Bill Maher's $1 Million Offer For Trump To Resign May Be Best Way To Get Rid of the Loathsome Orange Cockroach

Wonder of wonders, President Donald J. Trump, aka Capt. Bonespurs,  said on Saturday that he would no longer hold next year’s Group of 7 meeting at his luxury golf club near Miami, a swift reversal after two days of intense criticism over awarding his family company a major diplomatic event.

Did Donnie Bonespurs do this out of a sober acknowledgement he was violating the domestic emoluments clause against presidential self- dealing?  I.e. selecting his own property as the venue for a major diplomatic event, and thus a "decision unprecedented in modern American politics with a president awarding himself a massive contract." (WaPo, Saturday).  

Of course not. This pinhead spouted about the "phony emoluments clause".  What do you expect from a dolt  that  has never read the Constitution and struggles with a 'Garfield' comic?  All Dotard knows is self dealing and hence actively embraces his own narcissism directed to self- enrichment. That is the sum and substance of his miserable existence.  If he can't make a deal that benefits himself he wants no part of it.   And bear in mind, like most grifters and criminal con men his "deals" are always inflated, exaggerated.  An AP examination of Trump's Twitter feed turned up 1,200 mentions of the words "biggest,", "smartest",  and "best".  (Denver Post, Oct. 20, p. 7A,  'With Trump It's Always 'The Art of the Big Deal'")  In his most recent transgression Trump claimed a crowd of 30,000 for a rally crowd in Dallas.  The Dallas Fire-Rescue Dept. made an actual count of 18,500 or below the 20,000 capacity of the American Airlines Center and 38.3 percent less than Trump claimed.

Why does this deranged man-baby employ such excess claims, hell outright LIES? Because like all practicing con men he understands that employing them is the best hook to sucker the gullible, lower IQ segment of the populace.  Thus, rather than offering solace to the Kurds slaughtered in the wake of his unseemly withdrawal of U.S. troops in N. Iraq, he chose to brag on his "deal"  as a "great day for civilization".  In fact, it was among the worst, and put a rubber stamp on allies' justified suspicion of the U.S. as credible partner in most global initiatives.

But as odious as Trump's withdrawal from Syria, it was not an impeachable offense.  However, his self- dealing to enrich himself via his Doral resort was.  As blogger Robert Weissman put it on smirkingchimp.com:

"President Donald Trump no longer sees fit even to pretend that he is constrained by the law or the U.S. Constitution. It’s hard to imagine a more blatant violation of the Constitution’s anti-corruption provisions than the president steering foreign governments to stay at his luxury resort.."

Nevertheless it took a firestorm of outrage to get  him to retract his decision, and even then it was done grudgingly and rife with serial insults and complaints at any critics.

 Trump wrote on Twitter  over the weekend, interspersing one tweet with the usual hyperbole, exaggerations and BS:

“I thought I was doing something very good for our country by using Trump National Doral, in Miami, for hosting the G-7 leaders.  It is  big, grand, on hundreds of acres, next to MIAMI INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT, has tremendous ballrooms and meeting rooms and each delegation would have ...its own 50 to 70 unit building.  Would set up better than other alternatives."

Let's pause here to note this is all horse manure   As Chris Hayes' guests pointed out on 'All In' Thursday, all the costs vis-a-vis Trump's Doral resort are already "sunk" - meaning underwater. In debt up to Miami's tallest condo. The Doral has struggled financially since the Trump family bought the resort out of bankruptcy in 2012, reportedly paying $150 million for the property. More than $100 million in loans to help finance the project came from Deutsche Bank. The property itself - as noted by Hayes -  has also been plagued with "flying vermin"  and had some not too good inspection reports of its facilities.

Given the conditions and  debt status at Doral,  having hundreds of  personnel from G7 advance teams first arrive to check it out and then return in June with their full delegations,  would merely provide a rescue for Trump to dig his sorry ass out of a financial hole. Problem is that G7 bunch would land in the midst of Miami's worst mosquito season - as noted by Hayes' guest Natasha Bertrand.  So, Trump isn't doing any "good" other for himself.  And as Ms. Bertrand also agreed,  any number of other places would be far superior alternatives.

