As one of the wealthiest nations both economically and militarily, the President of the United States has always been highly regarded by national and foreign leaders alike. And as a world leader, it is the president's duty to work with our allies and try to talk with the enemies of the free world in order to create new and stronger partnerships within the world community. But President Donald Trump either does not understand that or simply does not care. The president cannot continue to treat our allies with disrespect and a total lack of regard and expect to be admired and respected in return.
Trump's continued attacks and Twitter rants against London's Mayor Sadiq Khan's statement following the terrorist attack on Sat, June 3rd, 2017 is a case in point.
Trump should not attack foreign responses when he has never been in that situation
The president has little comprehensive knowledge about terrorism, its motives, or even about the Muslim faith beyond what he has read or been exposed to by his staff and others in the administration. From calling Khan "pathetic," to mocking him for telling British citizens there was no reason to be alarmed. Instead of taking the time to call Mayor Khan and speaking directly with him about the attack and Khan's responses, Trump did what we have all come to expect from the president: tweet and publicly denounce the mayor's response to the attack with vitriolic words -- especially considering the fact that in the end he misinterpreted the meaning behind the words.
Mayor Khan's statement was made to help calm a panicked London public
Following the terrorist attack, Khan immediately rallied London Police forces to swarm the streets, and he also contacted emergency services and the British government so they could work together to respond to the attack in a logical and comprehensive manner.
The mayor's statement to the public to not be alarmed was not, as President Trump implied, a weak and lackluster response to the violence, it was aimed at giving London citizens some relief in knowing that they were being protected as much as possible. Furthermore, by letting the public know that there were armed officers roaming the city and that there was no cause for alarm, Khan helped bring about some calm in the midst of panic and fear.
Trump is 'not' the world's leader, he is the president of the United States
It is not the duty of President Trump to tell the rest of the world how they should respond to any crisis within their borders or how they should respond to threats from outside their borders. That is the duty of local and government leaders within each individual country as they were chosen by their citizens. The United Nations and NATO are the forums for the member countries and the United States to come together and work on strategies to address the world's problems, including terrorism. Trump had no intrinsic right to assail Mayor Kahn over his statement to the public, or how he responded to the Terror Attack. Tragically, for all of us, the president will probably not apologize directly for his rude and unkind remarks, as he has never apologized for anything to date.
