Remember when Trump…

said the Mueller report exonerated him when it explicitly said otherwise?

Trump has since made the claim multiple times on Twitter, during interviews, and at rallies.

The Mueller Report specifically said that Trump was not exonerated from the claimed crimes.

Robert Mueller has since explicitly denied that his report exonerated the President of obstructing the Special Council investigation. This was reiterated in front of Congress.

NBC News – Mueller says his report does not exonerate President Trump
Forbes – Trump Puts Exoneration In All Caps — Almost As If He Were Exonerated

tweeted that his attorney general should stop the Mueller investigation?

Trump’s attorney general, Jeff Sessions, had recused himself from the investigation into Russian election interference, which developed into the Special Council after Trump fired FBI Director James Comey. Trump’s tweet that “Jeff Sessions should stop this Rigged Witch Hunt right now” was immediately called an example of attempting to obstruct the Special Council’s investigation.

New York Times – Trump Tells Sessions to ‘Stop This Rigged Witch Hunt Right Now’

fist-bumped authoritarian Turkish leader Erdogan, saying that he “does things the right way”?

At a 2018 NATO conference while discussing with other heads of state the processes by which they would need to raise more money for the mutual defense pact, Trump reportedly praised Turkish leader Erdogan.

Ian Bremmer, president of the Eurasia Group and a CBS News senior global affairs contributor, described what he witnessed backstage at the conference:

Trump was very frustrated; he wasn’t getting commitments from other leaders to spend more. Many of them said, ‘Well, we have to ask our parliaments. We have a process; we can’t just tell you we’re going to spend more, we have a legal process.’

 

Trump turns around to the Turkish president, Recep Erdogan, and says, ‘Except for Erdogan over here. He does things the right way,’ and then actually fist-bumps the Turkish president.

Erdogan has censored the press and social media, engaged in purges against opposition, and jailed Turkish citizens for voicing dissent.

CBS News – Trump fist-bumped Turkish leader Erdogan, said he “does things the right way”
Eurasia Group – With flattery and a fist-bump, Trump endorses strongmen like never before
Wikipedia – Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Authoritarianism

said the “European Union is a foe” just before meeting with Putin alone?

Much of the European Union are allies to the United States through NATO, a mutual defense pact formed explicitly to defend against the Soviet Union. He also said Russia is a “foe in certain respects” and China “is a foe economically.”

Two days later, Trump met with Putin alone for a two hour meeting without any American officials or translators present.

CBS News – “I think the European Union is a foe,” Trump says ahead of Putin meeting in Helsinki
NPR – Trump Says He Sees The European Union As A ‘Foe’ Of U.S.
CNN – Trump and Putin met one-on-one in a room for 2 hours. Here’s why that’s a problem.

said that of meetings scheduled throughout Europe, the one with Putin “may be the easiest”?

The remark immediately drew attention, given that the other meetings in Europe included with longstanding US allies, and the one scheduled with Putin would not include any other American officials. Trump explained that Putin was merely a “competitor,” and not an enemy.

In the days leading up to the meeting, he also referred to the European Union as “a foe.”

Reuters – Trump says Putin ‘competitor’, not enemy
ABC News – Trump says Putin meeting ‘may be the easiest of them all’

said he had broken more records than Elton John with only a mouth and “the brain attached to the mouth”?

The full statement was,

“I have broken more Elton John records. He seems to have a lot of records. And I, by the way, I don’t have a musical instrument. I don’t have a guitar or an organ. No organ. Elton has an organ. And lots of other people helping. No, we’ve broken a lot of records. We’ve broken virtually every record. Because you know, look, I only need this space.

 

They need much more room. For basketball, for hockey and all of the sports, they need a lot of room. We don’t need it. We have people in that space. So we break all of these records. Really, we do it without, like, the musical instruments. This is the only musical – the mouth. And hopefully the brain attached to the mouth, right? The brain. More important than the mouth is the brain. The brain is much more important.”

As awkward as Trump’s phrasing was, he has in fact drawn larger audiences than Elton John. Trump has been a longtime fan of the artist, despite Elton John having turned down an offer to perform at Trump’s inauguration.

The New York Times – Despite Turning Down Inauguration Gig, Elton John Has a Recurring Role in Trump’s Presidency
CNN – Trump’s Elton John crowd size boast is actually true

said if he was wrong about trusting Kim Jong-un, “I’ll find some kind of an excuse”?

On June 12, 2018, Trump and North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un held a historic summit meeting in Singapore. They signed a joint statement in which North Korea agreed to begin denuclearizing in exchange for security assurances. When asked about whether he believed North Korea could be trusted, and what he would do if they backed out of any the agreement, Trump replied,

I may be wrong, I mean I may stand before you in six months and say, ‘Hey I was wrong.’ I don’t know that I’ll ever admit that, but I’ll find some kind of an excuse.

Trump had said he didn’t need to prepare or take notes for the historic meeting.

Following the summit, Trump declared an end to joint defensive exercises in South Korea. North Korea has not yet denuclearized. Congress passed budget legislation prohibiting the reduction of US forces in South Korea below 22,000.

The Hill – Trump: If I was wrong about Kim, ‘I’ll find some kind of an excuse’
Business Insider – Trump says if he ends up being wrong about Kim Jong Un, he probably won’t admit it and will find ‘some kind of an excuse’
The Hill – Bipartisan House group introduces bills to stall Syria, South Korea troop withdrawals
WIkipedia – 2018 North Korea–United States Singapore Summit

accused Germany of being “totally controlled by Russia”?

The accusation came at a NATO summit after Trump had questioned ongoing US military presence in Germany. He based his claim on Germany’s import of Russian oil and natural gas. Most of Europe has long purchased Russian fossil fuels, particularly natural gas, given the expense of having it shipped overseas. The US was also a net importer of oil and had until recently had also been a net importer of natural gas.

Politico EU – Trump Tips Into Germany at NATO Chief Breakfast
US Energy Information Administration – Oil Imports and Exports
US Energy Information Administration – United States has been a net exporter of natural gas for more than 12 consecutive months

More assuredly to come soon

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