World leaders have remarkably little respect for Donald Trump. The President of the United States has no sense of tact, knows little about the world of geopolitics with no desire to educate himself further, and his highly unstable personality prompts him to lash out at other countries randomly and indiscriminately, often targeting our closest allies. The longer he stays in power, the deeper America sinks into ignominy.
Despite the fact that he is obviously unfit for office, other nations are often forced to bite their tongues simply due to the colossal power, affluence, and influence of the United States. Trump might be little more than a housebroken chimp in a suit, but most of the world still wants to maintain a functioning relationship with the country he’s somehow conned his way into leading.
So instead of outright insulting him, some leaders have taken to more subtle jabs, digging into our thin-skinned president in ways that are sure to drive him crazy, but which aren’t overt enough for him to respond to directly.
Such was the case at the G20 meeting today in Argentina, where Japanese Prime Minister Shinzō Abe met with Trump and delivered a brutal but understated jab by congratulating him on his “historic victory in the midterm elections.”
Clearly, Abe was mocking him, given the fact that the midterms represented a resounding defeat for Trump and the GOP, as they lost 40 Congressional seats and ceded control of the House of Representatives to the Democrats.
Classic: Japanese PM Abe tells Trump, “I would like to congratulate you on your historic victory in the midterm elections in the United States.”
— Philip Rucker (@PhilipRucker) November 30, 2018
Either Abe was very poorly briefed on the midterms or very well briefed on Trump’s psyche! https://t.co/EeXbBpPBSY
— David Axelrod (@davidaxelrod) November 30, 2018
Abe may have been taking a page directly from British Prime Minister Theresa May in his trolling of Trump. Previously, May called the American president to “congratulate” him on the Republican Party’s performance in the midterms. Trump rightly interpreted May’s call as mockery and lashed out at her.
Hopefully, this kind of humiliation becomes routine for Trump. It digs into his pride in exactly the way he deserves but denies him the ability to hit back in his obnoxious trademark fashion. It’s the perfect way to attack the infamously insecure man and remind him how much the rest of the world despises him.
