Yesterday, President Trump met with top Russian officials in the Oval Office. Considering that this meeting was the first between Trump and a high Russian diplomat, it was a big deal. Press from America and Russia began filing into the room. A first in American history occurred when Trump White House officials only allowed Russia media to broadcast the event. American Press was entirely excluded from the event.
Russia was ecstatic. They finally were given proof, that Russia has a better relationship with the American president than the American people. In jubilation, Russia snapped a photograph of President Trump, the Russian foreign minister, and Moscow’s ambassador to the United States.
Although they had never met before, the three of them together seemed like long lost brothers. The smiles glaring from their faces were blinding. They were shaking hands and laughing. It was a beautiful union.
That photograph went viral. Russia was so proud of it, that within seconds it was on Twitter.
If you checked to see what was up on American news websites, it was as if this glorious meeting never took place. You might have read a movie review or how the Mets did, but nothing about Russian diplomats visiting the White House.
Ironically, when Secretary of State Rex Tillerson visited Moscow last month, it was an entirely different scene. Tillerson was forced to sit in the Kremlin coffee lounge for hours. When Putin finally did greet him, the American press, of course, was left behind. NYTimes article
The story gets even weirder….
Now a White House official tells CNN’s Jim Acosta that the Trump administration is “furious” at the Russians for posting the photos, as they claimed they were not told beforehand that any pictures would be posted on state-run social media accounts.
“They tricked us,” one official told Acosta about the Russians. “They lie.” RawStory article
I have given up trying to gauge the relationship between Putin and Trump. During the elections, they loved each other. Trump gets elected, and bombs Syria, and then Putin says relations with America are the worst. Then, Trump greets Russian diplomats in a private meeting and bars American press! Such a screwy course of ups and down, convinces me this relationship is being designed for public opinion.
Former White House officials were concerned about the potential security threats of allowing a Russian photographer exclusive access to the president’s office.
Colin H. Kahl, the former national security adviser to Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr., took to Twitter to pose what he called a “deadly serious” question: “Was it a good idea to let a Russian gov photographer & all their equipment into the Oval Office?”
David S. Cohen, the former deputy director of the C.I.A. during the Obama administration, responded: “No, it was not.” RawStory article
President Trump has repeatedly professed his biggest enemy is the media. That sentence alone should petrify America. Either Trump is justified or he is not. If he is justified, and the media, our greatest defender of democracy, is tainted, then we are in a heap of trouble.
But then, if Trump is wrong, we need to wonder why would he make such accusations. Why would our president go to such lengths to de-legitimatize the media?
Fox News is the biggest media conglomerate in the country. If, Trump is right about the media’s nefarious intent, such a conspiracy could not exist without Fox help. Do you really believe that Fox News is trying to throw the republican president under the bus?
Of course you don’t, because the media is a business. They want to sell their stories. Fox has a conservative audience. Airing negative stories about the republican president to a republican audience, means less advertising dollars.
To suppose that all the other media stations are producing fake news stories to harm the president is an equally bizarre accusation. President Trump recently won the POPULAR vote. In summary, America likes a president they voted for. Why would media make up stories to impugn someone who is popular?
It makes no sense.
Historically, presidents who are against the media have something to hide.
