World Leaders Facing New Realities (And Opportunities) with U.S. President Donald J. Trump

[Arkain2K]

Trump election: Juncker warns president may upset US ties with Europe
11 November 2016​

Donald Trump's election risks upsetting EU ties with the US "fundamentally and structurally", EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker has warned.

"We will need to teach the president-elect what Europe is and how it works," Mr Juncker told students in Luxembourg.

The Commission chief predicted that two years would be wasted while Mr Trump "tours a world he doesn't know".

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-37957673

 

[Arkain2K]

EU foreign ministers to hold special meeting after Trump victory
Countries to assess transatlantic implications of U.S. election.
By Jacopo Barigazzi
11/9/16

EU foreign ministers will hold a special meeting to assess the fallout from the U.S. presidential election victory of Donald Trump, according to a diplomatic source.

The ministers, the source said, will meet in an “informal,” extraordinary session on Sunday evening in Brussels to discuss EU-U.S. relations.

A statement Wednesday afternoon from the German Foreign Ministry said Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier had proposed the meeting. Steinmeier said earlier on Wednesday in reaction to the Trump victory that “many things will get more difficult” for America’s allies as a result of the election.

European Council President Donald Tusk and Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker have already invited Trump to come to Europe for an EU-U.S. summit at his “earliest convenience.”

http://www.politico.eu/article/eu-f...donald-trump-victory-frank-walter-steinmeier/

 

[Arkain2K]

Boris Johnson refuses to attend the urgent EU foreign ministers’ meeting to discuss the impact of Donald Trump
Mr Johnson has already told EU leaders to get over the ‘general doom and gloom’ about Mr Trump’s election victory

Boris Johnson has snubbed an emergency EU foreign ministers’ meeting called to discuss Donald Trump’s shock US election victory.

A Foreign Office spokesman said that an “act of democracy” had taken place in the US and that there was no need for EU ministers to organise an extra meeting on top of the one already scheduled next week.

It comes after Foreign Secretary Mr Johnson branded vocal European concern about the US election result as a “whinge-o-rama”, while Ms May was criticised by Labour for failing to “temper” her congratulations to the President-elect.

A Foreign Office spokesman said: “The Foreign Secretary will not attend the meeting convened for Sunday. There is a regular Foreign Affairs Council meeting on Monday where a range of issues can be discussed in the normal way.

“We do not see the need for an additional meeting on Sunday because the US election timetable is long established. An act of democracy has taken place, there is a transition period and we will work with the current and future administrations to ensure the best outcomes for Britain.”

The move highlights the widening gulf between London and the continent over how to respond to the US election, after a senior German politician warned Theresa May was “delusional” if she believed the incoming Republican administration would give the UK a good trade deal.

German Social Democrat Axel Schafer told The Times: “What changed is the likelihood of a speedy and preferential trade deal between the UK and the US.

“Even before Tuesday the chances were rather low, now the hope for this kind of deal seems delusional.”

Speaking in Belgrade this week Mr Johnson called for a sense of proportion from EU leaders in their reaction to Trump’s success.

He said: “I would respectfully say to my beloved European friends and colleagues that it’s time that we snapped out of the general doom and gloom about the result of this election and collective whinge-o-rama that seems to be going on in some places.

“He is, after all, a deal maker. He wants to do a free trade deal with the UK.

“I believe that this is a great opportunity for us in the UK to build on that relationship with America that is of fundamental economic importance for us, but also of great importance for stability and prosperity in the world.”

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn today claimed that Ms May and Mr Trump were pursuing the same divisive agenda towards immigrants, and took a swipe at the Prime Minister for failing to be more critical of the President-elect.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/u...-trump-theresa-may-us-elections-a7413631.html

 

[Ruprecht]

A couple of our past leaders chime in with quite different views on what Trump's election means for American allies...

 

[Arkain2K]

Britain's Brexit firebrand Farage meets Trump in New York
By Daniel Wallis and Kylie MacLellan
November 13, 2016​

Leading Brexit campaigner Nigel Farage visited Donald Trump at his home on Saturday, after suggesting he could act as a go-between to help smooth British relations with the U.S. president-elect.

