Trump's dizzying day of interviewsComments on Civil War, big banks and Kim Jong Un perplex aides, historians.By JOSH DAWSEY 05/01/17 09:24 PM EDT
President Donald Trump questioned why the Civil War— which erupted 150 years ago over slavery — needed to happen. He said he would be "honored" to meet with Kim Jong-Un, the violent North Korean dictator who is developing nuclear missiles and oppresses his people, under the "right circumstances."
The president floated, and backed away from, a tax on gasoline. Trump said he was "looking at" breaking up the big banks, sending the stock market sliding. He seemed to praise Philippines strongman President Rodrigo Duterte for his high approval ratings. He promised changes to the Republican health care bill, though he has seemed unsure what was in the legislation, even as his advisers whipped votes for it.
And Monday still had nine hours to go.
"It seems to be among the most bizarre recent 24 hours in American presidential history," said Douglas Brinkley, a presidential historian.
"It was all just surreal disarray and a confused mental state from the president."The interviews — published by Bloomberg, Face the Nation and the SiriusXM radio network — seemed timed to the president's 100-day mark but contained a dizzying amount of news, even for a president who often makes news in stream-of-consciousness comments. Trump's advisers have at times tried to curb his media appearances, worried he will step on his message. "They were not helpful to us," one senior administration official said. "There was no point to do all of them."
White House officials said privately there was no broader strategy behind the interviews. GOP strategists and Capitol Hill aides were puzzled by it all. "I have no idea what they view as a successful media hit," said one senior GOP consultant with close ties to the administration. "He just seemed to go crazy today," a senior GOP aide said.
Trump's comments questioning the need for the Civil War, aired Monday afternoon, seemed to disregard history and downplay slavery, several historians said.
"Why couldn't that one have been worked out?" Trump told SiriusXM, praising Andrew Jackson, who he said would have stopped the war had he still been alive.
The Civil War was largely fought over slavery and its expansion, with Southern states saying they had a right to have slaves and secede from the union. Trump has been compared to Jackson, most prominently by Stephen Bannon, his chief strategist. Trump again praised Jackson on Twitter Monday night saying he saw the war coming. Jackson died years earlier.
"White supremacists, lost causers, states-rights activists could latch onto this,” said David Blight, a Civil War historian at Yale University. “I don’t know if Trump even knows he’s doing it. You can be too ignorant to know you’re ignorant.”
Trump broke with longstanding precedent by telling Bloomberg he would consider a meeting with the North Korean president. The United States has no ties with North Korea and the country has repeatedly tried to fire missiles and build up a stockpile to harm the United States. Recently, the country posted video of the country sending a missile into the White House, blowing it up.
Later in the day, Trump said "none of us are safe," mentioning North Korea. Spicer defended the president's words, crediting the dictator for "assuming power at an early age, and he led his country forward." Other advisers said the meeting would only happen if the president changed his ways, an unlikely scenario, and noted that Trump has criticized the North Korean leader. But Spicer's comments struck many as almost praising the North Korean president.
"I would not say Kim III has moved the country forward," Jay Nordlinger, an editor at the conservative National Review wrote on Twitter. "Why is the presidential spokesman talking like this? Are we America?"
Trump's comments on the big banks to Bloomberg would be favored by Democrats and seemed to take Wall Street officials by surprise. Stock markets immediately slid. Several people close to Trump noted he often uses the phrase “looking at" when asked about a position where he's unfamiliar or doesn't have a definitive answer he wants to give. Spicer later declined to say Trump would do it.
Trump also told Bloomberg he would consider a gas tax — a policy proposal often favored by Democrats — that drew fire from conservative groups more aligned with his agenda, like Club for Growth. The idea even seemed to even take Democrats by surprise, with Sen. Charles Schumer, the Minority Leader, declining to comment. A senior administration official said the idea of a gas tax "had not been seriously proposed by anyone in the White House."
"He did not express support," Spicer said later, adding he was only considering the idea because industry executives asked him to do so.
Trump surprised senior Hill Republicans later Monday by also telling Bloomberg that his proposed health law was likely to change, even as his advisers furiously tried to get votes for the current bill. Some wondered if he was just referring to the bill changing in the Senate, which is widely expected, if it passes the House. Two senior administration officials said there were no big changes coming to the House of Representatives text and that they weren't exactly sure what he was saying. Republican legislators were still seeking guidance from the White House Monday night, officials said.
He also lauded Duterte, the leader in the Philippines, who is notorious for ruling with an iron fist, for being popular. Trump has often praised other rulers who are strong and have high approval ratings, using "famous" and "strong" as high compliments.
"You know he's very popular in the Philippines," Trump said of Duterte, who he praised for getting rid of drugs.
Duterte’s methods for cracking down on drugs, which have included condoning of extrajudicial killings, have drawn scorn from human rights groups and other observers of his record.
The comments took politicians of both parties — and some of his aides — by surprise. They came after Trump had earlier surprised foreign policy experts with a "very friendly" conversation with Duterte on Saturday night, and an invitation to visit the White House. Duterte has not accepted and said he might be too busy to come.
“This is a man who has boasted publicly about killing his own citizens,” Sen. Ben Cardin, a Democrat, said. “The United States is unique in the world because our values — respect for human rights, respect for the rule of law — are our interests. Ignoring human rights will not advance U.S. interests in the Philippines or any place else. Just the opposite.”
Spicer was asked if Trump was "briefed" on Duterte's human rights record. "The president gets fully briefed," he said, not elaborating.
Finally, Trump's mantra of "never retreat-never surrender" was revived by John Dickerson of "Face the Nation," who asked if the president stood by his claims that Obama was a "bad (or sick) guy!" for allegedly tapping his phones in Trump Tower. That claim is unsubstantiated.
"I don't stand by anything," Trump said,before adding: "I think our side's been proven very strongly."
Later, Spicer said Trump fully stood by his comments on Obama.
Pushed by Dickerson, Trump walked away, ending the interview and going back to his desk.
"OK it's enough," he said. "Thank you. Thank you very much."
http://www.politico.com/story/2017/05/0 ... rea-237859 
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