harris campaign, clean up on aisle Electoral College

[webfact]

Trump, Germany's Merkel to hold first face-to-face meeting at White House

By Jeff Mason and Andreas Rinke

REUTERS

 

FILE PHOTO: German Chancellor Angela Merkel gives a speech at the demographic summit in Berlin, Germany, March 16, 2017. REUTERS/Fabrizio Bensch/File Photo

 

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump welcomes German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Friday for a White House meeting that could help determine the future of the transatlantic alliance and shape the working relationship between two of the world's most powerful leaders.

 

The new U.S. president and the long-serving stateswoman, whose country is Europe's largest economy, will discuss funding for NATO and relations with Russia in their first meeting since Trump took office in January.

 

The meeting is consequential for both sides.

 

Merkel, who officials say has prepared carefully for the encounter, is likely to press Trump for assurances of support for a strong European Union and a commitment to fight climate change.

 

Trump, who as a presidential candidate criticized Merkel for allowing hundreds of thousands of refugees into Germany, will seek her support for his demand that North Atlantic Treaty Organization nations pay more for their defence needs.

 

Relationship building will be a less overt but important agenda item. Merkel had close relations with Trump's Democratic and Republican predecessors, Barack Obama and George W. Bush, and she is likely to seek a strong working relationship with Trump despite major policy differences and wariness in Germany about the former New York businessman.

 

"Those who know the chancellor know that she has a knack for winning over people in personal discussions. I am sure that Donald Trump will not be immune," said Juergen Hardt, a conservative lawmaker who helps coordinate transatlantic relations for the German government.

 

Trump is eager to see follow-through on his demand that European countries shoulder more of the burden of paying for the NATO alliance, which he has criticized.

 

He will also seek counsel from Merkel on how to deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin, a leader Merkel has dealt with extensively and whom Trump, to the consternation of Republican and Democratic lawmakers, has praised.

 

"The president will be very interested in hearing the chancellor's views on her experience interacting with Putin," a senior administration official told reporters.

 

CLIMATE ACCORD

 

A U.S. official said the Trump administration's position on U.S. participation in the Paris agreement to curb climate change would likely come up in the Merkel meeting and be further clarified in the weeks and months ahead. Merkel is a strong supporter of international efforts to fight global warming.

 

Trump has called climate change a hoax and vowed during his campaign to "cancel" the Paris agreement within 100 days, saying it would be too costly for the U.S. economy.

 

Since being elected, he has been mostly quiet on the issue. In a New York Times interview in November, he said he would keep an open mind about the Paris deal.

 

Merkel is also likely to press Trump about U.S. support for European security, despite assurances from Vice President Mike Pence about that issue on his recent trip to Europe.

 

"There is still lingering doubt about ... how the U.S. sees European security, and whether the U.S. sees its security and Europe’s security as intrinsically linked and inseparable," Jeffrey Rathke, a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic & International Studies, told reporters.

 

(Additional reporting by Noah Barkin; Editing by Peter Cooney)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2017-03-17

[dageurreotype]

Dear Donald, please take a baseball bat.

[Credo]

Dear Angela:   Please bring a baseball bat.

[boomerangutang]

Believe Trump at your own risk.  He flip flops.  Untrustworthy, and knows little of world affairs.  He gets his news from Bannon and right wing shout-radio.  You're better off to believe the opposite of whatever he asserts.

[jollyhangmon]

1 hour ago, Credo said:

Dear Angela:   Please bring a baseball bat.

... and wotch your crotch! 

[stander]

Merkel recently won the Coudenhove Kalergi prize for her immigration policy. 
"The Eurasian-negroid race of the future, similar in appearance to the Ancient Egyptians, will replace the current diversity of peoples and the diversity of individuals." - Coudenhove Kalergi, father of the EU.

[sujoop]

 

Hopefully he can keep his narcissistic personality disorder (NPD) under control, not to mention those lil hands....