Trump then carried on in his loopy rant tweet:

"I announced I would be willing to do it at no profit, or if legally possible at ZERO COST to the USA. But, as usual, the Hostile Media & Democrat partners went CRAZY!”

Ok, let's back up again to shovel more horse shit before moving on.  As Bertrand also reminded viewers there is no way profits would not accrue from the choice of the Trump dump. Especially as the arriving dignitaries would need several helipads - likely provided on the golf course. After the conference the helipads would then need to be removed and the golf course restored - all at cost to U.S. taxpayers.   Far from "going crazy" too many realized the fell, unconstitutional nature of Dotard's proposal and took him to task for it. Democrats (and many newspaper editors, e.g. The Denver Post)  immediately portrayed the plan as a blatant act of self-dealing corruption, and ethics lawyers said payments from the visiting delegations could violate the emoluments clause of the Constitution, which forbids the president from accepting gifts and funding from foreign governments.

Democrats in the House and Senate - to their credit- quickly introduced legislation intended to block the use of the Doral, a bill they called “Trump’s Heist Undermines the G7,” or the THUG  Act. The measure would have blocked the use of federal funds for the Group of 7 if the event were held at the Doral.

 The one who is crazy then, is Trump - for not grasping that is how his wacky nonsense would be received.

The fact this deranged  asswipe and certifiable moron could even be serious enough to write this claptrap shows he belongs in a straitjacket.  Do the country a favor? By letting foreign nationals stay at his flea and bed bug, mosquito -ridden dump that passes as a "resort"?  And then making the dignitaries pay for the privilege - to line his own pockets, of course.  (But one wonders if he'd pay their medical bills if they contracted dengue fever from a mosquito bite)

Trump added: “Therefore, based on both Media & Democrat Crazed and Irrational Hostility, we will no longer consider Trump National Doral, Miami, as the Host Site for the G-7 in 2020.”

In the wake of what we've seen the past week, let us accept as a proposition that things will only get worse in the next year - especially with impeachment hanging over Trump's head.   As NY Times political columnist Peter Wehner put it on 'Last Word' Friday night:

"Republicans to whom I've spoken have known from the start that this is a person who's really problematic, psychologically unwell. At the beginning it was wishful thinking that they could contain or control him... What's happening now is Trump's pathologies are getting worse  and the guardrails are disappearing. So what we're seeing now is the worst of Trump, but it's going to get worse going forward."

The problem is that if his Senate cult followers then fail to remove him, he will become vastly more emboldened and make even more atrocious decisions- say than the Kurd betrayal, the Ukraine shake down call to dig dirt on political opponents, and the Doral G-7 self dealing .  As WaPo columnist Ruth Marcus said on 'Last Word' Friday night, when asked if the "dam" would finally break in the wake of the week's events:

"No. The Republican lawmakers will just stick with Trump. They have a 'me first' approach and fear Trump's base and being primaried. Until Republican voters turn against Trump it is very very dangerous - no matter what they privately think, say about Trump giving himself this big contract, or Trump in Syria. So they're not going to break with him in public."

This fear is also what led HBO ('Real Time') comedian Bill Maher to warn at the end of September of the potential political ramifications of pursuing Trump's impeachment, but failing to remove him. As he observed:

"If we do this, the country is going to be paralyzed.  I'm not saying don't. ... It's going to be paralyzed for a very long time, and all of the oxygen in the room will be taken by this," 

But then voicing the much more ominous danger of the GOP -dominated Senate failing to do its constitutional duty to remove the thug (which requires a two-thirds majority, or 67 votes.)  So what other alternative is there, short of invoking the 25th amendment (even more improbable), or Trump losing the election next year.? (Still not a slam dunk by any means.)  And we know how the Trump cabal will stoke the "fear the socialists" meme.

