]

In a call this week, [Merkel and Trump] had heated disagreements on topics including NATO, the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline between Russia and Germany, and relations with China, according to a senior U.S. official, who declined to be named.

[...]

One official said the lack of preparation had heightened concerns among EU leaders about the potential political drawbacks of traveling to the U.S. — especially if they had not yet had a chance to meet in person in Brussels to discuss their own affairs.

[...]

In a readout of a call between [UK PM Boris] Johnson and Trump on Friday, No. 10 Downing Street said: “On the upcoming G-7 Summit, the Prime Minister and President discussed the importance of leaders meeting in the U.S. in person if possible."

[French president Emmanuel] Macron has said he would be willing to attend the summit.

  Politico

He can say that if he knows there won't be one.

But a ban on nonessential travel from outside the EU remains in effect, and a decision on when to lift it is expected by mid-June.

Abe has expressed similar openness, though Japanese media have noted that under current guidelines, the prime minister and his entourage would be required to quarantine for 14 days upon returning to Tokyo.

So, highly unlikely.

Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte has also voiced a willingness to travel to Washington, as has Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. European Council President Charles Michel has said that he, too, would be up for the trip — if health conditions permit it.

Privately, however, one official familiar with the situation said that other EU leaders would support Merkel and would not attend Trump's summit if Merkel thought it was a bad idea.

He'll be rage-tweeting them.

Trump canceled the summit in March because of the crisis and said he would host a videoconference instead. But in a tweet on May 20, he said he might reschedule the summit, proclaiming, "It would be a great sign to all — normalization!"

[...]

Merkel's refusal to attend the summit in person risks scuppering Trump's attempts to present the gathering as a landmark moment drawing a line under the lockdowns and travel bans imposed to fight the coronavirus pandemic.

Good for her. The line being drawn by Trump will be summarily rubbed out by covid-19.

The White House said this week it plans to hold the summit in late June in Washington, rather than the original venue of Camp David, the presidential retreat, where Trump moved the event after facing an outcry over plans to hold it at one of his own golf resorts in Miami.

He doesn't like Camp David. Too primitive.

"Camp David is very rustic. It's nice, you'd like it," [Trump] quipped. "You know how long you'd like it? For about 30 minutes."

  CNN

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

I didn't know you could rent Camp David for family events

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

No reports from Camp David

Why did Trump go to Camp David for the weekend with Ivanka, Jared, Don Jr, and Tiffany?  Why didn't Eric go?  Did no reporters go?  How about lawyers?  Why Camp David?  Can it possibly have anything to do with this:

The US has released previously unseen documents about the 1979 Camp David peace deal between Egypt and Israel, which were brokered by Washington.

The Security of State made the announcement in a statement on Thursday.

"This added material consists largely of personal handwritten notes taken at the September Camp David summit by Samuel W. Lewis, the US Ambassador to Israel," the statement said.

  The New Arab

Are we going to be surprised to find out there was some foreign leader/envoy there and Trump signed some Nobel Prize-winning treaty?

But why take Tiffany? Because she's never been to Camp David, and she may never get another chance?



That was one of my first thoughts.  But then, where's Eric?  Maybe he met them there later?

"Supposed to be."  "Said to be."


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

Trump at Camp David

Donald Trump headed for the splendid isolation of his Camp David presidential retreat on Friday after the bombshell book that rocked his administration hit shops across the US.

Trump will hope to leave behind the acrimony of Washington laid bare in journalist Michael Wolff’s account and concentrate on policy and looming elections in talks with congressional Republican leaders.

  Guardian

Leave it behind? Are you kidding? Have you seen his tweets this morning? He thrives on acrimony.

The president will strive to steady the ship when he holds talks with the House speaker, Paul Ryan, and Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell, at the rustic Camp David in Maryland’s Catoctin Mountain this weekend.

Somebody didn't read the book. Trump stirs the water, not steadies the ship.

Ryan is eager to scale back the nation’s entitlement programmes, such as food stamps and housing subsidies, a move likely to prove popular with conservative campaign donors. Trump has said he wants to tackle welfare reform but McConnell is wary of the idea, saying publicly that it is unlikely to be taken up this year.

I wouldn't think so. Not with the midterms coming in November. And they still have to negotiate a budget on a January 19 deadline that should have been agreed upon months ago.

In a chamber that he controls just 51-49, McConnell would need nine Democratic votes – a highly improbable scenario. Democrats have condemned welfare reform as an attempt to pay for recent tax cuts for corporations and the wealthy.

An alternative priority is Trump’s much-talked about $1tn infrastructure plan, which has potential for bipartisan support that could be useful in an election year. But Democrats have shown little enthusiasm for Republican ideas of financing it by cutting other programmes.

Trump has stirred up so much shit, the list of things that need to be addressed immediately will put anything like infrastructure that can be pushed back to the bottom of the page.

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

Retreat (In Every Sense of the Word)

[T]his weekend, President Donald Trump, first lady Melania Trump and presumably 11-year-old Barron are testing the woodsy digs at Camp David, the rural presidential getaway deep in the mountains of Maryland. It will be the President's first trip to Camp David, and his first weekend overnight trip away from the White House not at a Trump-named property.

It's an unusual decision for the President, who is widely known as someone who doesn't like to disrupt his daily routine or spend weekends anywhere except at Trump-branded properties.

More to the point on this weekend's overnighter, the President appears to have a predisposed opinion of Camp David, which he shared with a European journalist shortly before he was sworn in.

"Camp David is very rustic. It's nice, you'd like it," he quipped. "You know how long you'd like it? For about 30 minutes."

  CNN

Are there TVs to yell at?

I'm guessing this wasn't his idea.

"If and when they are at Camp David, the place will be stocked with his favorites, those Keebler Vienna Fingers cookies, and better have the Lay's potato chips," [Marti Mongiello, who in the 1990s worked as a chef and manager at Camp David] said, adding that the Secret Service will also have probably checked out the nearest Kentucky Fried Chicken locations, just in case POTUS gets a craving. "You have to figure that out. They'll map, know, target and analyze how to get in and get out of at least three locations," he said.

[...]

"There's a great element of secrecy," Thurmont Mayor John Kinnaird told CNN in March. "But, I like to say, it doesn't really affect the residents. The President comes and goes and we don't ever really know about it."

Trump, a lover of pomp and circumstance who craves the roar of a crowd, probably won't like that part much either.

And then there's the mice.

[...]

There's skeet shooting, basketball, tennis, horseback riding, rock climbing, a movie theater, bowling, even laser tag --

Right up the Trumps' alley.

Will they make it the whole weekend?

-- not to mention so many hiking trails that it's easy to get lost.

Please, God.

Still, if activities and relaxation aren't his thing, Trump might want to consider Camp David for work purposes.

Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha.