As I struggled Friday afternoon to cobble together this Corner, I arrived at the above headline after some soul-searching. (My editor may change it.) I considered a different but similar headline: Lasting legacy: petty, mean, vindictive. I wondered if I was displaying those same shortcomings myself. I suspect devout Trumpsters think Im picking on the big guy too much and I should give it a rest. Maybe.
But whatever his personal, professional and presidential legacy may be, honest historians must admit that Donald J. Trump was a big man (at least physically) who was frequently petty, mean and vindictive.
Then came the Friday afternoon showdown in the White House: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy vs. U.S. President Donald J. Trump.
Unflattering words on both sides brought up the heat, but the situation might not have boiled over; then Vice President J.D. Vance entered the fray on the side of Trump and they tag-teamed the Ukrainian president in what was an embarrassing lack of diplomacy by two men who dont know what it means to be a statesman. (Add to that duo Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and youve got a Trump Trio that makes our nation look completely unskilled in the art of diplomacy. More about that later.)
Vance complained about Zelenskyy not being thankful enough to the United States for its ongoing support of his country. Not true: The Ukrainian president had expressed thanks frequently in the past and did so again during and after the meeting. But there was no gushing gratitude or display of fealty such as Trump has come to expect from those he sees as subordinate to him.
Some GOP lawmakers and Fox sycophants saw a victory for the president and his VP putting a foreign president in his place. Several European world leaders in post-meeting comments came down on the side of Zelenskyy. Also some wiser American solons.
I think Trump might have put out the fire but telling the Ukrainian president he was gambling with World War III. That came up when Vance jumped into the fray.
What happens next? Will Zelenskyy offer a profuse and groveling apology to Trump and come back to the bargaining table? Dont count on it.
Heres where I was with this Corner on Friday when the brouhaha in the White House began: DJT is indeed a big man physically. Depending on whom you consult among those who know him, including his personal physician, the president is somewhere between 61 tall to 63 tall. His weight, again dependent on the source of the numbers, varies from around 215 pounds to 240 pounds-plus. Trump promotes himself as leaner and meaner than he really is. Simply put, he doesnt have enough height for his weight. If he was a kid being outfitted with new back-to-school duds, hed be called husky.
While I dont expect any president of the United States to be a candidate for canonization, I would hope the occupant of the office would be a gentleman (or a lady) of good character, with high moral and ethical standards and at least a modicum of what that demands.
Perhaps I expect too much of what being a gentleman demands. Should our commander-in-chief exhibit a bit of the character of Revolutionary War hero John Paul Jones who noted: A naval officer should be a gentleman of liberal education, refined manners, punctilious courtesy and the nicest sense of personal honor. No meritorious act of a subordinate should escape his attention, even if the reward be only one word of approval. Should Americas military and naval officers see in their commander-in-chief a hint of John Paul Jones?
Sad to say, Trump has been known to denigrate Americas men and women who served in uniform. He was especially vehement in his disdain for Sen. John McCain, a decorated Navy pilot who was shot down over North Vietnam and spent 5 years as a POW.
In an interview with pollster Frank Lutz in June 2015, Trump noted that McCain was a war hero, because he was captured, OK. I like people who dont get captured. He would especially denigrate him again in 2017, when McCains thumbs-down vote defeated the presidents efforts to overturn Obamas Affordable Care Act. At the time the GOP had no plan for how it would replace Obamacare.
Trump and some of his cronies would continue to pile on McCain, even after his death from cancer in 2018. Trump never attended McCains funeral. Was he invited?
As an offset to the type of character Trump has displayed against his political opponents, witness John McCains comments about Barrack Obama at a McCain rally in October 2008 when in a one-on-one with a backer he turned aside degrading and untrue remarks about his opponent. McCain noted that Obama is a decent family man, a citizen that I have disagreement about fundamental issues with and thats what this campaign is all about.
Can you envision Trump saying something decent about a political opponent?
More recently, witness the presidents treatment of former and now retired Army General Mark Milley, who served as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Trump accused him of traitorous acts. During his retirement speech, Milley talked about American military officers taking an oath to support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies foreign and domestic and taking no oath to a wannabe dictator. He didnt name Trump, but you think?
Shortly after Trump took office Milleys official portrait, on a wall in the Pentagon with other portraits of former JCS chiefs, was taken down. Im pretty sure Trump didnt personally take the portrait down. But I doubt he was disappointed it disappeared.
I end with a suggestion for SecDef Pete Hegseth: I assume you know that the several war colleges of the United States military establishment have gifted historians on their faculties. Select one of them to give President Trump, Vice President Vance and you a refresher course on the Melian Dialogue and the Munich Agreement in 1938.
Have a nice day.
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