By Friday night, Maher had conceived of potentially the only real solution to eliminate the orange fungal parasite and blight on the Republic.    He offered to pay  $1 million for the orange mold to leave the office. (Which in truth he ought to seriously consider after Admiral William H. McRaven torched the traitor in a NY Times op ed and accused him of being a "threat to the Republic".)

Maher, a long-standing Dotard critic who actually got a Trump-filed  lawsuit tossed out (after he vowed he could prove Trump was the spawn of an Orangutan) said:

"Just take my check for $1 million. I bet I could get another 1,000 people just from here to the beach — including Malibu, of course — who would pay that much to see you resign," 

Bill  concluded, "Mr. President, it is really very simple. You love money. We hate you."

At first blush I agree with Maher this plan could work - knowing Trump's mendacious nature. But is $1 million enough to get Trump to move his fat ass out of the Oval Office for good?  I doubt it. I suspect it would take at least $100 million - and I doubt all the actors' contributions in Hollywood would make that threshold.   Besides, most would- be contributors would justifiably worry that this slimeball would renege. After all, look how he stabbed the Kurds in the back barely a week ago.  He'd probably do the same for this effort then holler at one of his rallies: "Ya see what I did to them dumb liberals and Dems! I stiffed 'em good!"

So we are stuck with hoping, as Marcus went on to say, that the polls favoring Trump's impeachment and removal hit at least 52-55 % of Republican voters to force the Repuke Senators to have their 'come to Jesus' moment and ditch the Dotard.

Either  that, or find a candidate who can beat him next year in the general.

See also:

Robert Weissman

Donald Trump

The Antidote to Trump's Corrupt G7 Deal? Impeachment and Conviction

Kudos To Justin Trudeau For His Smack Down Of Traitor Trump

This photo of the 71 year old brat facing an "intervention" by REAL world leaders, said all you needed to know about the G7 summit over the weekend. When I asked Janice  what Angela Merkel was likely saying she replied: "I'm going to bash your fat orange face in if you don't act your age!"

"To our allies: Americans stand with you even if our president doesn't."  - Sen. John McCain

"Why is Donald Trump acting like a snowflake on the international stage? Why is he acting like the ultimate snowflake when Justin Trudeau gives a blandly Canadian response? It was not that tough. He was being kind, eminently reasonable." Joe Scarborough this morning.

The ending of the G7 meet in Quebec was supposed to be a non-drama. Basically, all seven member nations had agreed to signing the final statement --  which was crafted by the U.S. delegation though with some disagreements noted.  Reporters on Air Force One had even been told that the United States would sign the joint statement. But then the unthinkable occurred, as Traitor Trump - our illegitimate resident - unleashed a broadside on Canadian Premier Justin Trudeau.  The orange- hued mutt didn't even have the courage to broach opposition (to a Trudeau speech) to his face, but  in a remarkable pair of acrimony-laced tweets after sneaking away on Air Force One.. But this is the coward twerp we've come to know:

A fucking disgrace and rank embarrassment  to the nation and a blight on the world.  A blight because this feral swine - by his puerile actions-   upended two days of global economic diplomacy late Saturday.    He did this by having  a hissy fit and refusing to sign a joint statement with America’s allies, threatening to escalate his trade war on the country’s neighbors and deriding Canada’s prime minister as “very dishonest and weak.”

Imagine that! This Do-TURD calling Justin Trudeau 'dishonest and weak' when already Trump had spieled off over 3, 300 lies by his 500th day as resident.  A zero who is so weak he has to recruit lackeys to do his firing for him (such as for Comey and Tillerson)  and hasn't the balls to criticize a man to his face but has to resort to tweet attacks on Trudeau on his plane. . Like a little tweety bird, all twitters, no substance...and no balls.  Rather like the "ultimate snowflake" to use Joe Scarborough's phrase.

But it didn't stop there. In addition, Trump sent off his little pet monkeys, including economic adviser Larry Kudlow and senior trade adviser Peter Navarro,  to spout even more disparaging adjectives on the Sunday talk show circuit. These included the following descriptors of Justin Trudeau: “amateurish,” “rogue,” “sophomoric” — while also accusing Trudeau of a “double-cross” and “betrayal.”

