Germany’s Merkel says Trump position on climate change “deplorable”


Developments on Day 177 of the Trump Administration:

US Isolated at G20 Summit

The other 19 countries at the G20 summit leave the US behind on climate change.

In the final communiqué, the G19 leaders declared the 2015 Paris Accord on greenhouse gas emissions “irreversible” while acknowledging the Trump Administration’s declaration of withdrawal.

The 19 nations agreed a detailed policy blueprint, the Climate and Energy Action Plan for Growth, to reduce emissions by 26 to 28% below 2005 levels within the next eight years.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who hosted the summit, played a major role in getting agreement on the wording of the communiqué after France raised objections.

The US insisted on a positive reference to fossil fuels. The G19, wanting to keep open the possibility of Washington rejoining the Accord, finally accepted the clause: “The United States of America states it will endeavor to work closely with other countries to help them access and use fossil fuels more cleanly and efficiently.”

French President Emmanuel Macron of France said he would continue to press Trump on climate change, with a follow-up summit in Paris in December on the Accord.

Diplomats also agreed a trade section after overnight meetings, balancing an implicit jab at the “America First” protectionism of Trump with a reference to the US Administration’s declaration of “unfair trade” by others:

We will keep markets open noting the importance of reciprocal and mutually advantageous trade and investment frameworks and the principle of nondiscrimination, and continue to fight protectionism including all unfair trade practices and recognize the role of legitimate trade defense instruments in this regard.

Ivanka Trump Steps In for Donald Among G20 Leaders

Donald Trump’s daughter Ivanka replaced her father on two occasions among G20 leaders on Saturday.

There was no explanation for her presence — including the sudden departure of her father and the failure of Secretary of State Rex Tillerson to step in — alongside China’s Xi Jinping, Russia’s Vladimir Putin, Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Germany’s Angela Merkel, and the UK’s Theresa May.

A staff member with the Russian delegation posted a photo of Ivanka Trump at the table. She later deleted it, but not before it spread across social media.

IVANKA TRUMP G20

A spokesman for Ivanka Trump simply said that she had been sitting in the back of the room and joined the main table when her father stepped out. Discussions included African migration and health, with Jim Yong Kim, the President of the World Bank, addressed the meeting.

The President’s daughter did not speak on either occasion.

G20 leaders are entitled to bring staff into the room for some meetings and, when Presidents and Prime Ministers stepped out during Saturday’s session, their seats were briefly filled by others.

Named an unpaid White House advisor this spring, Ivanka Trump said only last month, “I try to stay out of politics.” However, on Thursday night, she and her husband and fellow advisor Jared Kushner joined Donald Trump during his meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Top Aides Don’t Deny Putin’s Account Over Trump and Russian Election Interference

Major Garrett of CBS reports that neither National Security Advisor H.R. McMaster nor Treasury Secretary Stephen Mnuchin have refuted Vladimir Putin’s account that Donald Trump endorsed his statement of “no Russian interference” in the 2016 US election.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov declared Trump’s endorsement soon after the Trump-Putin meeting on Friday, undermining the White House line that Trump had forcefully raised the issue of Russian hacking and influence operations.

The US Ambassador to the UN, Nikki Haley, added another twist when she directly contradicted Trump’s denial of the conclusion — made by American intelligence agencies — of Russian interference.

“Trump Has Pushed Fast Forward on Decline of US”

A sharp commentary on Trump’s performance at the G20 by Chris Uhlmann, the political editor of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation:

We learned that Donald Trump has pressed fast forward on the decline of the United States as a global leader. He managed to isolate his nation, to confuse and alienate his allies, and to diminish America. He will cede…power to China and Russia, two authoritarian states who will forge a different set of rules for the 21st century.

Some will cheer the decline of America, but I think we’ll miss it when it’s gone. And that’s the biggest threat to the values of the West that he claims to hold so dear.


Trump Son, Son-in-Law Kushner, & Campaign Manager Met Kremlin-Connected Lawyer

Donald Trump’s elder son Donald Trump Jr. arranged a meeting at Trump Tower in June 2016 with a Kremlin-connected Russian lawyer.

Two weeks after Donald Trump clinched the Republican Presidential nomination, the lawyer met the Trump campaign chairman, Paul Manafort and Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner.

Donald J. Trump said in a statement that the meeting was about “adoption”.

The Russian lawyer, Natalia Veselnitskaya, is best known for her attack on the Magnitsky Act, an US law that blacklists suspected Russian human rights abusers. Putin retaliated against the law by halting American adoptions of Russian children.

However, after the publication of the initial story in The New York Times, “three advisors to the White House briefed on the meeting and two others with knowledge of it” gave a different explanation: Donald Trump Jr. was promised damaging information about Hillary Clinton before he agreed to meet with Veselnitskaya.

A dossier on contacts between Trump associates and Russian officials, compiled by a former British intelligence officer, begins with a June 20 memo — two weeks after the Trump Tower meeting — that the Kremlin “had been feeding Trump valuable information on his opponents, including Democartic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton” for several years.

After The New York Times updated the story, Trump Jr. then modified his statement:

After pleasantries were exchanged, the woman stated that she had information that individuals connected to Russia were funding the Democratic National Committee and supporting Ms. Clinton. Her statements were vague, ambiguous and made no sense. No details or supporting information was provided or even offered. It quickly became clear that she had no meaningful information.

Veselnitskaya’s clients include state-owned businesses and a senior government official’s son whose company was under investigation in the US. Her activities and associations have been investigated by the FBI.

Mark Corallo, a spokesman for Donald Trump’s lawyer, had said late Saturday that Veselnitskaya and her translator “misrepresented who they were”.

On Sunday, White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus tried another line:

It was a nothing meeting. I don’t know much about it other than it seems to be on the end of the Trump individuals a big nothing burger but may spin out of control for the [Democratic National Committee] and the Democrats.


Trump’s Son Promotes Tweets Advocating Violence Against Journalists, Homophobia

Donald Trump’s son Donald Jr. pushes a tweet advocating violence against journalists.

Trump Jr also defended a tweet promoting homophobia and violence.

The tweet was subsequently deleted, but was embedded in a response to Trump’s lawyers: