theguardian--2020-04-19--Former Australian PM Malcolm Turnbull on Donald Trump: 'You don't suck up to bullies'

“ Don ’ t worry , Malcolm .
The American people will never elect a lunatic to sit in this office.
” So Barack Obama had enigmatically assured me in the Oval Office in January 2016 , when I asked him about the presidential race .
Well , it was now November and the unthinkable had happened .
And lunatic or not , Trump had won .
It wasn ’ t only Americans who were stunned .
Nobody had expected a Trump victory and truthfully few were prepared for it .
He ’ d run a bombastic campaign , much @ @ @ @ @ @ @ designed to ensure he wouldn ’ t win .
What sort of candidate would refer to his opponent , a distinguished former first lady and secretary of state , with a nickname like “ Crooked Hillary ” and beam as his supporters chanted “ Lock her up ” ?
How could you get elected in ( by Australian standards ) prudish America when you have talked about “ grabbing ” women “ by the pussy ” ?
We knew what he ’ d said in the campaign , but did he mean it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ accept he didn ’ t expect to win .
Was the whole campaign just an enormous exercise in self-promotion ?
Every country and every leader tried to work out how to deal with Trump .
Elaborate psychological analyses were written in foreign capitals – including our own .
The general conclusion was that Trump was a narcissist who ’ d respond well to flattery .
“ Lay it on with a trowel ” was the consensus , echoing former British PM Benjamin Disraeli ’ s advice on how to deal with royalty .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
I ’ d never met Trump or dealt with him but knew plenty of people who had .
He was typical of more than a few of the billionaires I ’ ve known – Kerry Packer , Conrad Black , Jimmy Goldsmith and Bob Maxwell , just to name a few .
And the one thing I ’ d learned with bullies is that sucking up to them is precisely the wrong way to go .
Just as imperial powers regard deference as their due , so do bullies – especially powerful @ @ @ @ @ @ @ It doesn ’ t win respect , nor does it earn gratitude .
And if the bully in question is a particularly manipulative one , the flattery will be used against you .
Personalities like that often appear utterly lacking in emotional intelligence , devoid of empathy .
But that ’ s not the whole picture : in my experience , the successful narcissistic bully is able to manipulate others effectively because he has a keen sense of others ’ vulnerabilities .
Like any predator , he can sense fear and weakness from @ @ @ @ @ @ @ way to deal with someone like Trump is to be frank and forthright .
Be yourself , always be courteous – there ’ s nothing to be gained from rudeness or scratchiness .
But stand your ground .
That suited me .
There was a scramble to contact Trump once the election result was known .
He had no transition team in place , but , thanks to Joe Hockey , I got a number from US-based Australian golfing great Greg Norman and I was able to call Trump on 10 November and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a major storm awaited us .
I ’ d agreed the refugee deal with Obama , in principle , at the White House in January 2016 .
It took some time to settle the terms of the deal and it was signed when I was in New York for the UN ’ s leaders ’ week in September .
As previously mentioned , both sides recognised we were better off not announcing it during the campaign lest Trump seize on it and make an issue of it .
So , the deal was @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of Homeland Security got straight to work ; 14 US officials arrived in Nauru in early December and started interviews .
Naturally , we were anxious to ensure that the rightwing media in the US , especially Fox News , didn ’ t latch on to the deal and make it an issue , so we were careful to say as little as possible .
I spoke with Trump ’ s incoming chief of staff , Reince Priebus , on 7 December and he gave me every impression they ’ d stick with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the US-Australian relationship .
In late January , we learned that Trump was proposing a new executive order to put a ban on refugees from Muslim countries – and it was immediately reported on as scuttling the refugee deal .
After a very helpful introduction from Australian-born Dow Chemicals CEO Andrew Liveris , I called Trump ’ s son-in-law and senior adviser , Jared Kushner , who conferenced in Trump ’ s immigration adviser , Stephen Miller , and pressed on them the importance of sticking with the bargain I ’ d made @ @ @ @ @ @ @ assured me the new executive order wouldn ’ t prevent the refugee deal going ahead .
Over the days that followed , we reached out to everyone we could in the new administration .
In a discussion with Julie Bishop , Vice-President Pence assured her that the Trump administration would honour the deal .
National security adviser Mike Flynn gave a similar assurance to Justin Bassi , his counterpart in my office .
We felt our frantic lobbying had worked .
Our optimism was reinforced on 27 January when the executive order came @ @ @ @ @ @ @ administration to admit refugees otherwise prohibited by the order if “ admitting the person would enable the United States to conform its conduct to a preexisting international agreement ” .
Immediately , a call with Trump was set up for 9am Sunday , Sydney time .
We ’ d been assured the refugee deal was agreed , so we worked on the other topics to discuss .
Then the sky fell in .
Just as I got to the office , Mike Flynn called Justin Bassi and Pence called Julie Bishop – both @ @ @ @ @ @ @ changed his mind .
He wouldn ’ t , under any circumstances , honour the deal and would I please not even mention it .
We were in the prime minister ’ s office in Sydney , looking down over the harbour with all of its benign tranquillity .
I feared the call was going to be a rough ride .
And it was .
Trump sounded tired .
He was friendly enough at the outset but his mood quickly changed .
As soon as I raised the refugee deal he became angry @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Obama deal would “ kill him ” and “ embarrass him ” .
He said , “ I will be seen as a weak and ineffective leader in my first week by these people .
This is a killer.
” I described how the deal was fair , benefiting the US too .
And the people on Manus and Nauru were not a security risk .
But if you come by boat , you can ’ t get into Australia .
“ Even if you were a Nobel prize winner , ” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a new CEO : you inherit some deals you don ’ t like ; you honour them , take a writedown and blame your predecessor .
Trump argued that , as a businessman , I must have torn up deals .
I told him I hadn ’ t .
I believed promises should be kept , whether by companies or countries .
I didn ’ t make commitments lightly , and kept them when I did .
As his anger rose , Trump kept talking over the top of me , with more @ @ @ @ @ @ @ times he was talking to himself or perhaps the people in the room , which of course included Steve Bannon , one of the deal ’ s fiercest opponents .
At one point , I looked up from the phone across my desk at [ media adviser ] David Bold – his face was white with horror – so I turned to look out the window instead .
I had to get Trump to commit to the deal .
Not only was it vital for our whole plan to resettle the refugees without @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , an early rejection by Trump would be a political catastrophe in Australia .
So , I reasoned with Trump and finally won him over .
At the end of it all , I still wasn ’ t sure that Trump would stick to the deal .
The tone and the content of the call had been dynamite .
We ’ d had nobody from my department or from the Department of Foreign Affairs present .
We kept the transcript of the call secure and didn ’ t release it to the bureaucracy @ @ @ @ @ @ @ we didn ’ t trust them , but at times you can ’ t be too careful .
Our plan had been to keep the whole thing very low-key .
The deal was going ahead ; Trump didn ’ t like it but he was a man of his word and he was sticking with it .
As the media interest grew , it appeared Trump was having cold feet as on 2 February he tweeted : “ Do you believe it ?
The Obama administration agreed to take thousands of illegal immigrants @ @ @ @ @ @ @ study this dumb deal !
” Later that day someone , presumably in the White House , briefed the Washington Post about the call ; it described Trump “ blasting me ” , quoted him telling me this was his worst call so far and that the deal I ’ d struck with Obama was the worst deal ever ; it described his accusing me of planning to send him the “ next Boston bombers ” – although it omitted to mention my riposte that the refugees on Nauru and Manus , unlike @ @ @ @ @ @ @ from Chechnya .
The Post noted that the US embassy in Canberra had stated the White House had confirmed the refugee deal was going ahead “ one hour and forty minutes before Trump suggested in a tweet that it might not go ahead ” .
We assumed the leak had come from Bannon ; his motive would have been either to produce enough heat to force Trump to renege on his commitment to me or , at the very least , to demonstrate to Trump ’ s base that he ’ d agreed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ gritted of teeth .
Back in Australia , I declined to comment on media reports about the call , simply restating that Trump had agreed to honour the deal and that the conversation had been frank and courteous .
I expressly rejected the claim that he ’ d hung up on me – as the transcript shows he did not .
The leaking of the details and later the transcript of the call had the opposite of its intended effect .
The refugee deal had never been a big news story in the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s attempts to make it so .
However , berating one of America ’ s closest allies was a big story and both fans of Australia and critics of Trump lined up to express their solidarity with us .
For our part , it was working out well .
Trump and/or Bannon had over-reached and now we had the upper hand .
More importantly , unlike my counterparts leading other countries , I ’ d got off on the right foot with Trump .
We ’ d had a row , that ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ stood my ground on a point of principle and he ’ d conceded .
However , we needed to ensure the personal relationship was as warm and positive as possible and so considerable effort was made to arrange a suitable visit for me to the United States to meet Trump for the first time .
The Australian American Association had been planning a dinner on the 75th anniversary of the Battle of the Coral Sea , to be held in New York on 4 May .
The timing was less than ideal for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ but the setting on the USS Intrepid – where Australian and US veterans of the battle would also attend – and the occasion were both ideal .
The Battle of the Coral Sea was a major turning point in the Pacific war , when a combined US and Australian fleet turned back a Japanese armada heading to seize Port Moresby and cut off Australia from its US ally .
Jared Kushner told me on 1 May that Trump was still hurt about the refugee deal .
“ He hadn ’ t expected you @ @ @ @ @ @ @ although we knew that was your reputation.
” I told him I didn ’ t think the call was so bad .
“ Malcolm , it was bad.
” He told me Rupert Murdoch , whose father had founded the Australian American Association , had persuaded Trump to go to the function on the Intrepid , and he urged me to be low-key and deferential .
When Trump arrived , he was accompanied by Rudy Giuliani and Rupert Murdoch .
His deference to Murdoch was greater than I ’ ve ever seen from @ @ @ @ @ @ @ contrast to the high-handed way Trump treats most people .
When he asked me if Rupert could join us for our bilateral discussion between leaders , I told him that wasn ’ t a good idea , adding : “ The rest of the media will kill us ; let ’ s catch up with him later.
” For a first meeting , we covered a lot of ground .
He talked about Kerry Packer a lot ; he knew I ’ d been Kerry ’ s lawyer and “ kept him out @ @ @ @ @ @ @ every time we met .
Most billionaires keep an eye out for a good lawyer in a tight corner .
He is a big fan of Greg Norman and described in detail several tournaments he felt Greg had unfairly lost .
Trump is a natural isolationist .
Whether it was east Asia or the Middle East , Trump ’ s perspective was thoroughly dystopian .
Everyone hated each other , had done for centuries and wasn ’ t going to change .
So the less the US had to do with them the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ our one-on-one discussion and the media had left us , Donald suggested we ask Lucy and Melania to join us .
Melania was found first and Donald described the refugee deal .
By now he knew , just as I had told him , there were no security risks among the refugees .
“ Melania , do you know , Malcolm has 2,000 of the worst terrorists in the world locked up on a desert island and that fool Obama agreed to take them .
Can you believe that ?
And now Malcolm @ @ @ @ @ @ @ !
He got me to do something I promised never to do !
He is a tough negotiator !
” Melania smiled , faintly and mischievously .
“ Just like you , Donald , ” she said .
The subject of an incandescent row a few months before was now something to make light of .
It was just another deal .
The other significant problem we faced was trade .
When we met privately in Manila in November at the East Asia Summit , he asked me what I thought would happen @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the United States .
“ A global depression , ” I said , as quietly as I could .
He was clearly straining with frustration , and returned again and again to the “ $ 350bn trade deficit , but it ’ s really more like $ 500bn , Malcolm ” .
From my point of view , I could only do so much in trying to talk Trump around on trade generally – it was pretty clear that he had longstanding protectionist views he wasn ’ t going to change .
When @ @ @ @ @ @ @ presidency , to take action to protect US industry by imposing tariffs on imported steel and aluminium , he was strongly encouraged by commerce secretary Wilbur Ross as well as his trade advisers Peter Navarro and Robert Lighthizer , who as far as I could tell simply wanted to use American muscle to extract better trade terms with other countries .
My singular objective was to protect Australia ’ s interests .
If Trump was going to play havoc with global trade , I had to do my very best to protect Australia @ @ @ @ @ @ @ weren ’ t just another ally who was going to get run over by the Trump bulldozer .
So , after a lot of toing and froing between our embassy and the White House and between the various ministers and officials , it all came down – as it always does with Trump – to the great man himself .
After the love-in on the Intrepid , our next encounter had been in July at the G20 in Hamburg , hosted by Angela Merkel .