But the most incendiary remark was unleashed by the pretentious buffoon, Navarro:

“There’s a special place in hell for any foreign leader that engages in bad-faith diplomacy with President Donald J. Trump and then tries to stab him in the back on the way out the door.”

Making one wonder what this imp would say if Trudeau had really stabbed Dotard in the back.  Somehow I think these two assholes-  Kudlow and Navarro -  have their perspectives inverted. They need to reverse the mirror because they are the dregs who betrayed the Canadian PM and the G6.  Why? Because literally moments after Mr. Trudeau’s government proudly released the joint statement, again drafted and approved by the UNITED STATES -  and agreed to by all seven countries -  Trump blew it apart with his deranged tweets.  As Ian Bremmer put it this morning on CBS, "this was the geopolitical equivalent of the Comey firing".  And he traced it to Trump's inability to control his emotional impulses in a critical setting.

Trump  also, by his classless fit, shattered the veneer of cordiality that had prevailed throughout the two days of meetings in a resort town on the banks of the St. Lawrence River.  That fit, perhaps triggered by the worry he would soon be meeting a superior opponent in Kim Jong Un in Singapore,  led him to tweet:

“Based on Justin’s false statements at his news conference, and the fact that Canada is charging massive Tariffs to our U.S. farmers, workers and companies, I have instructed our U.S. Reps not to endorse the Communique as we look at Tariffs on automobiles flooding the U.S. Market!” 

 

Of course, all of this is horse manure, given that when goods and services are factored into the trade equation, the U.S. is actually coming out slightly ahead of Canada.

 And WHO is Trump anyway, that he can't be challenged or confronted-  especially by a PM defending his own country from the ravages of a Hitler wannabe, e.g.


Hyperbole? Hell no!  Recall that Bill Eddy-   who wrote the definitive book on high conflict personalities -  observed that Trump is  “…potentially the most dangerous person in politics since Adolf  Hitler.”  Got that? The most dangerous politico since Adolf Hitler. Indeed, he's already shown himself to be a traitor to this Republic  and even former Director of National Intelligence,  James Clapper,  now concedes (in the latest TIME, June 11, p. 45), that Trump definitely got shoehorned into office by Russian hacking into U.S. election systems. As he put it:

"Of course the Russian efforts affected the outcome. Surprising themselves, they swung the election to a Trump win. To conclude otherwise stretches logic, common sense and credulity to the breaking point.  Less than eighty thousand votes in three key states swung the election, I have no doubt that more votes than that were influence by this massive effort by the Russians."

So despite Trump incessantly calling the Mueller probe a "witch hunt" and "a hoax" he knows damned well he had the assistance of an alien, hostile state to get into high office. In other words, he is a traitor:
One can then plausibly conjecture that a prime reason for Trump's rage against Trudeau is that he knows in his heart of hearts Trudeau is legit, legitimately elected, while he needed the help of Putin and Co. to grab enough electoral votes. (And as I noted in previous posts, had the electoral college done its due diligence as opposed to rubber stamping, Trump never would have been installed, e.g.

http://brane-space.blogspot.com/2016/12/why-hamilton-electors-would-be-right-to.html

In an alternate universe where law is respected, this bitch would have been hung already or put before a firing squad. He most certainly wouldn't be sowing discord and chaos, alienating our closest allies and slandering the Prime Minister of the host nation for the G7 meet..  All appalling actions, behavior more in synch with a mentally unbalanced 12 -year old than a U.S. president. But wait, he isn't a real president, only a pretender, a fake. A Traitor!

 In an interview with a San Diego journalist two years ago,  referencing the earlier quote, Bill Eddy was asked: "Clearly a terrifying opinion — yet we do remember the ardent hordes of Hitler’s followers. Can you elaborate?"

Eddy replied:

"There are similarities regarding how he connects with his followers, so that they become more passionately connected when he and they are criticized. It strengthens their bond. It’s a major part of my book. In a nutshell, it’s because he uses emotions instead of logic, and uses repetition on a greater scale than most politicians since Hitler. He has conditioned his followers to his simple arguments from day one. Hitler was known for spewing ten times as many words as any other politician, and he used modern media for voice (daily speeches  on the radio) and face (movies of him speaking at his huge rallies). These emotional media projecting face and voice are much more powerful on our brains than printed words."

