Donald Trump is so beholden to Russian dictator Vladimir Putin that he once had a public meltdown after being informed that he had missed a phone call from him during a formal lunch in the presence of former UK Prime Minister Theresa May.
Back in 2017, Trump was attending a formal lunch — a fancy event that requires manners — when an unknown White House staffer casually mentioned that Putin had called and Trump missed it.
What happened next appalled the British guests at the lunch, including May’s former chief of staff Nick Timothy, who described the incident during a podcast.
Trump responded to missing Putin’s call by throwing a temper tantrum and actually yelled at his disgraced former national security advisor Michael Flynn at the table.
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“Somebody just mentioned in passing that Vladimir Putin had asked for a call with him, and right in front us he absolutely shouted down Mike Flynn,” Timothy said. “Like really shouted. This was at a formal dinner with butlers and fancy crockery – and he was properly shouting at him down the table.”
“’If Putin wants a call with me you just put him through,’” Trump said according to Timothy.
Trump’s outburst did not inspire confidence in his mental health and leadership.
“The whole thing was very a strange experience,” Timothy said. “And not especially reassuring about the state of [Trump’s] mind, or the stability of decision-making in the White House.”
Missing a call with a foreign leader, especially when said call is not urgent, is not a reason to throw a tantrum and scream like a toddler in front of guests at a formal event. It’s embarrassing and demonstrates Trump’s fealty to Putin.
Of course, we all know that Trump is Putin’s puppet. He still has not condemned Russia for paying bounties for the killing of American troops in Afghanistan. He withdrew troops from Germany. And he invited Putin to the G-7 summit. Trump has also consulted with Putin at every turn and wants to meet with him prior to Election Day. If that’s not enough, Trump also emulates Putin.
Clearly, Trump has been desperate to please Putin throughout his presidency from the very beginning. The only question we have yet to really answer is why.
Featured image via Flickr/Gage Skidmore, under Creative Commons license 2.0
