As part of Liberty Nation’s deep dive analysis of President Donald Trump’s tour of Asia, we’ll be examining what events take place, the significance of them, and most importantly, how the media are spinning it.
On the last day of President Trump’s historical tour of Asia, we’ll look at the events, the goodbyes, the words of the international leaders, and the successes (and failures) of the journey. It is often difficult to put together a final score in events like this, but by all measures, the president has outperformed expectations and perhaps done himself as much good at home as he did abroad.
The leftist media expected a series of gaffes, blunders, and insults in line with their narrative on the “unsuitability” of Donald Trump as president; they were disappointed to learn that a consummate businessman with years of dealing in international trade was a true representative of his country and of the MAGA platform.
If you want to know how the tour is going, check out yesterday’s column here on LN.
The Events and the Spin
Today was set to kick off with a final meeting at the ASEAN summit, but due to delays and scheduling conflicts, the president chose to not hang around. The meeting he missed was a forum for over a dozen countries and the primary reason he had decided to stay an extra day. After it was announced that the meeting would start at least two hours later than anticipated, the president gave his thanks and checked out.
Prior to the meeting, it was a hard task to find any notable sources who suggested it was a worthwhile meeting. After Trump canceled, the media scoured the world looking for “talking heads” to describe it as an important forum; The Guardian managed to find two such notables. One was an “Asia expert” from New Zealand, Carl Thayer, who described this as an “act of political vandalism.” Hardly an impartial professor as his Twitter feed is littered with anti-Trump insults.
And the other being Annelise Riles, a professor of Far East legal studies who retweets Barack Obama and Elizabeth Warren whilst denigrating Trump. She said that “Historians will date this trip as a key moment in the decline of US power in the Asia-Pacific region when Asian leaders stepped up and took the reins.”
The Reality of the Tour
By any conceivable measure, this trip was a resounding success for President Trump. He stressed the importance of trade that does “not tie the hands” of sovereign nation states. He pushed hard on an America First platform whilst still making over $300 billion in deals for the U.S. economy (although he claims that by the end it will be closer to a trillion). And he has shown the world that when it comes to being a respected world figure, very few people manage quite the heights of Donald J. Trump.
This tour was a diplomatic success even more so than a business one. He has built relationships with leaders of nations who will be shaping the world economy in the near future, and he did this whilst being tough on the issues that matter to people back home. One of the most underreported stories is that of the president intervening in the imprisonment of three UCLA basketball players. After appealing directly to Chinese Premier Xi Jinping, the players are now on their way home.
What the Leaders Think
A true measure of the president’s success is what the other world leaders have to say about him. While European and other Anglosphere nations are quick to side with the leftist viewpoint against the president, Asian nations are under no such Globalist restrictions.
Their words are inspiring. I’ll let them give their verdict and the final word on President Trump’s Asian Grand Tour:
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Japan: “There has never been such close bonds intimately connecting the leaders of both nations as we do now in the history of the Japan-US alliance.”
President Moon Jae-in, South Korea: “There is a special bond forged between President Trump and myself which is meaningful and I am grateful to be part of.”
Premier Xi Jinping, China: “President Trump's state visit is a successful and historic visit that will draw up the blueprint for the future development of China-US ties.”
President Trần Đại Quang, Vietnam: “…the flourishing Vietnam-US relations not only benefits each country but also contributes to boosting the US-ASEAN ties, to peace, stability, cooperation, and development in Asia-Pacific and the wider world.”
President Rodrigo Duterte, Philippines: He was perhaps the most melodic of leaders, Duterte honored the president with a duet rendition of ““You are the light in my world, a half of this heart of mine,” which he joked was ordered of him by the president.
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