It is noteworthy that in the interest of comity Justin Trudeau had sought to play down personal clashes with Trump as he wrapped up the summit, calling the meeting “very successful” and saying he was “inspired by the discussion.”.   Why wouldn't the PM who is the host of such a meeting want to at least put a positive accent on it at the end?  The same way (well, not quite) Dotard is trying to put a positive spin on the Singapore meeting with Kim, before even having met him.  A "summit" which from all indicators will be more like a glorified photo op.

Trudeau was also justified in pledging to retaliate against the United States tariffs on steel and aluminum products in defense of Canadian workers.  Again, this is eminently natural to do  for a nation's leader and only a spineless, worthless wuss and loser would punt.   He also said this to Trump's face, as well as on assorted Sunday shows last week, so it was never "behind" the orange baboon's back.  But see, Trudeau didn't realize fully he wasn't dealing with a mature adult male but a sick, narcissistic, egomaniacal coward who sees every robust defense of others' interests as a threat to his own.  Hence, the urge - like a 12 year old who needs a serious intervention - to 'punch back",   even when others are merely defending their own turf and principles. 

But like the alley cats  the 14 year old Trump used to stab with his specialty switchblades while growing up in Queens, he expects no one to fight back. Trudeau did and the bellyaching litte yellow belly couldn't take it.

 Trump, who apparently saw Trudeau’s news conference on television aboard Air Force One en route to Singapore, lost it at the sight of a fearless leader.  His only recourse then was to again emulate a petulant twelve year old, and project his own insecurities and defects onto Trudeau, e.g.

“PM Justin Trudeau of Canada acted so meek and mild during our @g7 meetings,only to give a news conference after I left saying that, ‘US Tariffs were kind of insulting’ and he ‘will not be pushed around.’ Very dishonest & weak. Our Tariffs are in response to his of 270% on dairy!”

Not long after that childish expulsion, John "Ripper" Bolton -  Trump's top national security stooge.....errr adviser  -   tweeted out a photo of Trump, with arms crossed and pouting, as the leaders of the other nations stood in a circle around him.  Evidently DOLT-on believed the image (seen at the top) would convey Trump in a defiant pose facing down the G7 allies trying to get him to rescind "America First".

In fact, all the photo did is confirm the truth most already knew: The U.S. is being led by a 71 year old, navel -gazing man baby who conducts government business like a dyspeptic toddler who shits his diapers every two minutes and expects quick changes.

Mr. Trudeau’s office responded to Dotard’s Twitter barrage with a carefully worded statement, making clear the U.S.'  maggot leader had lied again.   As Trudeau spokesman Cameron Ahmad put it:

 “The prime minister said nothing he hasn’t said before — both in public, and in private conversations with the President.”

Meanwhile, President Emmanuel Macron of France had left an indelible imprint of his thumb on Trump's right hand after a particularly vise-like hand shake. (Google "Trump bruised right hand from Macron" or some such, and you'l see it.) As Janice put it when the image flashed across the news last night: "Too damned bad Macron didn't break his hand!"  Ouch!

That  power hand shake (Macron got the jump on him) was followed by 48 hours of tense and often confrontational closed-door discussions between Trump and the leaders of America’s closest allies — France, Britain, Canada, Japan, Italy and Germany — in the hopes of resolving a brewing trade war among friends. Instead, the gathering   to further inflame Dotard's belief that the United States is being treated unfairly by countries with which prior presidents had long ago negotiated trade agreements for the flow of goods and services.

Exhibiting his full range of ignorance and stupidity, Trump railed about what he called “ridiculous and unacceptable” tariffs on American goods and vowed to end them.  Like the disruptive, ignorant  brat he is, he whined:

“It’s going to stop, or we’ll stop trading.with them. And that’s a very profitable answer, if we have to do it.”