She was a very courteous host but it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Trump , and the feeling was mutual .
The challenge was finding a time to pin him down on the issue .
He was certainly full of good cheer , inviting Lucy and me to ride in his car – “ the Beast ” – with him and Melania , and generally radiating bonhomie .
Trump was even good-natured about my supposedly “ off the record ” remarks at the press gallery ball in Canberra three weeks before .
I ’ d given a rather Trumpian speech which brought the house down and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ viral in the US .
“ So , you ’ ve been having a little fun at my expense , Malcolm ?
” Donald asked .
“ It ’ s not bad.
” He shrugged .
“ Lots of people think you are better than Alec Baldwin.
” Still , he knew I wanted a commitment on steel and he wasn ’ t going to make it easy .
Finally , we agreed to catch up after one of the plenary sessions and so we headed off to find a meeting room .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ us , as did Theresa May .
In vain , I did everything short of tripping them both to get them out of the way – whatever they wanted to talk about , I knew it wasn ’ t Australian steel or aluminium and I needed to get Trump by himself and extract a firm commitment .
Donald stopped and asked me if I ’ d ever seen his “ skiff ” – or that ’ s what it sounded like – and I could only say I hadn ’ t as I @ @ @ @ @ @ @ about a sailing boat .
“ Oh , you got ta see it .
It is so cool .
Nobody , not even the Chinese or the Russians , can hear us in there .
It is so secret !
” Next thing , we took a right turn and found ourselves being led into a steel box the size of a container .
All the while , Donald was explaining how utterly impenetrable it was to even the best bugs .
Of course , for the Scif ( secure communications information facility @ @ @ @ @ @ @ have the door closed .
Even though it probably wasn ’ t a good idea to have a dozen or more people jammed into it , our trailing entourage piled in .
With me were finance minister Mathias Cormann and our G20 sherpa – the senior Australian official guiding the G20 policy process – David Gruen .
For Trump , there was at least Wilbur Ross , Steve Mnuchin and Gary Cohn .
Emmanuel was there , as was Theresa , the German G20 sherpa and sundry other officials and diplomats .
Donald @ @ @ @ @ @ @ end of the Scif and , while I wanted to talk about steel , the president of France wanted to talk about the wording of the communiqué .
Donald wanted to talk about neither .
“ Emmanuel , ” he said , “ do you know Malcolm is the best lawyer in the world ?
The best .
He kept my friend Kerry Packer out of jail .
Nobody else could have done that.
” I was thinking , is this going to be a routine ?
So , on cue , I @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it wasn ’ t that hard .
He was innocent.
” Quick as a flash , Donald says with a big grin : “ No , he was so guilty , so guilty .
Deserved to go to jail forever !
” To say that Macron was astonished by this is an understatement , but the routine continued .
“ Emmanuel , ” Donald continued , “ Malcolm has 2,000 of the worst terrorists in the world – the worst in the world – locked up on a desert island.
” “ Oh @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the worst , and that fool Obama – the worst president EVER – agreed to take them to America .
Can you believe that ?
Would you take them , Emmanuel ?
” Macron opened his mouth but didn ’ t say anything ; his eyes just got wider .
“ But you know what ’ s worse ?
Now I have to take them !
Malcolm , why do I have to take them ?
” “ Donald , ” I said , “ they ’ re yours .
And they are @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on fine.
” This was definitely becoming a routine .
To get to steel , I had to help resolve the wording issue with Macron .
Trump quite sensibly didn ’ t really care what was in the communiqué as not only was he never going to read it , neither was anyone else .
Resolving the wording issues got Macron and May out of the Scif so we Australians were able to get down to the purpose of the meeting , which was to extract a commitment from Trump that he wouldn @ @ @ @ @ @ @ or aluminium .
I was particularly concerned about steel because the tariff was higher ( 25 % versus 10 % for aluminium ) and because our steel industry had been struggling in the face of aggressive import competition from China .
Add to that , the second steelmaker , Arrium , based in Whyalla , had gone into bankruptcy .
The setting of the Scif may have been bizarre , but I had to fight for those Australian jobs .
I explained to Trump that almost all of the Australian steel exports to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in Port Kembla shipped by BlueScope to Steelscape , its subsidiary in California .
Steelscape turned the steel into roofing materials – mostly Colorbond .
Trump ’ s eyes lit up .
“ Colorbond , comes in bright colours , right ?
” – it turned out that he was familiar with it .
“ We used the gold-coloured one in some of our own projects .
They really loved it in Brooklyn.
” Why did California need Australian steel ?
Well , as I described to Trump , the cost of shipping @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 40 a tonne versus $ 100 a tonne from the midwest or east coast steelmakers .
So , I argued , if he put a tariff on Australian steel , all that would happen is that the cost of roofing steel on the west coast would go up by about 12.5 % with no benefit to US steelmakers – the only winners would be the US Treasury and people who sold competitive non-steel roofing products .
And the big loser would be the construction sector and American jobs .
“ Donald , ” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ great trade deal with us – no tariffs , no quotas and a huge trade surplus .
So why would you want to hit us , just because you can ?
” Well , we came out of the Scif with a commitment from Trump that there would be no tariffs on Australian steel .
Ross argued that only the Colorbond product should be exempted and we discussed the practicality of that , but to both Trump and me that sounded like Wilbur trying to white-ant the deal before it was concluded , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the president had given me a commitment – no tariffs on Australian steel or aluminium , full stop .
I called him again on 10 March .
We covered a lot of ground : regional security , China and North Korea as well as my concerns about how the United States and its allies had lost – and should work together to regain – leadership in wireless technology and especially 5G .
But my focus remained persuading him from imposing tariffs on our steel or aluminium .
So I went through the big @ @ @ @ @ @ @ their trade deal with Australia should be their ideal .
I sensed , as I had before , that he didn ’ t want to get pinned down to make a commitment , but I pressed on .
“ Donald , ” I said : “ you can use Australia as an argument because you can say we have a level playing field , we have a surplus , so we aren ’ t going to impose steel tariffs.
” He could , I argued , say to other countries : “ If @ @ @ @ @ @ @ give us a level playing field like the Australians do .
Fair and reciprocal trade.
” Trump liked the term “ fair and reciprocal ” a lot .
That was very promising ; that was a better theme for his trade policy than the American “ might is right ” message , which might go down well in the midwest but was so corrosive of American goodwill everywhere else in the world .
So in hands-on chief executive style , he started dictating a tweet , with me commenting on it as he @ @ @ @ @ @ @ been an ally ?
Two hundred ?
“ No , just one hundred to 4 July this year , ” I said .
And at one point we nearly had “ the great state of Australia ” in the message – “ Perhaps nation , ” I suggested .
It was a practical and good-humoured collaboration .
We even compared our Twitter followers ( he had 158 million , I had only 1 million ) , and finally settled on a very plain announcement saying that because of our fair and reciprocal military @ @ @ @ @ @ @ not impose steel or aluminium tariffs on the great nation of Australia .
And aluminium only just made it .
I was so fixated on steel , it was only at the last moment I reminded him to include aluminium .
No problems , steel and aluminium it was .
Trump ’ s tweet , when it came out , was slightly different : “ Spoke to PM @ TurnbullMalcolm of Australia .
He is committed to having a very fair and reciprocal military and trade relationship .
Working very quickly on a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ have to impose steel or aluminum tariffs on our ally , the great nation of Australia !
’ We were taken aback by the reference to a security agreement – it hadn ’ t been mentioned in the call with Trump – but we were assured both directly and via our embassy that this had been inserted by the White House lawyers , and that it didn ’ t detract from the president ’ s unequivocal commitment .
On 22 March , Trump ’ s proclamation on steel imposed tariffs on all countries @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , South Korea , Brazil and the EU – pending further negotiations .
It wasn ’ t the unequivocal exemption we ’ d agreed , but it was a step forward .
The challenge now was , in the midst of all of the Washington chaos , to hang on to it .
When the protectionists advising Trump continued to push for a quota on Australia , I had another call with the president on 22 May to try to turn him around .
Trump started determined that we would have a quota @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Australia was exempted , it would create a precedent .
So my job was to persuade him that the singular position of Australia meant that it was in his interest to exempt us .
I said : “ When we last spoke we agreed there would be no tariffs on Australian steel and aluminium , we actually tweeted it and said that to the world , that was the agreement ...
This is really a political issue of principle , it ’ s not really an economic issue ... People will say , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Australia ?
Is it because of the military alliance ?
And you can say , no , it ’ s because it is fair and reciprocal , that ’ s my principle , I want a level playing field .
The Aussies have no tariffs and no quotas on us.
” Once again Trump saw the logic in our case and agreed that not only would there be no tariffs on our steel or aluminium but no quotas either .
Ever since he was elected Trump has dominated the headlines in a way @ @ @ @ @ @ @ many self-styled conservatives support him , he is not one of them .
Conservatives defend and support established institutions .
Radical , populist , Trump , the authoritarian iconoclast , takes them all on .
The economy , so far , has boomed under Trump .
He has certainly delivered “ jobs and growth ” .
However , looked at from afar , America seems more divided , angry and polarised than I can remember .
Libraries are being filled with analyses of Trump ’ s wilful and intemperate nature , his “ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , real and imagined .
Traditional political issues have been overwhelmed .
The political debate has been distilled into one issue : Trump ’ s giant personality .
He says America is more respected than ever .
It depends what you mean by respect .
Strength is respected when it is matched with values consistently advanced .
Around the world , Trump ’ s deliberate unpredictability generates fear rather than respect , anxiety rather than certainty .
His view of the world is much closer to the “ don ’ t tread on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it is the neoconservatives who , after the fall of the Soviet Union , sought to remake the world in America ’ s image .
In our own region he has started , but not yet settled , a trade war with China .
The Covid-19 crisis will no doubt further encourage protectionism .
It seems impossibly far off at the moment , but at some point an expanded and enhanced Trans-Pacific Partnership that includes China and the United States should be the goal .
At summits in Singapore and Hanoi , he @ @ @ @ @ @ @ who hasn ’ t denuclearised and continues to test his missiles .
So far , at least , the leader of the most powerful nation in the world appears to have been outmanoeuvred by the tyrant leader of a bankrupt slave state .
Trump is not a warmonger .
And as he promised in his campaign , he is working to disentangle America from its engagement in the Middle East and Afghanistan , learning , as he has often said , that it is easier to get into these wars than to get @ @ @ @ @ @ @ stronger in economic and military terms , but its influence is diminished .
In fact , under Trump , America seeks less influence , not least by rejecting many of the global institutions created by the US after the second world war .
Most consequential of all , I fear , will be his withdrawal from the Paris agreement .
The world will struggle to meet the challenge of global warming without American leadership .
And wherever Trump creates a leadership vacuum , others will fill it , often with values very different @ @ @ @ @ @ @ prime minister of Australia , my job was to protect our own particular interests and , as far as I could , influence him to act in a way that advanced our wider interests , in particular the continued commitment of the United States to our region .
And in that regard , dramatic flourishes aside , he has not let us down .
The “ indispensable nation ” is nowhere more so than in our hemisphere .
We had a row over the refugee deal , but it is being implemented .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ in the US after very careful security assessments .
And we are fulfilling our side of the bargain too .
He wouldn ’ t have done the deal , that ’ s true , but it was a fair one nonetheless .
Our only other contentious issue was the steel and aluminium tariffs .
There , defying the stereotypes , he was both thoughtful and good humoured .
He started off with a different point of view , but listened to my arguments carefully .
I didn ’ t solely base my case @ @ @ @ @ @ @ or the Anzus alliance .
A century of solidarity does matter a lot , and especially in Washington .
But the US has a lot of allies .
My arguments persuaded him because I correctly couched them as being in his interest .
If the Australian trade relationship is your ideal – fair and reciprocal , no tariffs , no quotas and , as it happens , a big surplus – then you should treat us differently to others where the playing field is far from level .
For all of Trump ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ dealings with him I found him no less rational than many other billionaires I have dealt with over the years .
For all of our differences , as two businessmen , we spoke the same language .
• This is an edited extract from A Bigger Picture by Malcolm Turnbull , published by Hardie Grant Books , recommended retail price $ 55 .

“Don’t worry, Malcolm. The American people will never elect a lunatic to sit in this office.”
So Barack Obama had enigmatically assured me in the Oval Office in January 2016, when I asked him about the presidential race.
Well, it was now November and the unthinkable had happened.
And lunatic or not, Trump had won.
It wasn’t only Americans who were stunned. Nobody had expected a Trump victory and truthfully few were prepared for it.
He’d run a bombastic campaign, much of which seemed to us to be designed to ensure he wouldn’t win. What sort of candidate would refer to his opponent, a distinguished former first lady and secretary of state, with a nickname like “Crooked Hillary” and beam as his supporters chanted “Lock her up”? How could you get elected in (by Australian standards) prudish America when you have talked about “grabbing” women “by the pussy”?
We knew what he’d said in the campaign, but did he mean it? After all, everyone seemed to accept he didn’t expect to win. Was the whole campaign just an enormous exercise in self-promotion?
Turnbull meets Barack Obama in the Oval Office in January 2016. Photograph: Carolyn Kaster/AP
Every country and every leader tried to work out how to deal with Trump. Elaborate psychological analyses were written in foreign capitals – including our own. The general conclusion was that Trump was a narcissist who’d respond well to flattery. “Lay it on with a trowel” was the consensus, echoing former British PM Benjamin Disraeli’s advice on how to deal with royalty.
I felt this approach was quite mistaken. I’d never met Trump or dealt with him but knew plenty of people who had. He was typical of more than a few of the billionaires I’ve known – Kerry Packer, Conrad Black, Jimmy Goldsmith and Bob Maxwell, just to name a few. And the one thing I’d learned with bullies is that sucking up to them is precisely the wrong way to go.
Just as imperial powers regard deference as their due, so do bullies – especially powerful ones – expect to be flattered. It doesn’t win respect, nor does it earn gratitude. And if the bully in question is a particularly manipulative one, the flattery will be used against you. Personalities like that often appear utterly lacking in emotional intelligence, devoid of empathy. But that’s not the whole picture: in my experience, the successful narcissistic bully is able to manipulate others effectively because he has a keen sense of others’ vulnerabilities. Like any predator, he can sense fear and weakness from miles away.
So, the best way to deal with someone like Trump is to be frank and forthright. Be yourself, always be courteous – there’s nothing to be gained from rudeness or scratchiness. But stand your ground. That suited me.
There was a scramble to contact Trump once the election result was known. He had no transition team in place, but, thanks to Joe Hockey, I got a number from US-based Australian golfing great Greg Norman and I was able to call Trump on 10 November and pass on my congratulations. However, a major storm awaited us.
‘Then the sky fell in’
I’d agreed the refugee deal with Obama, in principle, at the White House in January 2016. It took some time to settle the terms of the deal and it was signed when I was in New York for the UN’s leaders’ week in September. As previously mentioned, both sides recognised we were better off not announcing it during the campaign lest Trump seize on it and make an issue of it.
So, the deal was announced on 13 November and the Department of Homeland Security got straight to work; 14 US officials arrived in Nauru in early December and started interviews. Naturally, we were anxious to ensure that the rightwing media in the US, especially Fox News, didn’t latch on to the deal and make it an issue, so we were careful to say as little as possible.
I spoke with Trump’s incoming chief of staff, Reince Priebus, on 7 December and he gave me every impression they’d stick with the deal, recognising the importance of the US-Australian relationship.
Turnbull and Trump in the Oval Office in February 2018. Photograph: Oliver Contreras/EPA
In late January, we learned that Trump was proposing a new executive order to put a ban on refugees from Muslim countries – and it was immediately reported on as scuttling the refugee deal. After a very helpful introduction from Australian-born Dow Chemicals CEO Andrew Liveris, I called Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser, Jared Kushner, who conferenced in Trump’s immigration adviser, Stephen Miller, and pressed on them the importance of sticking with the bargain I’d made with Obama. They were sympathetic and assured me the new executive order wouldn’t prevent the refugee deal going ahead.
Over the days that followed, we reached out to everyone we could in the new administration. In a discussion with Julie Bishop, Vice-President Pence assured her that the Trump administration would honour the deal. National security adviser Mike Flynn gave a similar assurance to Justin Bassi, his counterpart in my office. We felt our frantic lobbying had worked.
Our optimism was reinforced on 27 January when the executive order came out with language that expressly enabled the administration to admit refugees otherwise prohibited by the order if “admitting the person would enable the United States to conform its conduct to a preexisting international agreement”.
Thanks, Jared!
Immediately, a call with Trump was set up for 9am Sunday, Sydney time. We’d been assured the refugee deal was agreed, so we worked on the other topics to discuss.
Then the sky fell in. Just as I got to the office, Mike Flynn called Justin Bassi and Pence called Julie Bishop – both with the message that the president had changed his mind. He wouldn’t, under any circumstances, honour the deal and would I please not even mention it.
We were in the prime minister’s office in Sydney, looking down over the harbour with all of its benign tranquillity. I feared the call was going to be a rough ride. And it was.
Trump sounded tired. He was friendly enough at the outset but his mood quickly changed. As soon as I raised the refugee deal he became angry, repeating again and again that honouring the Obama deal would “kill him” and “embarrass him”. He said, “I will be seen as a weak and ineffective leader in my first week by these people. This is a killer.”
I described how the deal was fair, benefiting the US too. And the people on Manus and Nauru were not a security risk. But if you come by boat, you can’t get into Australia. “Even if you were a Nobel prize winner,” I said. So you’re a new CEO: you inherit some deals you don’t like; you honour them, take a writedown and blame your predecessor.
Trump argued that, as a businessman, I must have torn up deals. I told him I hadn’t. I believed promises should be kept, whether by companies or countries. I didn’t make commitments lightly, and kept them when I did.
As his anger rose, Trump kept talking over the top of me, with more intensity; it was as though at times he was talking to himself or perhaps the people in the room, which of course included Steve Bannon, one of the deal’s fiercest opponents.
At one point, I looked up from the phone across my desk at [media adviser] David Bold – his face was white with horror – so I turned to look out the window instead. I had to get Trump to commit to the deal. Not only was it vital for our whole plan to resettle the refugees without getting the people smugglers back in business, an early rejection by Trump would be a political catastrophe in Australia.
So, I reasoned with Trump and finally won him over.
At the end of it all, I still wasn’t sure that Trump would stick to the deal.
The tone and the content of the call had been dynamite. We’d had nobody from my department or from the Department of Foreign Affairs present. We kept the transcript of the call secure and didn’t release it to the bureaucracy in the usual way. Not that we didn’t trust them, but at times you can’t be too careful.
Our plan had been to keep the whole thing very low-key. The deal was going ahead; Trump didn’t like it but he was a man of his word and he was sticking with it.
As the media interest grew, it appeared Trump was having cold feet as on 2 February he tweeted: “Do you believe it? The Obama administration agreed to take thousands of illegal immigrants from Australia. Why? I will study this dumb deal!”
Lucy and Malcolm Turnbull are welcomed to the White House by Donald and Melania Trump. Photograph: Getty Images
Later that day someone, presumably in the White House, briefed the Washington Post about the call; it described Trump “blasting me”, quoted him telling me this was his worst call so far and that the deal I’d struck with Obama was the worst deal ever; it described his accusing me of planning to send him the “next Boston bombers” – although it omitted to mention my riposte that the refugees on Nauru and Manus, unlike the Boston bombers, weren’t from Chechnya.
The Post noted that the US embassy in Canberra had stated the White House had confirmed the refugee deal was going ahead “one hour and forty minutes before Trump suggested in a tweet that it might not go ahead”.
We assumed the leak had come from Bannon; his motive would have been either to produce enough heat to force Trump to renege on his commitment to me or, at the very least, to demonstrate to Trump’s base that he’d agreed to the deal only through the most gritted of teeth.
Back in Australia, I declined to comment on media reports about the call, simply restating that Trump had agreed to honour the deal and that the conversation had been frank and courteous. I expressly rejected the claim that he’d hung up on me – as the transcript shows he did not.
The leaking of the details and later the transcript of the call had the opposite of its intended effect. The refugee deal had never been a big news story in the US, despite the Australian media’s attempts to make it so. However, berating one of America’s closest allies was a big story and both fans of Australia and critics of Trump lined up to express their solidarity with us.