British Prime Minister Theresa May is not expected to meet the incoming leader until early next year and Farage has suggested her criticisms of Trump in the early days of the campaign could damage ties with Washington.

"We're just tourists!" Farage, head of the UK Independence Party (UKIP), told reporters as he waited for an elevator to take him up to the meeting at Trump Tower in New York City.

He later tweeted a photograph of himself with Trump standing in front of a pair of golden doors and smiling broadly, the president-elect giving the camera a thumbs-up.





"It was a great honor to spend time with @realDonaldTrump," Farage tweeted. "He was relaxed and full of good ideas. I'm confident he will be a good President."

Trump's election campaign manager Kellyanne Conway said: "I think they enjoy each other's company, and they actually had a chance to talk about freedom and winning and what this all means for the world."

In a separate photograph posted on Twitter, UKIP donor Arron Banks, Breitbart London Editor in Chief Raheem Kassam, and Gerry Gunster, an American whose advocacy firm worked on the Brexit campaign, were also pictured with Trump and Farage.

May - who spoke to Trump by phone on Thursday - and her predecessor David Cameron last year described Trump as "divisive" and "wrong" over his call to ban Muslims from entering the United States. At that time he was not considered likely to win the presidency.

In a leaked diplomatic telegram, sent on Nov. 9 and printed in the Sunday Times newspaper, Britain's ambassador to Washington, Kim Darroch, said he believed Britain had built better relationships with Trump's team than other foreign diplomats.

"(Trump) is above all an outsider and an unknown quantity, whose campaign pronouncements may reveal his instincts, but will surely evolve and, particularly, be open to outside influence if pitched right," he said. "We should be well placed to do this."

"GROW UP"

While the British government has congratulated Trump on his election, the head of the opposition, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, said he should "grow up" on the immigration issue and recognize that the U.S. economy depends on migrant workers.

"The treatment of Mexico by the United States, just as much as its absurd and abusive language towards Muslims, is something that has to be challenged and should be challenged," Corbyn, whose wife is Mexican, told the BBC on Sunday.

UKIP, which has only one member of parliament in London, said Farage and Trump spent more than an hour discussing Trump's victory, global politics and Brexit.

A UKIP official has suggested Farage could even be the next ambassador to the United States, but British media reported that May's office rejected the idea of any role for Farage, citing unnamed sources who described him as an "irrelevance".

A day after Trump's election victory, Farage called on the real estate mogul to reverse "loathsome" Barack Obama's policy by making Britain his top priority.

Farage said he had been pleased at Trump's "very positive reaction" to the idea that a bust of former British prime minister Winston Churchill be put back in the Oval Office.

Farage, who spoke at a Trump rally during the election campaign, had predicted the former reality TV host would tap into the same dissatisfaction among voters that led to Britain deciding on June 23 to leave the European Union.

Trump made repeated references to Brexit during his campaign, saying it had highlighted the desire for change among voters frustrated with traditional politics.

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-election-britain-farage-idUSKBN1370P0

 

[Arkain2K]

Britain doesn't need Farage's help with Donald Trump, says top Tory
‘No need for Nigel,’ says Crispin Blunt as UKIP leader becomes first UK politician to meet president-elect after election
By Jessica Elgot
Sunday 13 November 2016

Donald Trump’s team raised concerns with Ukip’s Nigel Farage about the hostile comments made about his presidential campaign by members of the British government, a party source has suggested.

Farage, who met the US president-elect at Trump Tower in Manhattan on Saturday night, told the Telegraph Theresa May’s government needed to “mend some fences” with his team. “Some of his team had reservations about what members of the cabinet have said during the election,” Farage said. “Believe you me, his team are conscious of the comments.”

A Ukip source alleged that there was a perception in Trump’s team that British politicians and diplomats had not taken the possibility of a Trump win seriously. “Why do you think it is that Farage is the first international politician to meet Trump? Because he took him seriously,” the source said.

“There was a feeling of contempt and this is the result. They obviously were not cultivating the relationship and the proof is in the pudding of the meeting.”

A senior former cabinet minister said Farage’s help should not be dismissed out of hand. “He is probably the most successful, non-machine party politician the country has seen in a long while,” they said. “Frankly, given what the political establishment have said about Trump, any help Nigel Farage is able to give Great Britain with the incoming administration should be welcomed. But the normal machinery of government and diplomacy clearly now kicks in.”

