Althouse: "Look, if I wasn’t elected you would right now be at war with North Korea. Okay? I'll tell you for your people who don't understand the world..."

April 18, 2020

"Look, if I wasn’t elected you would right now be at war with North Korea. Okay? I'll tell you for your people who don't understand the world..."

"... and they don't understand how life works. If I wasn't elected, you would, right now — Maybe the war would be over, hopefully with a victory, but if you remember when I first came in we didn’t have ammunition — not a good way to fight a war. President Obama left us no ammunition. Okay, and he left us virtually no medical and ventilators. He left us — the the cupboard was dry. Right — the cupboard was dry. No, I think right now, you'd be at war — essentially, in some form — it would be over, it would be raging — with North Korea, if I weren't President. And we're doing just fine with North Korea. Just fine. We'll see how it all ends up."

Trump said today.

On the subject of China, he said: "Maybe Sleepy Joe Biden’s gonna win. And if Sleepy Joe Biden wins you’ll own the United States. And China will own the United States."

ADDED: I listened to the entire press briefing today, and those 2 quotes were the things I remembered and wanted to tell you about. I thought they were a preview of the way Trump will be campaigning against Biden. In today's briefing, at least some of the time, Trump let it show that these briefings are taking the place of the rallies he's been prevented from doing.

40 comments:

Mr. O. Possum said...: Excellent essay on how China sees the world in The Atlantic by former Trump national security adviser H.R. McMaster

"The [Chinese Communist] party has no intention of playing by the rules associated with international law, trade, or commerce. China’s overall strategy relies on co-option and coercion at home and abroad, as well as on concealing the nature of China’s true intentions. What makes this strategy potent and dangerous is the integrated nature of the party’s efforts across government, industry, academia, and the military.

And, on balance, the Chinese Communist Party’s goals run counter to American ideals and American interests."; 4/18/20, 9:16 PM
Unknown said...: God I love Trump.

No rep can replace him.; 4/18/20, 9:17 PM
Mr. O. Possum said...: Also from McMaster:

"The repressive and manipulative policies in Tibet, with its Buddhist majority, are well known. The Catholic Church and, in particular, the fast-growing Protestant religions are of deep concern to Xi and the party. Protestant Churches have proved difficult to control, because of their diversity and decentralization, and the party has forcefully removed crosses from the tops of church buildings and even demolished some buildings to set an example. Last year, Beijing’s effort to tighten its grip on Hong Kong sparked sustained protests that continued into 2020—protests that Chinese leaders blamed on foreigners, as they typically do. In Xinjiang, in northwestern China, where ethnic Uighurs mainly practice Islam, the party has forced at least 1 million people into concentration camps. (The government denies this, but last year The New York Times uncovered a cache of incriminating documents, including accounts of closed-door speeches by Xi directing officials to show “absolutely no mercy.”)"

One million people...in concentration camps...show 'absolutely no mercy.'

Think about that the next time you buy some Made in China.

If 10 percent of all of the activists who are obsessed with the weather would get on China's case, I'd feel much better.; 4/18/20, 9:18 PM
Ken B said...: “ Think about that the next time you buy some Made in China. ”

I think that's key. So much manufacturing is in China because we (naturally) like low prices. That’s a challenge for disengagement. A stigma will help.; 4/18/20, 9:35 PM
The Godfather said...: Isn't this all because someone in the White House called it the Kung Flu?; 4/18/20, 9:36 PM
Sebastian said...: "And China will own the United States

At least, it wouldn't be a "competitor" anymore.

Has Hunter offered to pay back the Chinese bribe yet?

Which reminds me: apart from outrageous, wasn't it also very, very odd that the Clintons first profited from Russian money, then instigated collusion with Russian disinformation agents to frame Trump somehow, using an outfit that itself represented Russians, and then Dems had the gall to stage the hoax accusing Trump of colluding with the Russians?; 4/18/20, 9:45 PM
Buckwheathikes said...: Listen Ann,

You need to understand something.

Donald Trump is not campaigning against Joe Biden. He knows Joe Biden isn't going to get the nomination. Joe Biden is suffering from Alzheimer's Disease. He cannot string one thought together.

Donald Trump isn't running against ANYBODY.

There's not going to be an election. That's the whole point of this.

The Democrats want to make the case that Donald Trump is a dictator. The only way to accomplish that is to run a FAKE CANDIDATE who is gonna DIE during the election so he wins by default.

