How the Trumps spent their New Year’s Eve
On Tuesday, Donald Trump started enjoying the new year by combining the wealth and arrogance that have come to define his personal and political image. The sound of Champagne glasses clink under his harsh warning to Iran, and a red carpet surrounds his scathing attacks on Democrats.
He was ending a decade that started with Bret Michaels being named the Celebrity Apprentice and ended with him being in new danger for causing war on two countries.
It’s easy to see the difference between Trump the wealthy celebrity and Trump the commander in chief. This is especially clear at Mar-a-Lago, the estate in South Florida where people rush to meet the owner who also runs the country.
READ MORE: Donald Trump Sends Early New Year’s Message to Joe Biden
Trump told Iran that the US would quickly defeat it in front of a bank of cameras that he had invited onto his property. He also called House Speaker Nancy Pelosi a “highly overrated person” while his wife watched.
“We’re going to have a great year, I predict,” Trump said as he arrived to his party.
Trump was appearing as heightened tensions and dramatic violence threaten to force him into confrontation as he begins the 2020 election year – a less-than-ideal position for a President who has vowed to end or resolve foreign conflicts.
Protesters stormed the American embassy in Baghdad, and a furious Trump blamed Iran. Meanwhile, precarious diplomacy with North Korea appeared to be faltering as Kim Jong Un teased a new “strategic weapon” and insisted there “will never” be denuclearization on the Korean peninsula if the US “persists in its hostile policy towards” the hermit nation.
Trump showed no signs of souring on Kim, calling him a “man of his word” and repeating his idea that a threatened “Christmas gift” might be a “beautiful vase” instead of a long-range missile.
And he trumpeted his handling of the Iraq situation and compared it favorably to another incident of violence at an American diplomatic post that occurred under his predecessor.
“This will not be a Benghazi. Benghazi should never have happened. This will never, ever be a Benghazi,” he said, without explaining how protesters were able to breach layers of embassy security in Baghdad to begin with.
Trump said he didn’t want war with Iran. But if comes to that, he said, it “wouldn’t last long.”
President Trump is a man of his words …
President Trump is a man of his words …