The new admin waddling into DC faces many international challenges….the situation in Ukraine….terrible relations with Russia….the the financing of the death and destruction in the Middle East and the slowly deteriorating relations with China and what does the new SecState do on his fist trip? He goes to Panama to attempt bullying that nation on the Canal.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio told Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino on Sunday that the Central American ally must immediately reduce Chinese influence over the Panama Canal area or face potential retaliation from the Trump administration. Mulino said later that “there is no real threat of retaking the canal or the use of force,” the AP reports. Rubio, on his first foreign trip as America’s top diplomat, held face-to-face talks in Panama City with Mulino, who has resisted pressure from President Trump over Panama’s management of the waterway that is vital to global trade.
Speaking on behalf of Trump, who has demanded that the canal be returned to US control, Rubio told Mulino that Trump had made a preliminary determination that China’s presence in the canal area violates a treaty that led to the US turning the waterway over to Panama in 1999. That treaty calls for the permanent neutrality of the American-built canal. “Secretary Rubio made clear that this status quo is unacceptable and that absent immediate changes, it would require the United States to take measures necessary to protect its rights under the treaty,” the State Department said in a summary of the meeting.
“I don’t feel like there’s a real threat against the treaty and its validity,” Mulino said. He called it a “good-faith meeting” that was respectful and positive and held “to clear up doubts.” Mulino acknowledged that China’s role in the ports at either end of the canal has raised concerns with Trump. But the president said that the consortium controlling them was being audited and that the canal authority would give Rubio a more detailed explanation. Mulino did say Panama would not be renewing its agreement with China’s Belt and Road Initiative when it expires, per the AP.
Is this what the world’s foremost diplomat will spend his valuable time doing?
Trivial bullshit.
But what can we expect from a bunch of unqualified bootlickers?
I Read, I Write, You Know
“lego ergo scribo”
“I don’t feel like there’s a real threat against the treaty and its validity,” Mulino said. When are these stupid bastards around the world, and in this country, going to realize that they’re dealing with a madman with the intelligence of a piece of dirt and the emotional control of a two-year-old? Just because he sits in the Oval Office (and shits all over it) doesn’t mean that he is not a convicted criminal, a thief, a con man, a fraud, a mindless killer, a stupid man, a mentally ill man, an ignorant man, a psychopathic liar, and a deadly disease. He should be put down like a rabid dog. (NB: Putting a rabid dog down does a favor to the dog; putting Trump down would be a great favor to the world, perhaps even saving it from dying sooner than it will otherwise.)
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He is just practicing his patented bully diplomacy….he is just delusional and …..what you said. chuq
Delusional people can and do pull triggers. And they gather other delusional people who will support pulling triggers…eagerly.
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Does he or any of this people have the nuts to start a war? chuq
/Whether they do or not, they believe they do. That makes them more dangerous than someone who has the nuts to start a war, but knows exactly what it means. These people, Trump included, think they’re tough guys and that they’re smart enough to make the big decisions. They’re not tough, they’re not smart. They’re pathetic followers, the kind of people Trump wants around him to “prove” he’s a tough guy and a leader. If you have to surround yourself with sycophants, then you are weak, no matter how much you bully people to get your way. Trump is weak, he’s a scumbag, and has given us a scumbag government of asskissers, know-nothings, and arrogant sociopaths.
Well said. chuq
Doesn’t matter whether they are unqualified boot lickers or not… they are the power and we have to deal with it.
I deal with it by writing….I refuse to be silent just because…..chuq
what a liar you are
And you may kiss my ass. chuq
You lie so much what sane person would believe a word you said??
I like it when you show up helps remind how fucking stupid people are…..thanx chuq