Then they can bitch about it for 4 years and blame, oh, I dunno, the Crimea or something.; 4/18/20, 9:58 PM
William said...: A huge portrait of Mao hangs over Tianamen Square. I wonder how we'd feel about Merkel if a huge portrait of Hitler hung over the Alexanderplatz......Some yeas back I read Theodore White's book "Witness to History". He was the Time reporter in China. He favored Mao over Chiang. White had studied China and Chinese at Harvard. Henry Luce had hired him. Luce had grown up in China. He favored Chiang but kept White on the payroll.....That long arc of history that libs keep talking about has happened. Chiang's Taiwan is a democracy is a democracy with a higher standard of living than most western countries. Red China is still Red China with a portrait of Mao on prominent display in Tianamen Square....Theordore White won a Pulitzer, although not, I believe, for his coverage of China.; 4/18/20, 10:11 PM
Bay Area Guy said...: "Has Hunter offered to pay back the Chinese bribe yet?"

No. He asked for an extension of time to first pay the Arkansas stripper he knocked up.

Priorities!; 4/18/20, 10:20 PM
Buckwheathikes said...: Hey, whatever happened to that Judge in Arkansas that ordered Hunter Biden to show up in court?

Did Hillary Epstein that guy yet?; 4/18/20, 10:22 PM
rcocean said...: What's so frustrating about the MSM is there complete refusal to do their jobs. For example, Trump said Pelosi is putting extraneous things in the relief package bill. Did any reporter follow up and ask "Specifically, what things?" of course not! But wouldn't it be nice for the American people to know?

We passed a $2 Trillion relief bill. Before it passed did the NYT do an analysis of what was in it? Not that i'm aware of. Everybody just got together and voted for a 1,000 page mystery bill worth $2 Trillion.; 4/18/20, 10:28 PM
rcocean said...: Trump went hard after the NY Times Reporter maggie halberman saying she was fake person. Said the press always lies and makes things up when they write "Sources Say". I agree.; 4/18/20, 10:30 PM
YoungHegelian said...: President Obama left us no ammunition.

I know multiple guys who work in the DoD contractor/fed world. I heard this story multiple times under the Obama administration --- sequestration reduced the military to bare bones.; 4/18/20, 10:34 PM
Buckwheathikes said...: Ann,

I know you're a Constitutional Law Professor, and thus, you respect precedent, but also that you cannot imagine there not being a real election for President of the United States.

But there is precedent.

George Washington, our nation's first President, had no opposition.

Discuss.; 4/18/20, 10:34 PM
traditionalguy said...: All Trump needs is for Scarf lady to prance across the stage holding up a sign with death stats like the pro wrestling Ring Girls do.

He was directly chewing out the Wall Street Journal guys. They are Murdoch minions turning against Trump now like Fox News has been doing.; 4/18/20, 10:38 PM
walter said...: ADDED: I listened to the entire press briefing today, and those 2 quotes were the things I remembered and wanted to tell you about.
--
Hmm. Really? There was a question regarding Steve Moore and Wisconsin protests that he muffed. Just went to Virginia 2nd A because it's familiar.

Birx had a bit near beginning of her bit about adding in "probable" cases to the numbers.

Have to say I felt a bit held hostage to Trump's rambling andrepetition waiting for new information.; 4/18/20, 10:55 PM
Crazy World said...: Love my President, never ever said that before in my life.; 4/18/20, 10:58 PM
bagoh20 said...: Ken B, I don't often agree with you, but at 9:35 you were absolutley correct.

And Mr. Trump, You ain't wrong either, but please stop calling me everyday for advice. The lady here is getting suspicious. If she calls and asks what you're wearing, just say "khakis".; 4/18/20, 11:43 PM
Dan in Philly said...: One of the most insightful comments I ever read during the 2016 primary campaigns was written by Althouse. She mentioned something along the lines of "The networks have to cover him. They can't not cover him."

Whether a result of accident (doubtful) or genius (likely) Trump has the ability to shape the narrative better than any person, political or otherwise, than I've ever seen in my lifetime. Him beating Hilary was astonishing. I doubt any other candidate in history could have pulled that off given the circumstances. He's already framed Biden as "Sleepy Joe" which can be understood as lazy, dim, or possibly suffering from some sort of dementia.

Despite 95% of the news carrying Biden's water that image is already firmly part of his public persona. Who else could have pulled that off so easily?; 4/18/20, 11:56 PM
Birkel said...: McMaster cannot be correct if he starts with the assumption that there is international law.

That fiction ought to die.; 4/19/20, 12:24 AM
Achilles said...: Birkel said...
McMaster cannot be correct if he starts with the assumption that there is international law.

