The Summit - could we have an "F You" moment coming? [View all]
For years, a story circulated in Washington about Donald Trumps attempt to nab a job leading nuclear negotiations with the Soviet Union in the nineteen-eighties. His book The Art of the Deal had been on the Times best-seller list for forty-eight weeks. Trump apparently thought that he could do a deal one-upping anybodyand wanted to prove it. He lobbied quite hard, I was told, with the George H. W. Bush Administration. The White House instead appointed Richard Burt, the U.S. Ambassador to West Germany during the run-up to the fall of the Berlin Wall and a longtime expert on nuclear-arms talks.
Shortly thereafter, by coincidence, Trump and Burt attended the same society wedding in New York. At the reception, Trump walked up to Burtwhom he didnt knowand said, So youre the guy?
Burt, who confirmed the story to me, acknowledged his new position. Trump then said, Let me tell you what I would have done if Id been appointed. He explained that he would have welcomedvery warmlythe Soviet delegation. He would have made sure the countrys envoys were comfortablevery comfortableat the table.
Then, Trump told Burt, he would have stood up, shouted Fuck you!, and left the room. (The White House did not respond to a request for comment.)
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/for-trump-diplomacy-is-quite-literally-a-four-letter-word/amp