praised authoritarian Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte?

Duterte had become infamous for his use of extrajudicial killings against those perceived as drug users and sellers, as well as against journalists and political enemies. He has bragged about murdering people himself, and compared himself favorably to Hitler. The State Department estimated at the time that there had been over 6,000 executions of suspected drug dealers with little regard for due process.

In a released transcript of a phone call between Trump and Duterte, Trump offered praise for Duterte’s “unbelievable job on the drug problem.” He also shared information on American nuclear submarines in the vicinity of North Korea, a significant security risk.

During a 2017 visit to the Philippines, Trump boasted of his “great relationship” with Duterte. During that same visit, Duterte sang a song dedicated to the US President.

 

The Washington Post – Trump calls Kim Jong Un a ‘madman with nuclear weapons,’ according to transcript of Duterte call
Politico – Trump praises Duterte for ‘unbelievable job’ cracking down on drugs in the Philippines
MSNBC – Trump’s chat with Philippine President Duterte raises alarms

misspelled the name of his Secretary of Defense and made multiple false claims in a tweet?

Trump referred to his Secretary Defense Mark Esper as Esperanto. He repeated false claims that US soldiers being withdrawn from Syria were coming home when they were actually redeployed to Iraq, and that some kind of source of oil had been secured without any further explanation. The tweet has since been deleted.

Trump has also misspelled his wife’s name and his own name.

Trump tweet

Trump Twitter Archive
The New York Times – Mark Esperanto? Trump Misnames His Defense Secretary in Tweet
USA Today – Trump accidentally refers to Defense Secretary Esper as ‘Mark Esperanto’ in tweet defending Syria withdrawal
Newsweek – ‘ESPERANTO’ TRENDS AS TRUMP MISSPELLS NAME OF HIS OWN DEFENSE SECRETARY MARK ESPER

pardoned a soldier convicted of murdering an unarmed and naked Iraqi prisoner?

The soldier, Army 1st Lt. Michael Behenna, had captured the prisoner in a raid where an arms cache was also discovered. The prisoner was held by military intelligence in connection to a roadside bomb that had killed two soldiers. No evidence was found connecting the prisoner to the bomb, and he was ordered released. While returning the prisoner, Behenna claimed that he sought to question him further. He stripped the prisoner of his clothes and shot him.

Behenna was convicted of murder and sentenced to 25 years, and received parole after 5 in 2014. Trump’s pardon removes all prior restrictions from his parole.

NPR – Trump Pardons Michael Behenna, Former Soldier Convicted Of Killing Iraqi Prisoner
USA Today – ACLU blasts Trump’s pardon of soldier Michael Behenna as ‘endorsement of a murder’
Wikipedia – Michael Behenna

pardoned two soldiers convicted of war crimes?

Trump announced the pardons in November, 2019.

One soldier, Maj. Mathew L. Golsteyn, killed an unarmed Afghan that he suspected of being a bomb-maker. He was convicted of second-degree murder.

The other, 1st Lt. Clint Lorance, gave orders to open fire on unarmed Afghan civilians, resulting in two deaths. He was sentenced to 19 years in prison.

Neither intervention was welcomed by military leaders. Defense Secretary Mark Esper warned that this would undermine the military code of justice.

Trump has also intervened on behalf of other soldiers convicted of war crimes, including a Navy SEAL whose own unit had turned against him.

A year later, Trump pardoned four former Blackwater contractors convicted of perpetrating a massacre.

USA Today -Trump pardons service members in high profile war crimes cases
The New York Times – Trump Clears Three Service Members in War Crimes Cases

reversed the demotion of and congratulated a Navy SEAL charged with war crimes?

Navy SEAL Eddie Gallagher allegedly stabbed to death an unarmed prisoner of war. He was acquitted of the murder, but was found guilty in 2017 of posing with the corpse in photographs.

Prosecutors asserted that this was part of a pattern of behavior. They stated that fellow SEALs had grown so alarmed over his killing of civilians that they tampered with his sniper rifle to make it less accurate, and fired warning shots at civilians so they would flee before Gallagher attacked them. One fellow SEAL noted, “You could tell he was perfectly OK with killing anybody that was moving.” Another SEAL said of Gallagher, “The guy is freaking evil.”

Nevertheless, Trump allowed Gallagher to retain his SEAL Trident, an insignia which recognizes an individual as part of the elite special forces unit, and lent his vocal support. Despite Trump’s intervention, Navy military leaders still want Gallagher removed from the SEALs.

Trump has also pardoned other soldiers convicted of war crimes.

USA Today – Trump pardons service members in high profile war crimes cases
PBS – Navy SEAL Gallagher cleared of most charges
The New York Times – Navy Wants to Eject From SEALs a Sailor Cleared by Trump, Officials Say
NBC News – Navy SEALs spoke against pardoned platoon chief, leaked video reveals
Wikipedia – Eddie Gallagher (Navy SEAL)
Wikipedia – Special Warfare insignia

railed against new aircraft carriers and their digital deck propulsion system, demanding that they return to “goddamned steam”?

In an interview with Time, Trump recalled the conversation.

I said, “You don’t use steam anymore for catapult?” “No sir.” I said, “Ah, how is it working?” “Sir, not good. Not good. Doesn’t have the power. You know the steam is just brutal. You see that sucker going and steam’s going all over the place, there’s planes thrown in the air.”

It sounded bad to me. Digital. They have digital. What is digital? And it’s very complicated, you have to be Albert Einstein to figure it out. And I said — and now they want to buy more aircraft carriers. I said, “What system are you going to be—” “Sir, we’re staying with digital.” I said, “No you’re not. You going to goddamned steam, the digital costs hundreds of millions of dollars more money and it’s no good.”

Foreign Policy – Trump Wants New Aircraft Carriers to Turn Back to ‘Goddamned Steam’ Power Catapults

said it was “too inconvenient” to use a secure phone?

There have been multiple reports on how Trump communicates via unsecured lines, especially among his inner circle, because using secure methods is too great an inconvenience. Intelligence analysts believe Russia or other foreign powers could use these conversations against both America’s foreign policy and Trump individually, and have detected signs of such spying.

Particular concern has been raised about the Kremlin listening in on conversations between Trump and his lawyer Rudy Giuliani regarding communications to the Ukrainian President over military aid for defense from Russia. White House officials have stated that Trump makes such calls regularly.

Politico – ‘Too inconvenient’: Trump goes rogue on phone security
The New York Times – When Trump Phones Friends, the Chinese and the Russians Listen and Learn
The Washington Post – Signs of sophisticated cellphone spying found near White House, U.S. officials say
Independent – Trump ‘routinely’ made sensitive calls on lines open to Russian surveillance, White House officials say
The Washington Post – Phone logs in impeachment report renew concern about security of Trump communications

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