To paraphrase the brilliant Oscar Wilde, there is only one thing in the world worse than to be insulted by Donald Trump. And that is to not be insulted by Donald Trump.

When Kim Jong-un called Trump the “mentally deranged US dotard”, the then-American leader shot back that “little rocket man” was a “sick puppy”. Two years later Trump embraced him: “I like him, I get along with him great. We have a fantastic chemistry.”

When Pope Francis said Trump was “not Christian” because he was “a person who thinks only about building walls”, Trump denounced the Pope as “disgraceful” and predicted the Vatican would be attacked by the terrorist army of Islamic State.

A year and a half later Trump said Francis was “really wonderful, a great guy”.

Australians have seen the same pattern before. After Malcolm Turnbull damned Trump’s “loathsome” comments about grabbing women by their genitals, the two leaders had a blazing argument over refugee resettlement where the US president told Turnbull that “you’re worse than I am”.

Just six months later Trump lauded Malcolm and Lucy Turnbull as “friends of mine and friends of Melania for, actually, quite some time”. Relations with Australia were stronger than ever, he bragged, “maybe because of our relationship, our friendship”.

Now that Trump has insulted Kevin Rudd as “a little bit nasty” and “not the brightest bulb”, Rudd has graduated. Trump said if Rudd remained hostile, he wouldn’t last long as Australia’s ambassador to the US.

And why wouldn’t Trump attack Rudd? It’s how he operates. And Rudd, when he was running a New York think tank, had called Trump “nuts” and a “traitor to the West”. Insults duly exchanged, only the reconciliation remains.

QOSHE - The one thing in the world worse than being insulted by Donald Trump - Peter Hartcher
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The one thing in the world worse than being insulted by Donald Trump

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20.03.2024

To paraphrase the brilliant Oscar Wilde, there is only one thing in the world worse than to be insulted by Donald Trump. And that is to not be insulted by Donald Trump.

When Kim Jong-un called Trump the “mentally deranged US dotard”, the then-American leader shot back that “little rocket man” was a “sick puppy”. Two years later Trump embraced him: “I like him, I get along with him great. We have a fantastic........

© The Sydney Morning Herald


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