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A blog by Leon Oudejans

The 45th President of embarrassing leaks

14 February 2017

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Each day embarrassing leaks about the 45th President come to light. These leaks are great fun for satirical comedians like Andy Borowitz (eg, Borowitz ReportFB, Twitter). The quality and quantity of these leaks are both impressive. Who is leaking the 45th President’s private conversations?

The Hill: “The White House says it is investigating leaks about President Trump’s calls with foreign leaders. “We’re looking into the situation, yes, and it’s very concerning,” press secretary Sean Spicer said when asked about the leaks. “Some of them are done in a way that the release of that information is clearly a breach of a lot of protocols and laws.”

Following leaks on Australia, France and Mexico, the leak on Russia is “just the latest in what’s become a series of phone calls to world leaders in which Trump has been unbriefed and ill-prepared, and, generally, talking more like a politician at a rally (or in an interview) than a diplomat making deals” (Vox). Reuters: “When Putin raised the possibility of extending the 2010 treaty, known as New START, Trump paused to ask his aides in an aside what the treaty was, these sources said.”

It’s interesting to know Who is leaking What but the real question is Why as everything follows Why. The answer to the Why is that these leaks are embarrassing for both the USA and its President. They seem geared to convince people that the American 45th President is an incompetent moron. These leaks may also be geared towards Trump’s impeachment, depending on the Who. 

The type of the leaks (ie, talks between heads of states) suggest to me that both America and its 45th President are in scope. It’s not only Trump who is ridiculed but also the United States of America. That may suggest a non-domestic source. 

It’s unlikely that Trump’s impeachment, based on his incompetence, is the real issue. The “evidence” is in Andy Borowitz’ satire: “Who could have predicted that giving the White House to a game-show host with a disastrous business history and a glaring personality disorder would turn out so badly?”

Trump’s vast number of enemies (eg, business, domestic, foreign, personal, political) will make it hard to narrow down his search for the leaks. Given his narcissistic personality structure, he is also likely to look in the wrong direction. 

Perhaps the answer on the Why and Who is in the 6 Feb 2017 Foreign Policy essay of American historian Robert Kagan: “Until fairly recently, Russia and China have faced considerable, almost insuperable, obstacles in achieving their objectives. The chief obstacle has been the power and coherence of the international order itself and its principal promoter and defender.”

Kagan: “It has been the great accomplishment of the U.S.-led world order in the 70 years since the end of World War II that this kind of competition has been held in check and great power conflicts have been avoided. It will be more than a shame if Americans were to destroy what they created — and not because it was no longer possible to sustain but simply because they chose to stop trying.”

It’s the end of the world as we know it (and I feel fine) – 1987 – by R.E.M.

artists, lyrics, video, Wiki-1, Wiki-2

Note: this R.E.M. song was also a Trump campaign song ……..

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