With Trump, tweet first, think second, if at all....
Or, how about Flip, Flop, Flip?
https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/trump-sabotages-his-new-middle-east-alliance
First, Flip:
"Less than three weeks ago, on his first trip abroad as President, Donald Trump greeted the young Emir of Qatar, Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, who was swathed in white robes and headdress, with effusive warmth. “We’ve been friends now for a long time, haven’t we?” Trump said. “Our relationship is extremely good.” The President announced that the two leaders would discuss “the purchase of lots of beautiful military equipment, because nobody makes it like the United States. First, that means jobs,” he said, adding, “It also means, frankly, great security back here” in the Gulf. The same day, at the summit in Riyadh, Trump warmly welcomed Qatar into his new coalition of conservative Sunni regimes, designed to confront Islamic extremism and contain Iran."
Then, the Flop:
"On Tuesday, in a series of startling and undiplomatic tweets, Trump threw the leader of oil-rich Qatar under the diplomatic bus. Trump’s stunning flip-flop came a day after a toxic split in the Arab world—the biggest in years—as Saudi Arabia led six countries to sever diplomatic and commercial relations with neighboring Qatar.
“During my recent trip to the Middle East I stated that there can no longer be funding of Radical Ideology. Leaders pointed to Qatar – look!” the President tweeted after the Saudi announcement. He not only took sides in an intra-Arab dispute; he sabotaged the cohesion of his own new Sunni coalition—which he touted just last month as an unprecedented foreign-policy success.
Trump followed his tweet with two more that seemed to take credit for the confrontation, even though other U.S. officials later quietly acknowledged that Washington was blindsided by Saudi Arabia’s decision. The President wrote, “So good to see the Saudi Arabia visit with the King and 50 countries already paying off. They said they would take a hard line on funding . . . extremism, and all reference was pointing to Qatar. Perhaps this will be the beginning of the end to the horror of terrorism!”
Aw, what the hey, let's Flip one more time. Keep 'me guessing:
https://www.cnn.com/2017/06/07/politics/trump-qatar-call/index.html
And, just for good measure, let's leave our military's head spinning:
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-gulf-qatar-usa-pentagon-idUSKBN18X2G2
Isn't rationality wonderful in the post truth era?