Awww, Bwaahahahahahaaa!   Poor little baby Doturd. Give him a sippy cup, and another diaper change. Wouldn't want him going into that meeting with Kim Jong Un with a full load.

The other six leaders were defiant in the face of Trump’s threats, accented by Justin Trudeau's end comment:
 

“I have made it very clear to the president that it is not something we relish doing, but it is something that we absolutely will do. As Canadians, we are polite, we’re reasonable, but also we will not be pushed around.”

Goof for you, sir! And be ready to level the full 'boom' of the planned $12.8 billion tariffs on Trumpdom come July 1st.

Emmanuel Macron himself  said that trade debates ought never be conducted via angry emotional outbursts, Adding:

 “There is no winner, there are only losers when you take that strategy.”

Next time, sir, please do crush Trump's tiny hand. It would make wifey's day.

See also:

http://www.smirkingchimp.com/thread/p-m-carpenter/79588/america-first-more-like-america-dead-last

Trump's Trip A "Home Run"? More Like A Bunt Foul Out

"That was a great, great trip! Except Macron  mashed my hand up with that handshake!"

Predictably, Trump on return from his nine-day Middle East, European junket overinflated it for his Trumpie fake news supporters' benefit: "It was great! A home run!"  Actually, more like a foul out two-strike bunt.  From his groveling and ass-kissing performance with the Saudis, among the most repressive regimes on the planet, to his European NATO summit and G7 meet which The Financial Times described as a "disaster" and "chaos". It even prompted Germany's Angela Merkel to assert Europe must now "become self reliant and stop depending on traditional allies".  Translation:
Germany and Europe can't depend on the U.S. with a nutwhack, unstable leader.

The Saudi spectacle was especially appalling, Trump et al doing sword dances with these degenerates while making hundred billion dollar weapons' deals.  Did Trump even know or was he aware that most of the 9/11 hijackers - terrorists hailed from Saudi Arabia, and these vermin have hatched more terrorists (under the Wahabbi sect) than any other group?  Where were the snarky voices of the Trumpies screaming "Ragheads!" ? Well, nowhere to be heard, as they seemed by their silence or mute blogs to make a special exception and heap more praise on these scumballs than long time allies who actually have our best interests at heart.

As former Dept. of Justice official Matt Miller put it this morning: "If you look at the way Trump behaved in Saudi Arabia versus the way in Europe - so much of it is personal for him. He likes  autocrats who are willing to throw him big parties and are to say nice things about him. But he doesn't get along with other leaders who are going to stand up for the democracies but not behave with this personal allegiance to him."

Which is the mindset of an autocrat, going all the way back to the fascists Mussolini and Hitler. (Recall again Hitler regularly had his S.A. pummel and beat German journalists, as he berated the press for being "unpatriotic")

Particularly outrageous was that while Trump courted and paid homage to the Saudi terror regime he essentially spat on the Europeans at the NATO summit and G7 meet. At the former venue he browbeat NATO members by asserting they weren't paying "their fair share" to the U.S.  But the dolt doesn't even know they wouldn't be paying to the U.S. anyway but to a common NATO defense pool. The U.S, pays the lion's share, but as one commentator noted over the weekend it also reaps the biggest payoff - the immense military spending catapulting it into the role of sole superpower. None of the other NATO nations would remotely approach that given it would mean tossing their own citizens' needs and welfare under the proverbial 'bus'.  Besides, they wouldn't gain anything - the NATO bond is supposed to be "one for all, all for one" anyway and the U.S. would have as much or more to lose by a retreat - say in the face of aggressive Russian advance.

As in the G7 meeting, Trump's boorish behavior was on display as he literally pushed the President of Montenegro out of the way, jostling to the head of the pack.  Trump literally acted like another head of state didn't exist, and might have merely been an obstacle in his way. But why be surprised given this is his M.O.?

At the G7 he managed to nettle all the allies by his irksome and aggressive, arrogant behavior - even calling the Germans "bad" for their trade surplus. The moron isn't even aware that shows the U.S. isn't properly in technological competition - showing they might do better in trade if so much wasn't squandered on military toys - many of which end up with cost overruns.