As home secretary, Theresa May called Trump’s campaign pledge to ban Muslims from the US “divisive, unhelpful and wrong”, although the prime minister has taken pains not to criticise the Republican since she entered No 10.

Others have expressed disquiet since Trump took the nomination. The foreign secretary, Boris Johnson, has previously joked he would avoid travelling to parts of New York because of the “real risk of bumping into Donald Trump”.

The prime minister’s two joint chiefs of staff had also criticised Trump on social media before taking up their current posts. Fiona Hill posted last December: “Donald Trump is a chump” while her colleague Nick Timothy wrote in March: “American politics was depressing enough before Trump took off.”

In contrast to the Ukip’s leader’s comments, a memo leaked to the Sunday Times from the British ambassador to the US, Sir Kim Darroch, appeared to suggest the UK was well placed to influence the new president’s foreign policy, describing Trump as “open to outside influence”.

Conservative MP Crispin Blunt, the chairman of the influential foreign affairs select committee, rebuffed any suggestion that the UK was lower down Trump’s list of priorities when he takes office because of comments made by the prime minister and senior cabinet ministers.

He told the BBC1’s Andrew Marr Show: “There is fantastic opportunity for a relationship between Britain and the United States – there’s no need for Nigel. The prime minister has been very reserved and wise in having been guarded in her comments about Donald Trump right from the beginning, unlike many,” he said.

“Our foreign secretary is so wonderfully charming and entertaining, he can get away with the row-back.”

Farage and Trump spent an hour on Saturday night discussing the US election victory, global politics, and the status of Brexit, according to Ukip.

A Downing Street source said Farage’s activities in the US were an irrelevance to the British government. The source said: “We are not using Nigel Farage as a go-between for the very simple reason that he does not represent the government. He is an opposition politician. We have an active and very good relationship with the Republicans which professionals have been cultivating and preparing for some time.”

Another government minister said Farage was clearly “on a frolic of his own” and said high-level visits were already being planned. “Trump’s knowledge of foreign affairs is not probably his strongest suit, and he may not be fully aware that Farage is not an official member of the government, or representing the UK,” the source said.

“We have got a very experienced diplomatic team in Washington and now is the time for official contact. Whatever Farage is doing, he’s not representing the government. He’s just representing his own views, which I think is all he ever does.”

May was only the 11th world leader called by Trump after his victory on Tuesday. Traditionally, one of the first acts of the newly elected president of the US is to call Downing Street to ensure the continued strength of the two nations’ special relationship. However, Trump spoke to the leaders of Ireland, Mexico, Israel, Egypt, Turkey, India, Japan, Australia and South Korea before calling May.

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/nov/13/nigel-farage-donald-trump-crispin-blunt-ukip

 

[Arkain2K]

Donald Trump’s Meeting with Nigel Farage Leaves Britain’s Leaders Red-Faced
By Dan Stewart / London
November 14, 2016

​

Nigel Farage, the British right-wing enemy of the European Union, became one of the first foreign politicians to meet with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump over the weekend, upending the diplomatic order to the embarrassment of the U.K’s ruling Conservative Party.

A photo of Trump posing at Trump Tower with Farage, the interim leader of the smaller U.K. Independence Party (UKIP), was pictured on the front of many Sunday newspapers and was widely dissected online.

The meeting with Farage ahead of British Prime Minister Theresa May or her main opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn of the Labour Party comes as the British government seeks to foster ties with Trump to secure a strong trading relationship after it leaves the European Union.

Now, many in Westminster are coming to terms with the fact a politician long seen as a fringe figure in British politics can command the attention of the leader of the free world. On his return, Farage reported that Trump and his aides are unhappy at the attacks leveled at the President-elect during the campaign by some government figures. Speaking to the Daily Telegraph, he offered to “provide introductions and to start the necessary process of mending fences.”

May has said the government will not be taking Farage up on his offer, but some in the party think it’s not a bad idea. A Conservative member of the House of Lords, the unelected upper chamber of the Parliament, said Farage should be used as a “salesman” for British business.

“Anything we can do at any level to rebuild that relationship will be to Britain’s advantage,” said Lord Marland to the BBC, “and if Mr. Farage happens to be one of the people who encourages that relationship then so be it.”