For our part, it was working out well. Trump and/or Bannon had over-reached and now we had the upper hand. More importantly, unlike my counterparts leading other countries, I’d got off on the right foot with Trump. We’d had a row, that’s true, but I’d stood my ground on a point of principle and he’d conceded.
An Intrepid meeting
However, we needed to ensure the personal relationship was as warm and positive as possible and so considerable effort was made to arrange a suitable visit for me to the United States to meet Trump for the first time.
The Australian American Association had been planning a dinner on the 75th anniversary of the Battle of the Coral Sea, to be held in New York on 4 May. The timing was less than ideal for me, just before the budget, but the setting on the USS Intrepid – where Australian and US veterans of the battle would also attend – and the occasion were both ideal.
Trump's deference to Murdoch was greater than I’ve ever seen from any Australian politician
The Battle of the Coral Sea was a major turning point in the Pacific war, when a combined US and Australian fleet turned back a Japanese armada heading to seize Port Moresby and cut off Australia from its US ally.
Jared Kushner told me on 1 May that Trump was still hurt about the refugee deal. “He hadn’t expected you’d come on so strong, although we knew that was your reputation.” I told him I didn’t think the call was so bad. “Malcolm, it was bad.” He told me Rupert Murdoch, whose father had founded the Australian American Association, had persuaded Trump to go to the function on the Intrepid, and he urged me to be low-key and deferential.
When Trump arrived, he was accompanied by Rudy Giuliani and Rupert Murdoch. His deference to Murdoch was greater than I’ve ever seen from any Australian politician and was in marked contrast to the high-handed way Trump treats most people. When he asked me if Rupert could join us for our bilateral discussion between leaders, I told him that wasn’t a good idea, adding: “The rest of the media will kill us; let’s catch up with him later.”
For a first meeting, we covered a lot of ground. He talked about Kerry Packer a lot; he knew I’d been Kerry’s lawyer and “kept him out of jail”, something Donald mentioned every time we met. Most billionaires keep an eye out for a good lawyer in a tight corner. He is a big fan of Greg Norman and described in detail several tournaments he felt Greg had unfairly lost.
Trump is a natural isolationist. Whether it was east Asia or the Middle East, Trump’s perspective was thoroughly dystopian. Everyone hated each other, had done for centuries and wasn’t going to change. So the less the US had to do with them the better.
The leaders on the USS Intrepid: ‘He got me to do something I promised never to do!’ Photograph: Pablo Martínez Monsiváis/AP
After we’d had our one-on-one discussion and the media had left us, Donald suggested we ask Lucy and Melania to join us. Melania was found first and Donald described the refugee deal. By now he knew, just as I had told him, there were no security risks among the refugees.
“Melania, do you know, Malcolm has 2,000 of the worst terrorists in the world locked up on a desert island and that fool Obama agreed to take them. Can you believe that? And now Malcolm has talked me into taking them too! He got me to do something I promised never to do! He is a tough negotiator!”
Melania smiled, faintly and mischievously. “Just like you, Donald,” she said.
The subject of an incandescent row a few months before was now something to make light of. It was just another deal.
Steely resolve
The other significant problem we faced was trade. When we met privately in Manila in November at the East Asia Summit, he asked me what I thought would happen if he banned all Chinese imports into the United States. “A global depression,” I said, as quietly as I could. He was clearly straining with frustration, and returned again and again to the “$350bn trade deficit, but it’s really more like $500bn, Malcolm”.
Trump and Turnbull at the Association of South East Asian Nations forum in Manila in November 2017. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/EPA
From my point of view, I could only do so much in trying to talk Trump around on trade generally – it was pretty clear that he had longstanding protectionist views he wasn’t going to change.
When he started threatening, early in his presidency, to take action to protect US industry by imposing tariffs on imported steel and aluminium, he was strongly encouraged by commerce secretary Wilbur Ross as well as his trade advisers Peter Navarro and Robert Lighthizer, who as far as I could tell simply wanted to use American muscle to extract better trade terms with other countries.
My singular objective was to protect Australia’s interests. If Trump was going to play havoc with global trade, I had to do my very best to protect Australia, to differentiate us so that we weren’t just another ally who was going to get run over by the Trump bulldozer.
So, after a lot of toing and froing between our embassy and the White House and between the various ministers and officials, it all came down – as it always does with Trump – to the great man himself.
'Emmanuel,' he said, 'do you know Malcolm is the best lawyer in the world?'
After the love-in on the Intrepid, our next encounter had been in July at the G20 in Hamburg, hosted by Angela Merkel. She was a very courteous host but it was obvious she couldn’t stand Trump, and the feeling was mutual.
The challenge was finding a time to pin him down on the issue. He was certainly full of good cheer, inviting Lucy and me to ride in his car – “the Beast” – with him and Melania, and generally radiating bonhomie.
Trump was even good-natured about my supposedly “off the record” remarks at the press gallery ball in Canberra three weeks before. I’d given a rather Trumpian speech which brought the house down and, when it was leaked, went viral in the US. “So, you’ve been having a little fun at my expense, Malcolm?” Donald asked.
“Very affectionately,” I replied.
“It’s not bad.” He shrugged. “Lots of people think you are better than Alec Baldwin.”
Still, he knew I wanted a commitment on steel and he wasn’t going to make it easy.
At the G20 summit in Hamburg in July 2017. Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAP
Finally, we agreed to catch up after one of the plenary sessions and so we headed off to find a meeting room. On the way, Emmanuel Macron joined us, as did Theresa May. In vain, I did everything short of tripping them both to get them out of the way – whatever they wanted to talk about, I knew it wasn’t Australian steel or aluminium and I needed to get Trump by himself and extract a firm commitment.
Boxed in
Donald stopped and asked me if I’d ever seen his “skiff” – or that’s what it sounded like – and I could only say I hadn’t as I wondered why on earth he was talking about a sailing boat. “Oh, you gotta see it. It is so cool. Nobody, not even the Chinese or the Russians, can hear us in there. It is so secret!” Next thing, we took a right turn and found ourselves being led into a steel box the size of a container. All the while, Donald was explaining how utterly impenetrable it was to even the best bugs.
Of course, for the Scif (secure communications information facility) to work, you have to have the door closed. Even though it probably wasn’t a good idea to have a dozen or more people jammed into it, our trailing entourage piled in. With me were finance minister Mathias Cormann and our G20 sherpa – the senior Australian official guiding the G20 policy process – David Gruen. For Trump, there was at least Wilbur Ross, Steve Mnuchin and Gary Cohn. Emmanuel was there, as was Theresa, the German G20 sherpa and sundry other officials and diplomats.
Donald, Emmanuel and I were down one end of the Scif and, while I wanted to talk about steel, the president of France wanted to talk about the wording of the communiqué.
Donald wanted to talk about neither. “Emmanuel,” he said, “do you know Malcolm is the best lawyer in the world? The best. He kept my friend Kerry Packer out of jail. Nobody else could have done that.”
I was thinking, is this going to be a routine? So, on cue, I said: “Oh, Donald, it wasn’t that hard. He was innocent.”
Quick as a flash, Donald says with a big grin: “No, he was so guilty, so guilty. Deserved to go to jail forever!”
To say that Macron was astonished by this is an understatement, but the routine continued.
“Emmanuel,” Donald continued, “Malcolm has 2,000 of the worst terrorists in the world – the worst in the world – locked up on a desert island.”
“They aren’t terrorists, Donald,” I wearily replied.
“Oh, yes they are. They are the worst, and that fool Obama – the worst president EVER – agreed to take them to America. Can you believe that? Would you take them, Emmanuel?”
Macron opened his mouth but didn’t say anything; his eyes just got wider.
“But you know what’s worse? Now I have to take them! Malcolm, why do I have to take them?”
“Donald,” I said, “they’re yours. And they are very nice people. You will get on fine.” This was definitely becoming a routine.
To get to steel, I had to help resolve the wording issue with Macron. Trump quite sensibly didn’t really care what was in the communiqué as not only was he never going to read it, neither was anyone else.
Resolving the wording issues got Macron and May out of the Scif so we Australians were able to get down to the purpose of the meeting, which was to extract a commitment from Trump that he wouldn’t impose tariffs on our steel or aluminium. I was particularly concerned about steel because the tariff was higher (25% versus 10% for aluminium) and because our steel industry had been struggling in the face of aggressive import competition from China. Add to that, the second steelmaker, Arrium, based in Whyalla, had gone into bankruptcy.
The setting of the Scif may have been bizarre, but I had to fight for those Australian jobs. I explained to Trump that almost all of the Australian steel exports to the US were of rolled coil made in Port Kembla shipped by BlueScope to Steelscape, its subsidiary in California. Steelscape turned the steel into roofing materials – mostly Colorbond. Trump’s eyes lit up. “Colorbond, comes in bright colours, right?” – it turned out that he was familiar with it. “We used the gold-coloured one in some of our own projects. They really loved it in Brooklyn.”
