Trump, Nobel, Korea, Obama

AROUND THE BLOCK

I learned today…

I learned two things today – first, as reported by the Washington Post, according to President Donald Trump, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe had nominated him for the Nobel Peace Prize; and second, according to Peter Baker of the New York Times, “President Trump has been telling audiences lately that his predecessor, Barack Obama, was on the precipice of an all-out confrontation with the nuclear-armed maverick state. The way Mr. Trump tells the story, the jets were practically scrambling in the hangars.”

Really?!?!

Regarding the Nobel Peace Prize, Adam Taylor of the Post reports that Trump claimed, “Prime Minister Abe of Japan gave me the most beautiful copy of a letter that he sent to the people who give out a thing called the Nobel Prize,” Trump said. “I have nominated you, respectfully on behalf of Japan, I am asking them to give you the Nobel Peace Prize.” Taylor went on to report that “Trump said he then thanked Abe but added that he did not expect to win the prize.”

Needless to say, the president’s comments caught many observers by surprise. 

According to Taylor, a Japanese nomination for a Nobel Peace Prize was not announced, and though Abe has formed a personal bond with Trump, the two leaders have often been at odds over Trump’s outreach to North Korea’s Kim Jong Un. 

And, neither the White House nor the Japanese Embassy in Washington responded to a request for more information about Trump’s comments. 

It is true that South Korean President Moon Jae-in has spoken in the past of how he felt Trump should win a Nobel for his negotiations with North Korea’s Kim. 

“President Trump should win the Nobel Peace Prize,” Moon said last April. 

Based on Moon’s comments, some analysts speculated that Trump had mistaken Abe for Moon, Taylor reported.

Now, given that we’re talking about Trump, it makes absolute sense that he confused Abe and Moon. I mean, gimme a break – how many of you can tell the difference between a Japanese and a Korean. They’re both Orientals after all. 

But Trump’s Nobel prize speculation is really just another example of his narcissistic puffery. Really not important.

His claim that Obama was on the verge of starting a war with North Korea however, is important and a clear signal that we have a president that will say anything to boost, and boast about, his alleged foreign policy successes.

“I believe he would have gone to war with North Korea,” Mr. Trump said in the White House Rose Garden on Friday. “I think he (Obama) was ready to go to war. In fact, he told me he was so close to starting a big war with North Korea.” 

And remember, in his so-called State of the Union Address last week, Trump said, “If I had not been elected president of the United States, we would right now, in my opinion, be in a major war with North Korea with potentially millions of people killed.” 

Needless to say, former Obama administration officials have disputed Trump’s characterization.

“We were not on the brink of war with North Korea in 2016,” Benjamin J. Rhodes, Mr. Obama’s deputy national security adviser, wrote on Twitter. 

John Brennan, Mr. Obama’s C.I.A. director, told NBC News, “President Obama was never on the verge of starting any war with North Korea, large or small.” 

According to reporting by the Times' Baker, 

“Mr. Trump bases his argument on the single extended conversation he has ever had with Mr. Obama. In November 2016, Mr. Obama invited the man elected to succeed him to the White House for a 90-minute discussion of the issues awaiting him. 

Mr. Trump’s account of that conversation has evolved over time. At first, he said that Mr. Obama told him that North Korea would be the new administration’s toughest foreign policy challenge, which seems plausible enough. Only later did Mr. Trump add the supposed war discussion.” 

While there was no comment from Obama’s office, guess what? – there should be! 

There is an unwritten rule that former presidents should speak respectfully of their successors, or at least with some measure of restraint.

That rule has been broken on occasion – in fact, Obama did so twice.

In July 2018 when Obama criticized Trump’s policies, but not Trump directly, when he railed against what he called “strongman politics,” whereby “those in power seek to undermine every institution or norm that gives democracy meaning.” He also criticized “far-right parties” with a platform of “protectionism and closed borders” as well as “barely-hidden racial nationalism.”

And then in September 2018, Obama criticized Trump by name, saying he was a “symptom, not a cause” of an effort by powerful elites to engender fear and division in the face of social change and progress.

Well Mr. Obama, no more pussy-footing. It’s time to set the record straight. In the unlikely event that you did indeed tell Trump he was so close to starting a big war with North Korea, say so. If not, take the gloves off. Tell America what the truth is. Tell America that you never said what Trump is claiming you said. Let America and the world know that you were succeeded by a delusional liar whose self-aggrandizement should no longer be tolerated.

Last week in two meetings of world leaders in Europe, Mike Pence, the sycophantic vice-president of the United States gave two speeches in which he anticipated applause when he mentioned Trump policies or Trump himself. In both instances there was deathly silence where the applause should have occurred. At the very least, Mr. Obama, give our allies some cover for their appropriate silence. Call him out for the fraud he is.