There’s brazen. There’s shameless. There’s idiotic. Then there’s Donald Trump.
Standing on the South Lawn of the White House, in front of the White House press corps, Trump didn’t just renew his effort to get Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to manufacture dirt about Joe Biden, but he also dragged in Chinese President Xi Jinping. Speaking to reporters, Trump insisted that both China and Ukraine should get a move on in providing Trump the dirt he’s looking for.
Trump: China should start an investigation into the Bidens because what happened in China is just about as bad as what happened in Ukraine. So I would say President Zelensky, if it was me, I would start an investigation into the Bidens.
Right there, on the South Lawn, in front of reporters, Trump asked a country with which he is involved in multibillion-dollar trade negotiations and another that is dependent on the United States for military aid to launch investigations into a political opponent to better his chances in the 2020 election.
Trying to recover from the moment, a reporter asked Trump if he had actually asked Xi to investigate Joe Biden and his son.
Trump: I haven't, but it's certainly something we can start thinking about.
Trump is apparently making the case now that using his authority to extract political favors from as many countries as he can is perfectly okay. Nothing to be embarrassed about. Just extortion and misuse of power. Nothing to see here. How clear was Trump that he was abusing his authority to pressure a foreign government and enlist its aid in an election? This clear. Asked about trade negotiations, this was his response:
Trump: I have a lot of options on China, but if they don't do what we want, we have tremendous, tremendous power.