So in hands-on chief executive style, he started dictating a tweet, with me commenting on it as he went
Why did California need Australian steel? Well, as I described to Trump, the cost of shipping steel across the Pacific was about $40 a tonne versus $100 a tonne from the midwest or east coast steelmakers. So, I argued, if he put a tariff on Australian steel, all that would happen is that the cost of roofing steel on the west coast would go up by about 12.5% with no benefit to US steelmakers – the only winners would be the US Treasury and people who sold competitive non-steel roofing products. And the big loser would be the construction sector and American jobs.
“Donald,” I argued, “you have a great trade deal with us – no tariffs, no quotas and a huge trade surplus. So why would you want to hit us, just because you can?”
Well, we came out of the Scif with a commitment from Trump that there would be no tariffs on Australian steel. Ross argued that only the Colorbond product should be exempted and we discussed the practicality of that, but to both Trump and me that sounded like Wilbur trying to white-ant the deal before it was concluded, so from my point of view, the president had given me a commitment – no tariffs on Australian steel or aluminium, full stop.
I called him again on 10 March. We covered a lot of ground: regional security, China and North Korea as well as my concerns about how the United States and its allies had lost – and should work together to regain – leadership in wireless technology and especially 5G.
But my focus remained persuading him from imposing tariffs on our steel or aluminium. So I went through the big surpluses America had with Australia and how their trade deal with Australia should be their ideal. I sensed, as I had before, that he didn’t want to get pinned down to make a commitment, but I pressed on.
“Donald,” I said: “you can use Australia as an argument because you can say we have a level playing field, we have a surplus, so we aren’t going to impose steel tariffs.” He could, I argued, say to other countries: “If you want to have no tariffs, give us a level playing field like the Australians do. Fair and reciprocal trade.”
Trump liked the term “fair and reciprocal” a lot. That was very promising; that was a better theme for his trade policy than the American “might is right” message, which might go down well in the midwest but was so corrosive of American goodwill everywhere else in the world.
So in hands-on chief executive style, he started dictating a tweet, with me commenting on it as he went. How many years had we been an ally? Two hundred? “No, just one hundred to 4 July this year,” I said. And at one point we nearly had “the great state of Australia” in the message – “Perhaps nation,” I suggested.
It was a practical and good-humoured collaboration. We even compared our Twitter followers (he had 158 million, I had only 1 million), and finally settled on a very plain announcement saying that because of our fair and reciprocal military and trading relationship, the US would not impose steel or aluminium tariffs on the great nation of Australia.
And aluminium only just made it. I was so fixated on steel, it was only at the last moment I reminded him to include aluminium. No problems, steel and aluminium it was.
Trump’s tweet, when it came out, was slightly different: “Spoke to PM @TurnbullMalcolm of Australia. He is committed to having a very fair and reciprocal military and trade relationship. Working very quickly on a security agreement so we don’t have to impose steel or aluminum tariffs on our ally, the great nation of Australia!’
We were taken aback by the reference to a security agreement – it hadn’t been mentioned in the call with Trump – but we were assured both directly and via our embassy that this had been inserted by the White House lawyers, and that it didn’t detract from the president’s unequivocal commitment.
On 22 March, Trump’s proclamation on steel imposed tariffs on all countries with the exception of Australia, Argentina, South Korea, Brazil and the EU – pending further negotiations. It wasn’t the unequivocal exemption we’d agreed, but it was a step forward. The challenge now was, in the midst of all of the Washington chaos, to hang on to it.
When the protectionists advising Trump continued to push for a quota on Australia, I had another call with the president on 22 May to try to turn him around.
Trump started determined that we would have a quota, and his concern was that if Australia was exempted, it would create a precedent. So my job was to persuade him that the singular position of Australia meant that it was in his interest to exempt us.
I said: “When we last spoke we agreed there would be no tariffs on Australian steel and aluminium, we actually tweeted it and said that to the world, that was the agreement ... This is really a political issue of principle, it’s not really an economic issue ... People will say, why have you got no tariffs on Australia? Is it because of the military alliance? And you can say, no, it’s because it is fair and reciprocal, that’s my principle, I want a level playing field. The Aussies have no tariffs and no quotas on us.”
Once again Trump saw the logic in our case and agreed that not only would there be no tariffs on our steel or aluminium but no quotas either.
A giant personality
Ever since he was elected Trump has dominated the headlines in a way no other president has before. While many self-styled conservatives support him, he is not one of them. Conservatives defend and support established institutions. Radical, populist, Trump, the authoritarian iconoclast, takes them all on.
The economy, so far, has boomed under Trump. He has certainly delivered “jobs and growth”. However, looked at from afar, America seems more divided, angry and polarised than I can remember. Libraries are being filled with analyses of Trump’s wilful and intemperate nature, his “chaotic” administration, scandals and conspiracies, real and imagined.
Traditional political issues have been overwhelmed. The political debate has been distilled into one issue: Trump’s giant personality.
He says America is more respected than ever. It depends what you mean by respect. Strength is respected when it is matched with values consistently advanced. Around the world, Trump’s deliberate unpredictability generates fear rather than respect, anxiety rather than certainty. His view of the world is much closer to the “don’t tread on me” isolationists of centuries past than it is the neoconservatives who, after the fall of the Soviet Union, sought to remake the world in America’s image.
The two leaders with Vietnam’s prime minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc and Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte at Asean. Photograph: Noel Celis/EPA
In our own region he has started, but not yet settled, a trade war with China. The Covid-19 crisis will no doubt further encourage protectionism. It seems impossibly far off at the moment, but at some point an expanded and enhanced Trans-Pacific Partnership that includes China and the United States should be the goal.
At summits in Singapore and Hanoi, he has feted and flattered Kim Jong-un, who hasn’t denuclearised and continues to test his missiles. So far, at least, the leader of the most powerful nation in the world appears to have been outmanoeuvred by the tyrant leader of a bankrupt slave state.
Trump is not a warmonger. And as he promised in his campaign, he is working to disentangle America from its engagement in the Middle East and Afghanistan, learning, as he has often said, that it is easier to get into these wars than to get out of them.
America may be stronger in economic and military terms, but its influence is diminished. In fact, under Trump, America seeks less influence, not least by rejecting many of the global institutions created by the US after the second world war.
Most consequential of all, I fear, will be his withdrawal from the Paris agreement. The world will struggle to meet the challenge of global warming without American leadership. And wherever Trump creates a leadership vacuum, others will fill it, often with values very different to our own.
But as the prime minister of Australia, my job was to protect our own particular interests and, as far as I could, influence him to act in a way that advanced our wider interests, in particular the continued commitment of the United States to our region. And in that regard, dramatic flourishes aside, he has not let us down. The “indispensable nation” is nowhere more so than in our hemisphere.
We had a row over the refugee deal, but it is being implemented. A large number have been safely resettled in the US after very careful security assessments. And we are fulfilling our side of the bargain too. He wouldn’t have done the deal, that’s true, but it was a fair one nonetheless.
Our only other contentious issue was the steel and aluminium tariffs.
There, defying the stereotypes, he was both thoughtful and good humoured. He started off with a different point of view, but listened to my arguments carefully. I didn’t solely base my case on our hundred years of mateship, or the Anzus alliance. A century of solidarity does matter a lot, and especially in Washington. But the US has a lot of allies. My arguments persuaded him because I correctly couched them as being in his interest.
If the Australian trade relationship is your ideal – fair and reciprocal, no tariffs, no quotas and, as it happens, a big surplus – then you should treat us differently to others where the playing field is far from level.
For all of Trump’s so-called madness, in my own dealings with him I found him no less rational than many other billionaires I have dealt with over the years. For all of our differences, as two businessmen, we spoke the same language.