No there is law, but it is very similar to how the law is treated in the US.

The laws only apply to the US and a few of it's allies especially Israel.

Just like the laws in the US only apply to regular citizens and enemies of democrats.; 4/19/20, 12:37 AM
J. Farmer said...: Look, if I wasn’t elected you would right now be at war with North Korea. Okay?

That, of course, is patent nonsense.; 4/19/20, 1:43 AM
Lewis Wetzel said...: Why do we have so many troops in South Korea, J. Farmer?; 4/19/20, 2:48 AM
J. Farmer said...: @Lewis Wetzel:

Why do we have so many troops in South Korea, J. Farmer?

On paper, to support the US-ROK security alliance. More broadly, for power projection in the Pacific.; 4/19/20, 4:22 AM
Kevin said...: Look, if I wasn’t elected you would right now be at war with North Korea. Okay?

That, of course, is patent nonsense.

Let’s not do the NYT trick of pulling one sentence out, declaring it false without any evidence, and completely ignoring the substance of what he said.

Better than the NYT is a low bar. If you can’t clear it, sit here patiently and wait for Laslo to post.; 4/19/20, 6:21 AM
David Begley said...: Trump is right about Biden and China and the whole world knows it.

Biden is both comprised and senile. Weak.

And the strong take advantage of the weak.; 4/19/20, 6:40 AM
tim maguire said...: One of Trump’s greatest bits of prescience is his effort, started long before the virus hit, to decouple from China. He got a lot of resistance then, he will get very little going forward.

The rest of this quote...while Obama may have left stockpiles of medical equipment depleted, Trump had almost 3 years to fix Obama’s lax stewardship. Specific knowledge is not necessary, a simple order to ensure disaster preparedness would have been enough. And how does he figure we’d have been at war with North Korea? Our relationship with them bumbled along unsatisfyingly for decades. What does he think would have changed under a president Clinton?; 4/19/20, 6:40 AM
Mr. O. Possum said...: Trump met with Kim to tell him face-to-face that we were going to destroy his country unless he backed down.

Here's the mind-f*ck video Trump showed him which shows a nuclear meltdown at 2:04 juxtaposed against scenes of prosperity. It's a beautifully tailored by CIA movie wizards to get inside the little creep's head.

I would love to read a film scholar's analysis of this movie, particularly by one who knows Asian culture. A lot of time and money was spent on this. It seems to be created for a viewer (Kim) who has the emotional maturity of an eighth-grader.; 4/19/20, 6:42 AM
Michael K said...: Have to say I felt a bit held hostage to Trump's rambling andrepetition waiting for new information.

I saw a bit of it and agree. He was rambling.

One of Trump’s greatest bits of prescience is his effort, started long before the virus hit, to decouple from China. He got a lot of resistance then, he will get very little going forward. <

China and Xi got too arrogant. They thought they had America bought and paid for but it was just the Democrat Party. And part of the Republicans, too, of course. Like Richard Burr, for example.; 4/19/20, 6:56 AM
Rusty said...: Asia, Farmer. Asia. We're in S Korea to keep an eye on China and W. Russia. We have carrier groups to project power in the pacific. We are currently projecting power in the S. China Sea as well.
China, under her emperors considered herself the center of the world. Historically China has never considered the rest of the world as having anything to offer China. Therefore the rest of the world must recognize Chinas greatness and pay tribute to her. Xi is maintaining that world view. Whatever Xi says and China does just remember that they consider themselves the center of the world.; 4/19/20, 6:58 AM
wendybar said...: Again....he's not wrong.; 4/19/20, 7:02 AM
mikee said...: Trump repeats himself daily, because the press reports only its own narrative, not what Trump tells them has been done by his administration. His repetition becomes mechanical, but he soldiers on with it, knowing it is necessary.

Repetition is a political skill that GW Bush also mastered, and it made him successful. W was famous for answering not the question asked but the one he wanted to be asked, with stock answers that provided on-point messaging. Repetition. Saying the same thing over and over and over again, until it is burned into the brains of the listeners. It works.

Even the reporters can't ask about a supposed hospital bed and ventilator shortage any more, because there isn't one, and Trump has drummed that into everyone's brain. You read that line and thought, "Navy ship Comfort in New York, and Javits center, and 10,000 ventilators in the stockpile ready to send to a flareup." You couldn't help yourself.

