The Dubious Art of Explaining What Trump ‘Really Means’
Doing a lot of explaining.
Photographer: Alex Wong/Getty Images
Prominent Republicans insist on treating President Donald Trump like a child or a clueless old man, telling Americans that he does not mean what he says — despite the commander in chief making quite clear he means exactly that.
Trump’s threat to use military force to seize Greenland from Denmark, a US ally via the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, is a recent example. “I don’t think it’s a threat,” Senator Tommy Tuberville of Alabama told The Bulwark. “I think it’s a promise that we’ll offer some money for it.” Senator John Kennedy offered his own, colorful reimagining of the president’s saber rattling. “Even a modestly intelligent ninth grader knows that to invade Greenland would be weapons-grade stupid. Now, President Trump is not weapons-grade stupid,” the Louisiana Republican told CNN. Trump, Kennedy added, does “not plan to invade Greenland. That does not mean they’re not going to seek a legal, formal partnership with Greenland.”