The diplomatic coup by Farage gives the UKIP leader a status that is neither reflected by his electoral success nor his party’s. Farage has failed seven times to be elected as a Member of Parliament (MP) for UKIP, and is currently a legislator in the European parliament. His party has only one MP, Douglas Carswell, who has clashed repeatedly with its fractious leadership.

Although this lack of representation may be due to Britain’s electoral system — UKIP did receive 12.5% of votes in the 2015 election — the party has long been a minor player on the political scene here, and is seen by many as a single-issue party whose views on British immigrants border on the unacceptable.

The former investment banker, however, can and does claim to have played a part in the country’s decision in the June referendum to leave the European Union. Having joined demands by Euroskeptics in the Conservative Party to have the vote in the first place, he campaigned tirelessly for “Brexit” and has styled himself as the driving force behind its success.

Others may have a stronger claim to that — especially Boris Johnson, the pro-Brexit former London mayor now acting as Britain’s Foreign Secretary — but it was Farage who accepted an invitation to stand alongside Trump in Mississippi this summer and use the example of Brexit to inspire Trump supporters to get out the vote.

The meeting also raises questions about which other foreign politicians might be welcomed into the Trump White House ahead of their elected leaders. Trump’s election was welcomed warmly by populist leaders across the Continent, including the French leader of the National Front, Marine Le Pen, who is seeking the country’s presidency next year.

It remains to be seen whether the grace and favor of the White House will bestow legitimacy on other Trump supporters and flatterers.

http://time.com/4569416/donald-trump-nigel-farage-meeting-theresa-may/

 

[Bald1]

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban congratulated Trump with the words: 'What great news. Democracy is still alive.'

Orban said in July that Trump's plans on migration and foreign policy were 'vital' for Hungary, whereas those of rival Democrat Hillary Clinton were 'deadly'.

Orban was then the first European head of state to express a clear preference for either of the two candidates.

I've liked all your posts up to this one. Fuck Orban that thieving lying Putin wanna be. Even if I agree with many of his positions.

 

[Arkain2K]

Trump and Putin 'will try to mend ties', Kremlin says

US President-elect Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin will try to "normalise US-Russia ties", the Kremlin has said, following a phone conversation between the two.

Mr Putin wished Mr Trump "success in implementing the election programme".

Mr Trump, who had praised Mr Putin in the election campaign, said he wanted an "enduring relationship with Russia".

Meanwhile, President Barack Obama said Mr Trump had told him he remained "committed to a strong Nato".

'Pragmatic'

The Kremlin revealed Mr Trump and Mr Putin had discussed Syria and agreed that current Russian-US relations were "extremely unsatisfactory".

They also talked about the fact that 2017 marked 210 years since the establishment of diplomatic relations between the countries "which in itself should stimulate a return to pragmatic, mutually beneficial co-operation".

Mr Putin and Mr Trump had agreed to stay in touch by phone and arrange to meet in person at a later date, the Kremlin added.

The Kremlin did not make it clear who had initiated the phone call.

The BBC's Steve Rosenberg in Moscow says that Russia views America's new president as a pragmatist - a brash businessman that Russians can do business with.

Relations between the two countries have soured in recent years, despite President Obama starting his eight years in office by calling for a "reset" with one of the US' long-term rivals.

While Russia and the US have managed to work together on issues like North Korea and Iran, they have openly clashed on Syria.

Mr Obama has also condemned Russia's intervention on the side of pro-Russian rebels in eastern Ukraine, while Russia's decision to grant whistleblower Edward Snowden asylum infuriated Washington.

Mr Trump's rival for the presidency was no better liked in Moscow. Hillary Clinton was sharply critical of Russia's 2011 parliamentary elections, leading President Putin to accuse her of fomenting the mass protests against him that followed.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-37981770

 

[EL CORINTHIAN]

You're awesome @Arkain2K! Thanks for doing all this breh.

 

[Arkain2K]

I've liked all your posts up to this one. Fuck Orban that thieving lying Putin wanna be. Even if I agree with many of his positions.

Keep going bro, you're still only at the beginning of the list!

You're awesome @Arkain2K! Thanks for doing all this breh.