Now he's doing the same thing with the panic over testing. Repeating the numbers already tested, the ratios versus other countries, the new tests developed in mere weeks. This attempt to paint him as failure will also fail, because he will repeat his successes endlessly in the face of the narrative by the press.

Trump has already won the 2020 election.; 4/19/20, 7:33 AM
roesch/voltaire said...: Does this mean Ivanka and Jerod will stop doing business in China , I think not.; 4/19/20, 7:59 AM
DanTheMan said...: >>On paper, to support the US-ROK security alliance. More broadly, for power projection in the Pacific.

Neither. It so North Korea can't invade South Korea without killing a LOT of Americans. They are human shields.; 4/19/20, 8:45 AM
Ray - SoCal said...: US forces in SK are a trip wire, just as US forces in other places are.

With the increased capability of the SK armed forces, and NK militaries degradation they are not needed for a conventional conflict. It also gives the SK side a counter to the NK nukes, and other non conventional capabilities (chemical and bio).

An alternative would be for SK to get nukes. Of course then Japan would want them. And why not Taiwan while we are at it.; 4/19/20, 8:49 AM
Skeptical Voter said...: Trump gets flak from the press in these briefings. And flak means he's over the target, and he keeps the bomb bay doors open. These press conferences are a form of bear baiting, and I have to say that the bear seems to be getting the best of it.

It takes two to make a spectacle as it were. If the press would settle down and stop channeling their inner Jim Acosta, there'd be less of a spectacle--and less of an audience. These little twits are as dumb as Ben Rhodes thought they were.; 4/19/20, 9:26 AM
daskol said...: I don't know that it's accurate to say Trump has led us to a full fledged victory in N. Korea, but you have to be utterly lacking in imagination to say his tough diplomacy with Kim hasn't sidelined the Norks. They are a nonentity: an arrow no longer in China's quiver when China feels like hurling arrows, or at least a blunted/damaged one. That's not because of any diplomatic agreement hashed out by experts at negotiation and Sino-US relations, but simply a factor of Trump having made clear to Kim the stakes of the game. It's why the best measure of success in Trump's Korea campaign was not, as Farmer and others were looking for, signed, enforceable agreements but simply a feeling: six months into the process, was it possible to imagine a hot war with N. Korea? To those with imagination, the answer was obviously no, or at least that it was a lot harder to imagine such an outbreak of hostilities than it had been only a half year or year earlier. To those with both memory and imagination, the feeling before Trump and the feeling about a year into Trump's Korea campaign were incredibly different. War indeed seemed just on the horizon prior to Trump's diplomacy. Is this scientific? Can you model this type of campaign, and project precisely what the next steps will be? Can you point to stipulations agreed and enforceable to lay out what Nork-US relations will look like a year down the road? No you can't, but that doesn't mean it wasn't an impactful and largely successful initiative.; 4/19/20, 10:25 AM
walter said...: Repetition has its place. When out of place it reads as deflection.; 4/19/20, 1:26 PM
mikee said...: Yes, Trump uses repetition to hammer the nail of information into the viewers' ears, but also as deflection, to answer the question he wants, rather the one he asks. Example: asked about WHO, he starts talking about W.H.O., and conflates it with W. T.O., then gives his stock answer about his trade deal with China. Maybe because he's waiting to savage or praise WHO until the details are available, or maybe because he cares more about WTO than WHO.
GW Bush did this deflection into a preferred message a lot, too, as I noted.

Obama, on the other hand, was a master of the strawman, always starting off by stating that some people, never quite identified, held an odious view, often one nobody at all ever held, which he then refutes and uses in comparison to define his own view as extra-crunchy-virtuous. It was vile. He often, for example, conflated legal gun owners with mass murderers, and then argued for anti-gun laws on the basis that we had to stop mass murderers, while his proposed laws would only ever stop legal gun ownership. As I said, vile. Still, an effective propaganda technique.; 4/19/20, 1:44 PM
wildswan said...: Farmer and Tim

Here is a WaPo story showing how North Korea ramped up nuclear tests, especially in the last four years of Deputy Ben, novelist manque and Deputy National Security Advisor 2012-2016.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2017/04/14/a-timeline-of-north-koreas-five-nuclear-tests-and-how-the-u-s-has-responded/

You can see the huge increase in the number of tests and size of the weapons. This why things couldn't just go on as they did under Clinton, Bush and so on. They kicked the can down the road and by 2017 NORK was ready and the US had no ammunition and no disaster relief supplies. The situation has improved but we have a ways to go. China is still making all the disaster relief supplies and all the antibiotics.; 4/19/20, 6:05 PM