theguardian--2020-04-19--Protests in Maryland, Texas and Ohio against coronavirus stay-at-home orders – video report

Demonstrations have taken place across the US against orders put in place to limit the spread of coronavirus .
The @ @ @ @ @ far-right media site Infowars .
Rallies were held in state capitals , with more planned @ @ @ @ @ states .
Hundreds of people stood and chanted for the US to be reopened .
@ @ @ @ @ have supported the protests but they appear to represent a minority opinion • See all @ @ @

Demonstrations have taken place across the US against orders put in place to limit the spread of coronavirus. The protests were organised by the far-right media site Infowars. Rallies were held in state capitals, with more planned for next week in other states. Hundreds of people stood and chanted for the US to be reopened. Rightwing media and Donald Trump have supported the protests but they appear to represent a minority opinion


theguardian--2020-04-20--Coronavirus US live: cases near 800,000 as Trump hypes 'praise' from Cuomo

Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg has argued social media sites are uniquely positioned to help with Covid-19 data collection , amid discussions about how much personal data Americans could share , and under what terms , to combat the outbreak .
In an opinion piece for the Washington Post , Zuckerberg announced the preliminary findings of an attempt with Carnegie Mellon University to survey the symptoms of Facebook users in the US , in order to create preliminary reports on where outbreaks could get worse .
While some health and technology experts are arguing for data collection to aid the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is a need for increased protection of health data , out of concern it could be accessed by marketers or hackers .
So far , the Facebook surveys have been opt-in and Zuckerberg said the site does not have access to the information , which so far has correlated well with test-confirmed cases of the disease , according to the researchers at Carnegie Mellon .
The researchers said they were hoping these estimates could be used to help hospitals and health officials in the coming weeks .
Zuckerberg argued Facebook and other social @ @ @ @ @ @ @ researchers , because the survey is being distributed to “ people whose identities we know ” .
The piece ends with Zuckerberg insisting such data collection should be done with people ’ s privacy in mind .
In July , the US government handed Facebook a $ 5bn penalty for “ deceiving ” users about their ability to keep personal information private , in the wake of the Cambridge Analytica data breach .
Months earlier , Zuckerberg announced the firm ’ s new focus was privacy .
Here ’ s some related reading @ @ @ @

Joan E Greve in Washington (now) and Martin Pengelly in New York (earlier)

21 Apr 2020 01.31 BST David Smith From the Guardian’s Washington DC bureau chief, a recap of today’s press confernece: Donald Trump delivered another White House briefing that suggested while he does not have much of a pandemic strategy, he does have a political one.
The US president framed state governors’ demand for ventilators as merely the latest strategic attempt to tear him down, as if akin to the Russia investigation or his impeachment. “It was all ventilators, and the reason it was all ventilators – they said, ‘There’s no way he’ll be able catch this one’. And not only did we catch it, we are now the king of ventilators all over the world.
“We have thousands being made a week and they’re very high quality and that wasn’t playing well, so then they said, ‘Testing, testing, ah, we’ll get him on testing’. Well, testing is much easier than ventilators.”
In fact governors’ demands for ventilators were based on the White House’s own projections and, far from being new, their pleas for testing go back many weeks. Trump’s words are also unlikely to comfort the afflicted for whom a ventilator is a lifeline.
Later at Monday’s briefing, the president’s ability to show empathy was again in question. Yamiche Alcindor of PBS News recalled one of her interviewees: “A man said his entire family got sick because they listened to you and didn’t stay home. Are you concerned that downplaying the virus got people sick?”
Trump’s stunning reply: “A lot of people love Trump, right. A lot of people love me, you see them all the time, right. I guess I’m here for a reason. To the best of my knowledge, I won, and I think we’re gonna win again. I think we’re gonna win in a landslide.”
The president went on to tout his travel restrictions on China, adding that “before March” he also banned travel from Europe (it was in fact announced on 11 March). The back and forth continued. Trump asserted: “I haven’t left the White House in months except for a brief moment to give a wonderful ship, the Comfort –”
Alcindor interjected, accurately: “You held a rally in March.”
Caught red-handed, the president said: “I don’t know. Did I hold a rally? I’m sorry, I hold a rally. Did I hold a rally?”
For a moment, the illusionist’s mask had slipped. And it was at a briefing where, improbably, Trump had earlier invoked George Washington by declaring: “I cannot tell a lie.
20 Apr 2020 00.48 BST More on Trump’s attacks on Maryland’s governor, Larry Hogan, over his decision to purchase tests from South Korea due to a shortage in his state: While the president claimed earlier that Hogan didn’t “understand” the list of labs available to do testing, Hogan actually said he was “in contact with every one” on the list, and wasn’t able to use certain labs that were federally run, according to an ABC reporter: Trump says Gov. Hogan “did not really understand the list" provided by admin of labs in MD.Actually, per audio obtained, Hogan said he was “in contact with every one” of them & said he wasn't able to use some bc certain labs were federally run or controlled by DoD&were off limits — Katherine Faulders (@KFaulders) April 20, 2020 Trump’s new press secretary did not dispute what ABC reported in a tweet response: To you, he’s not Trump, he’s PRESIDENT Trump! https://t.co/EIgPTPDIuO — Kayleigh McEnany (@PressSec) April 20, 2020
20 Apr 2020 00.24 BST The president has ended today’s briefing citing a range of different numbers for the potential deaths the US could have experienced, saying if the country hadn’t done lockdowns, there could have been 700,000 deaths, a million deaths, or maybe “millions”. As of today, there have been more than 41,000 deaths recorded in the US. Experts fear that the country could experience surges and second waves if states reopen too soon and if there is not enough testing and contact tracing in place.
20 Apr 2020 00.16 BST Fact check: Trump's campaign rallies Defending his coronavirus record, Trump said: “I haven’t left the White House for months.” In fact, he held a campaign rally in March. Asked about this, he responded, “Did I hold a rally? Sorry I held a rally.”
20 Apr 2020 00.12 BST Fact check: Travel restrictions Asked why he didn’t take the virus seriously in the early phases of its spread in the US, the president repeated his claims about that his travel restrictions against China made a difference and saved many lives: “People should say I acted very early.” In fact, the administration’s travel policy did not cut off all travel from China. Although non-US citizens were prohibited from entering the country if they had traveled to China within the previous two weeks, American citizens, permanent residents and their immediate family members were exempt. Similarly, Trump’s European travel restrictions exempted citizens, residents and their families. And initially, the restrictions didn’t apply to the UK and Ireland, as well as most Eastern European countries. Epidemiologists have told the Guardian that these policies likely had little impact, as they were enacted after the virus was already spreading within the US.“Unfortunately, travel bans sound good,” noted Bill Hanage, an epidemiologist at Harvard’s TH Chan School of Public Health, after Trump announced European restrictions. “But we’re way past the point where simply restricting travel is a reasonable response.” The few studies so far that have investigated the impact of travel restrictions have found that such policies may have at best delayed the spread of disease by a few days or weeks. A recent article in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences found that travel restrictions and airport screenings in several countries “likely slowed the rate of exportation from mainland China to other countries, but are insufficient to contain the global spread of COVID-19. And in China, where officials shut down travel both in and out of Wuhan, the city where the Covid-19 outbreak began, the travel ban barely slowed the spread of diseases, according to a report published in Science. But there is no evidence that travel restrictions ultimately stopped the spread of coronavirus, or significantly reduced the contagion’s death toll. Read more: Will Trump's coronavirus travel ban work? Scientists express skepticism Read more
20 Apr 2020 00.08 BST Trump has claimed that the criticisms of testing are “mostly partisan” and “not bipartisan”, then he discussed the criticisms by Maryland’s governor, Larry Hogan, who is a Republican: “He didn’t really know [about federal laboratory testing capacity]. Mike [Pence] doesn’t like to get into this stuff, he’s less controversial than I am.” The governor has said he had to get tests from South Korea due to a shortage.
20 Apr 2020 23.59 BST Trump on big businesses getting loans A reporter asked Trump about the reports that large corporations are getting small business loans while actual small businesses are struggling to get the funds they desperately need. (Shake Shack, Ruth’s Chris and other chain restaurants have won loans while independent restaurants have spoken out about their difficulties accessing the support.) Trump responded by joking that he didn’t win a loan: “I know one thing, I didn’t get any.” Regarding the loans to big businesses, he said: We’ll look into. Some people will have to return it, if we think it’s inappropriate ... If somebody got something that they think is inappropriate we will get it back...”


theguardian--2020-04-20--Former Australian PM Malcolm Turnbull on Donald Trump: 'You don't suck up to bullies'


theguardian--2020-04-20--Trump holds Covid-19 briefing as governors ask for more help - as it happened

Our supply-chain group has worked around the clock to secure gowns , gloves , face masks , goggles , face shields , and N95 respirators .
These employees have adapted to a new normal , exploring every lead , no matter how unusual .
Deals , some bizarre and convoluted , and many involving large sums of money , have dissolved at the last minute when we were outbid or outmuscled , sometimes by the federal government .
Then we got lucky , but getting the supplies was not easy .
A lead came from an acquaintance of a friend @ @ @ @ @ @ @ hours of vetting , we grew confident of the broker ’ s professional pedigree and the potential to secure a large shipment of three-ply face masks and N95 respirators .
The latter were KN95 respirators , N95s that were made in China .
We received samples to confirm that they could be successfully fit-tested .
Despite having cleared this hurdle , we remained concerned that the samples might not be representative of the bulk of the products that we would be buying .
Having acquired the requisite funds – more than five times @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a similar shipment , but still less than what was being requested by other brokers – we set the plan in motion .
Three members of the supply-chain team and a fit tester were flown to a small airport near an industrial warehouse in the mid-Atlantic region .
I arrived by car to make the final call on whether to execute the deal .
Two semi-trailer trucks , cleverly marked as food-service vehicles , met us at the warehouse .
When fully loaded , the trucks would take two distinct routes back to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ contents would be detained or redirected .
Hours before our planned departure , we were told to expect only a quarter of our original order .
We went anyway , since we desperately needed any supplies we could get .
Upon arrival , we were jubilant to see pallets of KN95 respirators and face masks being unloaded .
We opened several boxes , examined their contents , and hoped that this random sample would be representative of the entire shipment .
Before we could send the funds by wire transfer , two Federal @ @ @ @ @ @ @ their badges , and started questioning me .
No , this shipment was not headed for resale or the black market .
The agents checked my credentials , and I tried to convince them that the shipment of PPE was bound for hospitals .
After receiving my assurances and hearing about our health system ’ s urgent needs , the agents let the boxes of equipment be released and loaded into the trucks .
But I was soon shocked to learn that the Department of Homeland Security was still considering redirecting our PPE @ @ @ @ @ @ @ intervention by our congressional representative prevented its seizure .
I remained nervous and worried on the long drive back , feelings that did not abate until midnight , when I received the call that the PPE shipment was secured at our warehouse .

