High Treason

Published in El País
(Spain) on 19 July 2018
by Lluís Bassets (link to originallink to original)
Translated from by Jamie Agnew. Edited by Laurence Bouvard.

 

 

 

Nothing that Trump says has anything to do with the truth, only with power − his own.

Without a doubt, Philip Roth’s novel “The Plot Against America” has come true with Donald Trump. The president is an enemy agent − of Adolf Hitler in the fantasy novel, but of Vladimir Putin in real life. The last and definitive clue came from the man himself in the press conference following the meeting with the Russian president in Helsinki. Trump showed himself to be servile and submissive to his counterpart in admitting equal responsibility for the frosty relations between the two powers and, above all, by giving credibility to the word of the Russian president at the expense of the American intelligence services, with respect to the proven interference in the presidential election.

His improvised clarification, aimed at pacifying indignant Republicans in the face of the deterioration of the United States’ image and Putin’s victory, does not matter. The 18 months of Trump’s presidency represent the greatest geopolitical disaster that Washington has suffered, at least since the Iraq War. Trump has alienated allies, undermined and divided institutions 70 years in the making, and has provided Moscow with every imaginable advantage.

Little to nothing is known about the summit, but it is likely that its content was lacking in a worrisome way, especially for two powers who are locked into contentious confrontations. The lack of substance doesn’t hide the summit’s value as a showcase for Putin’s prestige and Trump’s vanity. However, few expected that it would be Trump’s subsequent remarks, and abrupt and slapdash denial of them, that would make history.

Never before has there been a press conference so shameful for the image of the United States, with such an explicit imbalance of attitudes and authority between both leaders. The shameful spectacle is also a disaster for its protagonist: It gives yet more fuel to Special Counsel Robert Mueller, the man charged with investigating Russian interference, who has already indicted 32 people, 25 of them Russian, has obtained guilty pleas from three of the president’s associates and who will not hesitate to judicially choke the president if he gets the chance.

Nothing that Trump says has anything to do with the truth. It is only related to power − his own. He regularly intimidates and weakens partners, as he has done with Theresa May and Angela Merkel, or more discreetly as he did with a representative of the Spanish government, indulging in inconsiderate and unfavorable assessments of the crisis in Catalonia.

Trump has now been labeled a traitor back home. After the catastrophe of his week in Europe, with dismissals and insults to governments and institutions left, right and center, there is no doubt that he has also betrayed the values and interests shared between the U.S. and the European members of NATO and the EU over the last 70 years.

Booting out the Russian agent is urgent.




Alta traición

Nada de lo que Trump dice tiene que ver con la verdad. Solo con el poder, el suyo

Definitivamente, el argumento de la novela El complot contra América de Philip Roth se ha hecho realidad con Trump. El presidente es un agente del enemigo, Hitler en la fantasía del novelista, Putin en la realidad. La última y definitiva prueba ha llegado de su propia mano, en la conferencia de prensa posterior al encuentro con el presidente ruso en Helsinki, en la que se ha mostrado servil e incluso sumiso con su homólogo al admitir una responsabilidad simétrica en las malas relaciones entre ambas potencias y, sobre todo, dar credibilidad a la palabra presidencial rusa en detrimento de los servicios secretos estadounidenses respecto a las comprobadas interferencias en las elecciones presidenciales.

No importa su improvisada rectificación, dirigida a apaciguar a los republicanos indignados ante el deterioro de la imagen de Estados Unidos y ante la victoria obtenida por Putin en Helsinki. Los 18 meses de presidencia trumpista significan el mayor desastre geopolítico que haya sufrido Washington en su historia al menos desde la guerra de Irak, pues se ha enajenado a sus aliados, ha minado y dividido las instituciones que había construido durante 70 años y ha proporcionado todas las ventajas imaginables a Moscú.

Poco o nada se sabe de la cumbre y es muy probable que su contenido sea preocupantemente nulo, sobre todo tratándose de dos potencias enfrentadas en tantos contenciosos. La falta de sustancia no esconde su valor como escaparate, especialmente del prestigio de Putin y de la vanidad de Trump. Pero pocos esperaban que fueran las explicaciones posteriores de Trump y luego su abrupto y chapucero desmentido los que se alcanzarían dimensión histórica.

Nunca se había visto una conferencia de prensa tan vergonzosa para la imagen de EE UU, con un desequilibrio de actitudes y de autoridad entre ambos mandatarios tan explícito. El bochornoso espectáculo es también un desastre para su protagonista, pues da alas al fiscal Mueller, el encargado de investigar las interferencias rusas, que ya ha mandado a los tribunales a 32 personas, 25 de ellas rusas, ha obtenido autoinculpaciones de tres colaboradores del presidente y no dudará en estrangularle judicialmente si tiene la oportunidad.

Nada de lo que Trump dice tiene que ver con la verdad. Solo con el poder, el suyo. Con frecuencia para amedrentar o debilitar a sus interlocutores, tal como ha hecho con Theresa May y Angela Merkel; o de forma más discreta con un representante del Gobierno español, en un reciente encuentro en el que se permitió desconsideradas y desfavorables valoraciones sobre la crisis catalana.

Trump ha sido ya tachado de traidor en su país. Tras la catástrofe de su semana europea, con descalificaciones y desplantes a diestro y siniestro, Gobiernos e instituciones, no hay muchas dudas de que también ha traicionado los valores y los intereses compartidos entre Estados Unidos y quienes han sido sus socios europeos de la OTAN y de la UE durante los últimos 70 años. Urge echar al agente de Moscú.
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