People with NPD exhibit fragile egos, an inability to tolerate criticism, and a tendency to belittle others in an attempt to validate their own superiority. Their self-esteem is typically quite fragile underneath the surface.

https://www.psychologytoday.com/conditions/narcissistic-personality-disorder
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narcissistic_personality_disorder

[canuckamuck]

With faces like theirs they should do this over the phone

[ilostmypassword]

1 hour ago, stander said:

Merkel recently won the Coudenhove Kalergi prize for her immigration policy. 
"The Eurasian-negroid race of the future, similar in appearance to the Ancient Egyptians, will replace the current diversity of peoples and the diversity of individuals." - Coudenhove Kalergi, father of the EU.

Clearly another false and most likely racist news website devotee. Merkel was awarded the 2010 prize (actually it's called the European Prize awarded by the European Society Coudenhove-Kalergi)  for her work in furthering European integration. Nothing at all to do with immigration.

https://www.bundeskanzlerin.de/ContentArchiv/EN/Archiv17/Artikel/_2011/01/2011-01-13-merkel-europapreis_en.html

 

[ilostmypassword]

1 hour ago, stander said:

Merkel recently won the Coudenhove Kalergi prize for her immigration policy. 
"The Eurasian-negroid race of the future, similar in appearance to the Ancient Egyptians, will replace the current diversity of peoples and the diversity of individuals." - Coudenhove Kalergi, father of the EU.

And this is the first I've ever heard of Coudenhove Kalergi being called the father of the EU.  Generally it'c credited to several men and not one of them is named Coudenhove Kalergi

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Founding_fathers_of_the_European_Union

Although I'm sure you can find many instances characterizing Coudenhove Kalergi as such at many of the racist websites that pollute the internet. Which one did you get your info from?

[Xaos]

And this is the first I've ever heard of Coudenhove Kalergi being called the father of the EU.  Generally it'c credited to several men and not one of them is named Coudenhove Kalergi
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Founding_fathers_of_the_European_Union
Although I'm sure you can find many instances characterizing Coudenhove Kalergi as such at many of the racist websites that pollute the internet. Which one did you get your info from?

Wiki as a source? What planet u from?

Kalergi is recognized as the founder of the first popular movement for a United Europe.

Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk

[ilostmypassword]

42 minutes ago, Xaos said:

 

Wiki as a source? What planet u from?

Kalergi is recognized as the founder of the first popular movement for a United Europe.

Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk
 

 

But not the father of the EU.

[Scott]

Off-topic posts and posts from unapproved sources such as infowars have been removed along with replies.  

 

Continuing to post false information will result in suspensions.   The same with off-topic trolling.   The topic is about the meeting between Merkel and Trump.  

[CharlieK]

American Politics is screwed, America is screwed. I hope the world is not screwed!

 

[boomerangutang]

On 3/18/2017 at 1:55 PM, CharlieK said:

American Politics is screwed, America is screwed. I hope the world is not screwed!

           If Trump gets angry at some country's leader - perhaps at 5:40 am (triggered by a raving manic on shout radio), maybe because the leader said something unflattering about Trump, .......then it could be 'bombs away.'  Stealth bombers are at his fingertips, and they carry an awesome array of weaponry.  

 

        If it's Ukraine, for example, the prevailing winds would carry the radioactive clouds over Russia. If it's China, winds would likely carry the radioactivity over Japan or Taiwan, .....and so on.

 

         So yes, Trump's grossly immature and dangerous behavior could have dire consequences for people outside the US.   He has grave character faults, not least; his dearth of compassion for others outside his inner circle.   Despots always have that trait.   Stalin could sentence tens of thousands to die in gulags, and Stalin probably slept like a drunk adolescent.  Mao could trigger mass starvations, and party at night with virgin 14 year old girls.   Another note about Mao; he had syphilis and knew it, but figured it's fine to f'k little girls because 'every thing they get from me is good.'  Mao's wife used to sit crumpled up outside her husband's locked door, weeping the night away while listening to the noises inside.

 

           Trump is probably not quite as bad as Stalin or Mao, ....but give him time.  He's still got 46 more months to make big problems for the US and beyond.

 

 

Edited March 19, 2017 by boomerangutang