After Donald Trump canceled a scheduled trip to Denmark — giving the excuse that he was insulted by what he called their “nasty” response to his attempt to buy Greenland from the European nation — another theory surfaced as to why he no longer wanted to keep his long-standing plans to visit the U.S. ally.
David Frum, the senior editor of The Atlantic magazine, a former speechwriter for President George W. Bush, and a dedicated “never Trump” Republican, offered a plausible alternative reason for the sudden cancellation — Trump’s just a jealous guy.
ICYMI last night, I offered this theory about why Trump cancelled the Denmark visit scheduled for Sept 2-3. Former president Obama will follow him September 28. The contrast in the Danish public reception of the two men was likely to prove embarrassing https://t.co/BsRvpMQ8Xj
— David Frum (@davidfrum) August 21, 2019
One can only imagine what Trump’s Twitter feed would look like if he had actually made the trip to Copenhagen and then seen larger and more adoring crowds turn out for his predecessor whose legacy he has done everything within his power to eradicate.
While the idea certainly seems credible, other Twitter commenters thought that the concept gave the president too much intellectual credit for forethought and long-range planning.
Former FBI Special Agent and CNN analyst Asha Rangappa made a compelling argument that White House aides would have done all that they could to prevent news of Obama’s upcoming Danish excursion from ever reaching Trump’s chaotic consciousness.
Or his staff found out, then leaked the Greenland nonsense to provoke him to cancel to avoid later meltdown post-Obama visit.
My point: There is no way Trump himself has the understanding or foresight to plot this out
— Asha Rangappa (@AshaRangappa_) August 21, 2019
Apparently, Trump doesn’t even need to travel to Denmark to have his reception compared to a visit by Obama that hasn’t even happened yet. Imagination alone can let people know how that matchup would turn out.
At least with Trump’s petulant withdrawal of his travel plans, Denmark will avoid the arrival of something rotten.
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