Feel free to add your own addition if you see any interesting updates in the international news, folks!

 

[Bald1]

Keep going bro, you're still only at the beginning of the list!

....

Ha! I read all your threads, just didn't want to go all Wadtucket with likes.

 

[HomerThompson]

Trump election: Juncker warns president may upset US ties with Europe
11 November 2016​

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-37957673

God damn that guy is sooo arrogant.

 

[Arkain2K]

God damn that guy is sooo arrogant.

Dude is still high from kicking the Brits around.

Brussels is in for a rude awakening if they think they can talk to Washington that way.

 

[HomerThompson]

Dude is still high from kicking the Brits around.

Brussels is in for a rude awakening if they think they can talk to Washington that way.

Indeed they are.

 

[RockstarChris]

Brexit and now Trump as President. Bye EU. You failed at everything you ever did. Time for a change.

 

[Arkain2K]

EU rift exposed: UK, France skip emergency summit on Trump
November 14, 2016


Donald Trump divided Europe last night as France joined Britain in snubbing emergency EU talks on the bloc’s approach to him.

French foreign minister Jean-Marc Ayrault followed Boris Johnson by ignoring the special summit in Brussels on the U.S. President-elect.

Hungary’s foreign minister also boycotted the talks, saying the reaction of some in the EU was bordering on “hysterical.”

Foreign Secretary Johnson’s aides said he saw no point in attending the talks — planned as a precursor to the regular EU Foreign Affairs Council today.

A Foreign Office spokesman said he would not go to the meeting but would attend a regular Foreign Affairs Council meeting.

A senior UK official will be sent in his place, reports the BBC.

A Foreign Office spokesman told the broadcaster: “The Foreign Secretary will not attend the meeting convened for Sunday. There is a regular Foreign Affairs Council meeting on Monday where a range of issues can be discussed in the normal way.

“We do not see the need for an additional meeting on Sunday because the U.S. election timetable is long established. An act of democracy has taken place, there is a transition period and we will work with the current and future administrations to ensure the best outcomes for Britain.”

On Friday the Foreign Secretary, who previously said the brash billionaire is “clearly out of his mind”, said it is time to “snap out” of the “doom and gloom” surrounding his election.

BoJo, who has also said Trump's call for a ban on Muslims entering the U.S. showed his "stupefying ignorance", told reporters in Serbia that "people should focus on the opportunities... and not the problems."

After speaking to Vice President-elect Mike Pence, Boris said: "I would respectfully say to my beloved European friends and colleagues that it's time that we snapped out of the general doom and gloom about the result of this election and collective 'whinge-o-rama' that seems to be going on in some places.”

Boris’ remarks are in stark contrast to those of EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker.

He said Mr Trump's election risked upsetting EU ties with the U.S. "fundamentally and structurally."

Juncker told the BBC: "We will need to teach the president-elect what Europe is and how it works", adding that two years would be wasted while Mr Trump "tours a world he doesn't know."

Prime Minister Theresa May, who spoke to Mr Trump, has also had to skirt around her previous description of Mr Trump's Muslim ban idea as "divisive, unhelpful and wrong."

Mrs May has faced criticism from opposition politicians, who are mostly horrified at Mr Trump's election, for not following the lead of Angela Merkel.

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2016/1...uk-france-skip-emergency-summit-on-trump.html

 

[EvilWasLittle]

Iran:

Iran's President has warned Trump against ripping up last year's nuclear deal, made between his country and world powers - claiming the US no longer has the capacity to create 'Iranophobia'.

Hassan Rouhani said: 'The accord was not concluded with one country or government but was approved by a resolution of the UN Security Council and there is no possibility that it can be changed by a single government.

'The United States no longer has the capacity to create Iranophobia and to create a consensus against Iran.'

Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said Trump needed to 'understand the realities of today's world'.

'The most important thing is that the future US president stick to agreements, to engagements undertaken,' he said.

That terrorist bum is shaking in his turban right now.

 

[Blackened]

Appreciate the work in the thread @Arkain2K

Quality TS is quality.

 

[Arkain2K]

Ha! I read all your threads, just didn't want to go all Wadtucket with likes.

Appreciate the work in the thread @Arkain2K

Quality TS is quality.