The Liar in Chief moves from one crisis to another, all self created

The European crisis

Trump has given our European allies the middle finger by pulling out of the Paris climate accord and the Iran nuclear deal while applying steel and aluminum tariffs to European firms. Europe is retaliating with sanctions of its own and is considering action to undercut U.S. sanctions on Iran. Donald Tusk, president of the European Council, recently tweeted: “Looking at latest decisions of @realdonaldtrump someone could even think: with friends like that who needs enemies.” This transatlantic rift is a gift to Russia that amply repays Vladimir Putin’s investment in helping the Trump campaign.

The legal crisis

Trump made the biggest mistake of his presidency by firing FBI Director James Comey, thereby leading to the appointment of a special counsel. To protect himself from prosecution, Trump has waged a scorched-earth campaign against the Justice Department, the FBI and the special counsel’s office. This is an unprecedented challenge to the rule of law that could yet result in impeachment.

The Iran crisis

Trump pulled out of the nuclear deal even though his own secretary of state admitted that Iran was abiding by its terms. Trump hopes the imposition of unilateral U.S. sanctions will bring Iran back to the bargaining table, but it’s just as likely that the mullahs could accelerate their nuclear program and their regional aggression.

Tariffs

Even the steelworkers’ union opposes this move, because the United States and Canadian steel industries are so integrated. Canada and Mexico, like the European Union, are retaliating with their own tariffs. Trump’s brinkmanship and badmouthing of our neighbors are making it harder to preserve NAFTA and could help to elect anti-American leftist Andrés Manuel López Obrador as president of Mexico on July 1.