Bryan Armen Graham  in New York (now) with Enjoli Liston and Tom Lutz (earlier)

19 Apr 2020 00.55 BST Trump is asked whether he is inciting violence by calling for people to liberate states. “They’ve got cabin fever,” he says. “They want to get back. They want their life back. Their life was taken away from them. And you know, they learned a lot during this period. They learned to do things differently than they have in the past and they’ll do it hopefully until the virus has passed. And when the virus passes, I hope we’re going to be sitting next to each other at baseball games, football games, basketball games, ice hockey games. I hope we’re going to be sitting next to each other. The Masters is going to have 100,000 people, not 25 people waching at the course.” He adds: “I’ve never seen so many American flags at a rally as I’ve seen at these rallies. These people love our country. They want to get back to work.
19 Apr 2020 00.52 BST Trump is asked why he is reading and showing clips full of praise for himself at a time when more than 22 million Americans are unemployed and more the 40,000 have died as a result of the coronavirus. “What I’m doing is I’m standing up for the men and women that have done such an incredible job,” he says. “Nothing is about me.”
“You’re never going to treat me fairly, many of you. And I understand that. I got here with the worst, most unfair press treatment they say in the history of the United States for a president. They did say Abraham Lincoln had very bad treatment, too.” That one is actually true.
Updated at 01.03 BST
19 Apr 2020 00.39 BST Remember about a half hour ago when Trump played that excerpt from the New York governor Andrew Cuomo’s press briefing only to complain the clip wasn’t long enough and the good parts were left out? We’re in luck. Someone on his team has gone and found the complete footage. The lights have gone down again and we’re watching Cuomo’s remark that no one in New York was denied a ventilator if they needed LOL -- a half-hour after he got upset because the clip of Andrew Cuomo praising him didn't play all the way through, Trump finally gets his wish and the rest of it is played pic.twitter.com/DEAnKFq22w — Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) April 19, 2020
Updated at 01.03 BST
19 Apr 2020 00.29 BST Trump is asked what advice he would give to the many protesters who are against the government’s restrictions. “You’re allowed to protest,” he says, adding that “some governors have gone too far”. He says he watched footage of the protests and was happy they were all practicing social distancing, which is very much not true.
Updated at 01.04 BST
19 Apr 2020 00.11 BST Trump is in full stream-of-consciousness mode, very much in the spirit of his campaign rallies. He says the coronavirus has taught the nation an important lesson about the “supply chain” and the need to not have to rely on other countries in times of crisis. He then spends a few minutes criticizing trade policies with hard words for Nafta and the World Trade Organization. “I want to read something I saw on television,” he says, before reading his own tweet from 19 Feburary off a large printed page.
Updated at 00.25 BST
19 Apr 2020 23.57 BST And now the lights go down and Trump plays an excerpt from the New York governor Andrew Cuomo’s press briefing earlier today. After some initial technical difficulties, Cuomo’s words ring through the briefing room: “These were just extraordinary efforts and acts of mobilization and the federal government stepped up and was a great partner and I’m the first person to say it. We needed help and they were there.” President Trump plays a clip of Democrat Andrew Cuomo praising his response to Coronavirus in New York pic.twitter.com/LLox28m594 — TV News HQ (@TVNewsHQ) April 19, 2020 After Trump returns to the dais, he complains the clip wasn’t long enough and the good parts were left out: “Do you want to put the rest of it up or do you not have it? I just think it’s good because it’s bipartisan.”
Updated at 01.04 BST
19 Apr 2020 23.48 BST After spending a few minutes reading from a Wall Street Journal op-ed praising his response to the pandemic, Trump points to the declining trajectory in new cases in the Seattle, Detroit, New Orleans, Indianapolis and Houston metro areas as “more evidence that our aggressive strategy is working”. “Who ever heard of a thing like this?” he asks, circling back to familiar talking points. “We would’ve had millions of people die if we didn’t do this. Millions of people.”
Updated at 00.11 BST
19 Apr 2020 23.39 BST Donald Trump opens today’s coronavirus task force press briefing by saying they are “close to a deal” with Democrats on the latest relief bill for small businesses and workers, which could be resolved as soon as tomorrow.
He then says 4.18 million Americans have been tested for the coronavirus. “That’s a record anywhere in the world,” Trump says. “More total tests than all the following nations combined: France, the United Kingdom, South Korea, Japan, Singapore, India, Austria, Australia, Sweden and Canada.” Trump says there is a “tremendous capacity” for testing before showing off a medical swab, likening it to a Q-tip. “We have ordered a lot of them,” he said, but notes that some states “don’t know where they are”. Then a return to what’s become a recurring motif over the past few days: “We are now the king of ventilators,” he says. “We have so many ventilators.”
Updated at 23.44 BST
19 Apr 2020 22.25 BST A sensational investigation co-published today by ProPublica and the Seattle Times shows how officials in the first US state to be hit by Covid-19 struggled to send the public a clear, consistent message in the early days of the pandemic, bowing to a professional soccer team’s desire to host a game with 33,000 spectators despite urgent warnings from the health department for a ban on large gatherings.
On March 6, at 2:43 p.m., the health officer for Public Health — Seattle & King County, the hardest-hit region in the first state to be slammed by COVID-19, sent an email to a half-dozen colleagues, saying, “I want to cancel large group gatherings now.” The county’s numbers — 10 known deaths and nearly 60 confirmed cases as of late morning — were bad and getting worse. Many local events had already been called off for fear of spreading the coronavirus. Oyster Fest. The Puget Sound Puppetry Festival. A Women’s Day speaker series at the Gates Foundation. King County had ordered a stop to in-person government meetings unless they were considered essential. The health officer, Dr. Jeffrey Duchin, was to the Seattle area what Anthony Fauci would become for the country, the doctor at the microphone, dispensing guidance. Under Washington law, Duchin also had authority to make his wish an order. Duchin sent his email 28 hours before the Seattle Sounders, defending MLS champions and one of the league’s biggest draws, were to host a match at CenturyLink Field. No event in the coming days would generate a gathering to compare. The game would draw people from across the Puget Sound area, and maybe beyond. In the end, the match went on. Two days after the public health department wrote on Facebook, “We are making a recommendation to postpone or cancel events greater than 10-50 people,” officials in King County allowed a soccer match to be held with 33,000 fans, squeezed together. How that happened is captured in hundreds of pages of emails exchanged among federal, state and local officials, as well as executives from the Sounders, Seahawks, Mariners and XFL Dragons. Those records, obtained by ProPublica and The Seattle Times, show how one meeting would beget another, one email would beget a dozen more, all while the virus was taking rapid hold.
The most recent count of Covid-19 cases in Washington totals 11,802 infections and 624 deaths, according to the state’s Department of Health.
Updated at 22.27 BST
19 Apr 2020 21.44 BST In a letter published in the New England Journal of Medicine as part of its ongoing Covid-19 Notes series, the chief executive of a Massachusetts hospital accuses the federal government of running an effective PPE blockade that’s prevented the delivery of critical equipment to states in need. Emphasis ours: Our supply-chain group has worked around the clock to secure gowns, gloves, face masks, goggles, face shields, and N95 respirators. These employees have adapted to a new normal, exploring every lead, no matter how unusual. Deals, some bizarre and convoluted, and many involving large sums of money, have dissolved at the last minute when we were outbid or outmuscled, sometimes by the federal government. Then we got lucky, but getting the supplies was not easy. A lead came from an acquaintance of a friend of a team member. After several hours of vetting, we grew confident of the broker’s professional pedigree and the potential to secure a large shipment of three-ply face masks and N95 respirators. The latter were KN95 respirators, N95s that were made in China. We received samples to confirm that they could be successfully fit-tested. Despite having cleared this hurdle, we remained concerned that the samples might not be representative of the bulk of the products that we would be buying. Having acquired the requisite funds – more than five times the amount we would normally pay for a similar shipment, but still less than what was being requested by other brokers – we set the plan in motion. Three members of the supply-chain team and a fit tester were flown to a small airport near an industrial warehouse in the mid-Atlantic region. I arrived by car to make the final call on whether to execute the deal. Two semi-trailer trucks, cleverly marked as food-service vehicles, met us at the warehouse. When fully loaded, the trucks would take two distinct routes back to Massachusetts to minimize the chances that their contents would be detained or redirected. Hours before our planned departure, we were told to expect only a quarter of our original order. We went anyway, since we desperately needed any supplies we could get. Upon arrival, we were jubilant to see pallets of KN95 respirators and face masks being unloaded. We opened several boxes, examined their contents, and hoped that this random sample would be representative of the entire shipment. Before we could send the funds by wire transfer, two Federal Bureau of Investigation agents arrived, showed their badges, and started questioning me. No, this shipment was not headed for resale or the black market. The agents checked my credentials, and I tried to convince them that the shipment of PPE was bound for hospitals. After receiving my assurances and hearing about our health system’s urgent needs, the agents let the boxes of equipment be released and loaded into the trucks. But I was soon shocked to learn that the Department of Homeland Security was still considering redirecting our PPE. Only some quick calls leading to intervention by our congressional representative prevented its seizure. I remained nervous and worried on the long drive back, feelings that did not abate until midnight, when I received the call that the PPE shipment was secured at our warehouse.
19 Apr 2020 21.11 BST A number of US governors from both sides of the aisle, including Virginia Democrat Ralph Northam and Maryland Republican Larry Hogan, have accused Donald Trump of making “delusional” and “dangerous” statements amid mounting pressure to roll back stay-at-home measures. As the Guardian’s Richard Luscombe and Edward Helmore report: Many state leaders have said they cannot embark on Trump’s recommended three-phrase programme to ease stay-at-home restrictions without a robust and widespread system of testing in place. Researchers at Harvard University have suggested the US should conduct more than three times the number of coronavirus tests it is currently administering over the course of the next month, the New York Times reported. Democratic Governor Ralph Northam of Virginia told CNN on Sunday that claims by Trump and Vice-President Mike Pence that states have plenty of tests were “just delusional”. “We have been fighting for testing,” he said on CNN’s State of the Union. “We don’t even have enough swabs, believe it or not. For the national level to say that we have what we need, and really to have no guidance to the state levels, is just irresponsible, because we’re not there yet.” Maryland, Virginia and Washington DC are still seeing increasing cases even as the epicenter of the US outbreak, New York, has started to see some declines. Boston and Chicago are also emerging hot spots with recent surges in cases and deaths. “The administration I think is trying to ramp up testing, they are doing some things with respect to private labs,” said Republican governor Larry Hogan of Maryland during a CNN interview. “But to try to push this off, to say the governors have plenty of testing and they should just get to work on testing, somehow we aren’t doing our jobs, is just absolutely false.”
19 Apr 2020 20.22 BST Tyson Foods, one of the world’s largest meat processors, has faced criticism after cases were linked to one of its plants in Waterloo, Iowa. “My personal opinion is that it should be closed,” the Black Hawk county sheriff, Tony Thompson, told the Des Moines Register on Friday. “I think we need a hard boot, reset on that plant. I think we need to be able to sort out and cull the herd between the haves and the have-nots there. I think we need to deep-clean that facility and I think we need to restart that plant on a clean slate.” That news was followed on Sunday by a CNN report that another plant in Tennessee had recorded 90 positive tests for Covid-19. The company says workers are required to wear face coverings during shifts and have their temperatures taken at the start of each shift. A spokesperson for Tyson also said cleaning is a priority. “We have team members dedicated to constantly wiping down and sanitizing common areas. In some cases, this additional cleaning involves suspending a day of production,” the spokesperson said on Sunday.
Updated at 21.10 BST
19 Apr 2020 19.58 BST Donald Trump says the US is the 'king of ventilators' Donald Trump has started his afternoon by declaring the US “the king of ventilators”. Several state governors have said they need more help from the federal government with Covid-19 testing in an effort to curb the pandemic. However, the president thinks he’s on the right course, while implying the onus was on governors rather than the federal government to ramp up testing. Just like I was right on Ventilators (our Country is now the “King of Ventilators”, other countries are calling asking for help-we will!), I am right on testing. Governors must be able to step up and get the job done. We will be with you ALL THE WAY! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 19, 2020 “Just like I was right on Ventilators (our Country is now the “King of Ventilators”, other countries are calling asking for help-we will!), I am right on testing,” the president tweeted. “Governors must be able to step up and get the job done. We will be with you ALL THE WAY!” On NBC’s Meet the Press on Sunday, Ohio’s Republican governor, Mike DeWine, said the FDA had not paid enough attention to companies “putting a slightly different formula together” for tests. “I could probably double, maybe even triple testing in Ohio virtually overnight” if the FDA considered such options, DeWine said.
Updated at 21.10 BST


