We know that President Trump speaks in falsehoods on a daily basis. Some of them are minor, but some of them affect international relations. His closest staff (Priebus, Spicer, Conway, Bannon) back him up, usually repeating the lies.
But lately, some of his non-political staff have begun to simply say contradictory things, without bothering to call attention to the discrepancy. For example: Defense Secretary Mattis simply told the Iraqis that the U.S. has no intention of taking its oil (despite Trump saying that's what we should have done). He has also stated that the press is not the enemy of the American people and that we need an independent press, even if they sometimes become our adversaries. Even before being nominated, Mattis told Trump that torture does not work, which -- for a day or two -- seemed to have influenced Trump's thinking, before he began saying that he still believes it works, but he will defer to his Defense Secretary on the question.
Vice President Pence has also spent some time on his European trip trying to reassure our allies that the U.S. will fully and vigorously back NATO, despite Trump's earlier threats to pull out. And our United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley has made several statements to that group that differ from what Trump has said. Former campaign manager Corey Lewandowski said that there were no buses bringing people over the Massachusetts border to vote illegally in New Hampshire, a claim that Trump repeated as late as last week.
We need these adults to try to undo the damage done by child Donny when he dresses up and pretends to be President. But it is embarrassing to have elected someone who needs this kind of "handling."
Ralph
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