Angela Merkel and others were appalled by Trump's behavior and it also didn't sit well in the German Press. The Editor of Der Spiegel wrote in the aftermath:

"Donald Trump is not fit to be president of the United States. He does not possess the requisite intellect and does not understand the significance of the office he holds nor the tasks associated with it. He doesn't read. He doesn't bother to peruse important files and intelligence reports and knows little about the issues that he has identified as his priorities. His decisions are capricious and they are delivered in the form of tyrannical decrees.

He is a man free of morals. As has been demonstrated hundreds of times, he is a liar, a racist and a cheat. I feel ashamed to use these words, as sharp and loud as they are. But if they apply to anyone, they apply to Trump. And one of the media's tasks is to continue telling things as they are: Trump has to be removed from the White House. Quickly. He is a danger to the world.......The U.S. elected a laughing stock to the presidency and has now made itself dependent on a joke of a man. The country is, as David Brooks wrote recently in the New York Times, dependent on a child."

Ouch! But watching his antics in Europe and the reports on his histrionics in assorted European media, one can now grasp how spot on the Der Spiegel take is and why most sane U.S. citizens and voters are ashamed to have this disgraceful clown representing us and the country.

Perhaps the single most compelling image to emerge from the NATO summit was when the Donald  tried to outdo French President Emmanuel Macron in a photo op handshake. However, Macron got the better of him and crushed his little hand to the extent Donald had to pull away first. The details were captured by the WaPo's Philip Rucker with a similar degree of attention to the six-second shot sequence in the Zapruder film described by Jim Garrison during his New Orleans trial:

"As President Trump met French President Emmanuel Macron for the first time, welcoming him to lunch Thursday at the residence here of the U.S. ambassador to Belgium, the two men shook hands for six long seconds. Their knuckles turned white, their jaws clenched and their faces tightened. Trump reached in first, but then he tried to release, twice, but Macron kept his grip until letting go."

Double ouch! That'll teach ya, Mister Tiny Hands! Macron himself had been forewarned about Trump's gimmick handshakes so was prepared. As he noted in a remark to the French press: "It wasn't innocent."   The newly elected president said the fierce handshake during their first official meeting on Thursday was “a moment of truth,” in an interview with Le Journal du Dimanche.
"My handshake with him,  it wasn’t innocent," said Macron. "One must show that you won’t make small concessions, even symbolic ones but also not over-publicize things, either

In some French media images the Donald was caught still rubbing his widdo hand in the aftermath and  pouting as if to say: "He mangled my hand! BWAAAHAAHAHA!'

The awkwardly long, white-knuckled, handshake was seen by many as a power projection, of sorts, by two newly elected world leaders in the full glare of the international media.. As fate or chance would have it, Trump lost and came away the weakling. (Though his blindsided, deluded followers will probably think otherwise.)

Trump basically tried to do a "reset" with this trip and deflect attention away from the heat of the Russian-Trump cabal investigation. But it won't work. The cold, efficient special counsel continues his task,  unrelenting and single -minded,  and he will overturn every phone record and every grubby 'stone' in getting to the bottom of it all. Trump's followers, for the sake of their dubious sanity, had better hope it's all "fake news" as Trump tweeted  yesterday.  In one he blabbed like the idiot he is:

"It  is my opinion that many of the leaks coming out of the White House are fabricated lies made up by the #Fake News media"

If only!  The truth is most of those leaks 'coming out of the White House' are emanating from terrified staffers - disturbed by a president who can't even exert the most minimal  control over his erratic behavior and now risks taking them all down with him. They want to be sure the word gets out before that happens and that it's the nut- in -chief, not them, responsible for the chaos and misfires- not to mention the lawlessness, especially obstruction of justice. 

See also:

 http://smirkingchimp.com/thread/kali-holloway/73124/8-embarrassing-things-trump-did-on-his-european-tour

And:

http://smirkingchimp.com/thread/tom-engelhardt/73122/little-big-man-into-the-whirlwind