theguardian--2020-04-20--’Keep your voice down’: Trump berates female reporter when questioned over Covid-19 response – video

US president Donald Trump told a female reporter to keep her voice down and to ‘ relax ’ when she @ @ @ @ @ had done to prepare for the coronavirus in February .
CBS reporter Weijia Jiang asked @ @ @ @ @ long ‘ to warn people the virus was spreading like wildfire ’ in February ‘ @ @ @ @ @ thousands of people ’ ?
An irritated Trump touted his China travel ban as proof @ @ @ @ @ persisted with her point and said : ‘ When you issued the ban , the @ @ @ @ @ ’ to which Trump said : ‘ Do your research.
’ • Trump holds Covid-19 @ @ @ @ @ more help - as it happened • Trump plays misleading clips of 'support ' from @ @ @ @

US president Donald Trump told a female reporter to keep her voice down and to ‘relax’ when she asked about what his administration had done to prepare for the coronavirus in February. CBS reporter Weijia Jiang asked Trump why he waited so long ‘to warn people the virus was spreading like wildfire’ in February ‘instead of holding rallies with thousands of people’? An irritated Trump touted his China travel ban as proof he acted fast. Jiang persisted with her point and said: ‘When you issued the ban, the virus was already here,’ to which Trump said: ‘Do your research.’


theguardian--2020-04-20--Trump reads out positive news stories at press briefing as US death toll reaches 40,000 – video

US president Donald Trump has used his daily coronavirus press briefing to read out flattering news stories about himself .
@ @ @ @ @ clip of New York governor Andrew Cuomo in a bid to prove his administration 's @ @ @ @ @ been competent .
CNN reporter Jeremy Diamond asked if the day the US reached the @ @ @ @ @ 40,000 deaths is ‘ really the time for self-congratulations ?
’ Trump went on to @ @ @ @ @ news ’ who didn ’ t ‘ have the brains you were born with ’ @ @ @ @ @ of 'support ' from Cuomo at coronavirus briefing • Trump holds Covid-19 briefing as governors @ @ @ @ @ as it happened

US president Donald Trump has used his daily coronavirus press briefing to read out flattering news stories about himself. He also played a highly-edited clip of New York governor Andrew Cuomo in a bid to prove his administration's handling of the pandemic has been competent. CNN reporter Jeremy Diamond asked if the day the US reached the ‘grim milestone’ of 40,000 deaths is ‘really the time for self-congratulations?’ Trump went on to call the reporter ‘fake news’ who didn’t ‘have the brains you were born with’


theguardian--2020-04-21--Coronavirus US live: Trump to host Cuomo at White House after conflict over supplies

From the Guardian ’ s Washington DC bureau chief , a recap of today ’ s press confernece : Donald Trump delivered another White House briefing that suggested while he does not have much of a pandemic strategy , he does have a political one .
The US president framed state governors ’ demand for ventilators as merely the latest strategic attempt to tear him down , as if akin to the Russia investigation or his impeachment .
“ It was all ventilators , and the reason it was all ventilators – they said , ‘ There ’ s no @ @ @ @ @ @ @ this one ’ .
And not only did we catch it , we are now the king of ventilators all over the world .
“ We have thousands being made a week and they ’ re very high quality and that wasn ’ t playing well , so then they said , ‘ Testing , testing , ah , we ’ ll get him on testing ’ .
Well , testing is much easier than ventilators.
” In fact governors ’ demands for ventilators were based on the White House ’ s own @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , their pleas for testing go back many weeks .
Trump ’ s words are also unlikely to comfort the afflicted for whom a ventilator is a lifeline .
Later at Monday ’ s briefing , the president ’ s ability to show empathy was again in question .
Yamiche Alcindor of PBS News recalled one of her interviewees : “ A man said his entire family got sick because they listened to you and didn ’ t stay home .
Are you concerned that downplaying the virus got people sick ?
” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ A lot of people love Trump , right .
A lot of people love me , you see them all the time , right .
I guess I ’ m here for a reason .
To the best of my knowledge , I won , and I think we ’ re gon na win again .
I think we ’ re gon na win in a landslide.
” The president went on to tout his travel restrictions on China , adding that “ before March ” he also banned travel from Europe ( @ @ @ @ @ @ @ March ) .
The back and forth continued .
Trump asserted : “ I haven ’ t left the White House in months except for a brief moment to give a wonderful ship , the Comfort – ” Alcindor interjected , accurately : “ You held a rally in March.
” Caught red-handed , the president said : “ I don ’ t know .
Did I hold a rally ?
I ’ m sorry , I hold a rally .
Did I hold a rally ?
” For a moment , the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ And it was at a briefing where , improbably , Trump had earlier invoked George Washington by declaring : “ I can not tell a lie .

Sam Levin in Los Angeles (now), Joan E Greve in Washington and Martin Pengelly in New York (earlier)


theguardian--2020-04-20--Fauci warns Covid-19 cases could surge if stay-home orders lifted too quickly

Dr Anthony Fauci has warned that if the US moves too quickly to end stay-at-home orders there could be another surge in Covid-19 cases .
Speaking to ABC News , the director of the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases , a key member of the White House coronavirus taskforce , was much more cautious than Donald Trump , who has downplayed the outbreak and pushed to open the US quickly .
“ If you jump the gun and go into a situation where you have a big spike , you ’ re gon na set yourself back , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ painful as it is to go by the careful guidelines of gradually phasing into a reopening , it ’ s going to backfire .
That ’ s the problem.
” Fauci also warned : “ Unless we get the virus under control , the real recovery economically is not going to happen.
” According to researchers at Johns Hopkins University , the US is approaching 800,000 confirmed coronavirus cases and has recorded more than 40,000 deaths .
New York is by far the worst-hit state , with more than 18,000 deaths , while @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Jersey and more than 2,000 in Michigan .
Trump remains keen to reopen the US economy as soon as possible , to the extent of tweeting and expressing support for protests organised in part by far-right groups and aimed at Democratic governors .
Fauci ’ s relationship with the president is relentlessly parsed in the media , amid rightwing pressure for Trump to fire the doctor , who has been in the post since 1984 .
Recently , Derek Hodel , a senior program adviser at Physicians for Human Rights who worked with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in the 1990s , told the Guardian : “ Decades ago , he said things that we didn ’ t want to hear .
“ He said a lot of things we did want to hear as well , but he said a lot of things we didn ’ t want to hear.
” The White House has denied Trump is preparing to fire Fauci .

Dr Anthony Fauci has warned that if the US moves too quickly to end stay-at-home orders there could be another surge in Covid-19 cases.
Speaking to ABC News, the director of the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases, a key member of the White House coronavirus taskforce, was much more cautious than Donald Trump, who has downplayed the outbreak and pushed to open the US quickly.
“If you jump the gun and go into a situation where you have a big spike, you’re gonna set yourself back,” Fauci said. “So as painful as it is to go by the careful guidelines of gradually phasing into a reopening, it’s going to backfire. That’s the problem.”
Fauci also warned: “Unless we get the virus under control, the real recovery economically is not going to happen.”
According to researchers at Johns Hopkins University, the US is approaching 800,000 confirmed coronavirus cases and has recorded more than 40,000 deaths. New York is by far the worst-hit state, with more than 18,000 deaths, while more than 4,000 have died in New Jersey and more than 2,000 in Michigan.
Trump remains keen to reopen the US economy as soon as possible, to the extent of tweeting and expressing support for protests organised in part by far-right groups and aimed at Democratic governors.
Fauci’s relationship with the president is relentlessly parsed in the media, amid rightwing pressure for Trump to fire the doctor, who has been in the post since 1984.
Recently, Derek Hodel, a senior program adviser at Physicians for Human Rights who worked with Fauci as an Aids activist and advocate in the 1990s, told the Guardian: “Decades ago, he said things that we didn’t want to hear.
“He said a lot of things we did want to hear as well, but he said a lot of things we didn’t want to hear.”
The White House has denied Trump is preparing to fire Fauci.