Self-professed 'full-time Trump-speak interpreter' downplays president’s bluster
09 January
Former Ambassador Gordon Sondland, who served as a diplomat to the European Union on behalf of the United States, continued to promote his "mad man" defense of President Donald Trump in an interview with CNN Friday morning.
"So you have in the past kind of defended the sort of mad men defense of Trump that he's unpredictable," said host Audie Cornish.
She played a clip of the audio of Trump's interview with the New York Times in which he claimed, "I don't need international law. I'm not looking to hurt people."
Cornish asked, "If there's no internationallaw, no bureaucratic process, nocommittee. No oversight that hebelieves that can restrain him.What is the check on thepresident's power?"
Sondland confessed, "I'm a full-time Trump-speak interpreter."
He explained, "I thinkwhat he was trying to say was, Idon't even need to look atinternational law because my ownmorality is well within thebounds of international law."
While it has caused unnecessary global panic, Sondland said it's something people should get used to.
"He's a 70-something-year-oldman," Sondland continued speaking about the president, who turns 80 in 2026. "He's not going to change.He speaks in metaphors. Hespeaks with grandiosity when hesays, I'm going to solve theUkraine problem in 24 hours. Noone believed he meant 24 hours."
Sondland said what Trump was trying to say is that he'll focus on Ukraine "like a laser," giving it his full attention. However, even that hasn't been the case, as Trump has been distracted by his new invasion of Venezuela, his faltering peace plan in Israel and building his White House ballroom.
As for Stephen Miller, Sondland chuckled and said that the top Trump aide "loves hyperbole."
"He is not invading Greenlandwith the military," Sondland continued.
"Like any real estatedeveloper, what he loves to dois he loves to put an offer onthe table that's ridiculous.Let me put it in money terms. Ifhe wants to pay $10,000 forsomething that someone wants, $20,000 for, you know, what he'sgoing to offer. He's not goingto offer 9 or 8 or something.He's going to say, I'll giveyou ten bucks, and people aregoing to say ten bucks," said Sondland
Cornish said that other Trump observers see Trump metaphorically hit them in the face and threaten them.
Sondland said that because it's the "U.S.'s money" and the "U.S.'s boots on the ground in the past, largely." Sondland said the work is redundant, as the U.S. is already providing these funds in another capacity. "But they don't want to neglect any potential revenue that they can achieve."
"And so when it comes to Greenland, what they've been doing is they've been talking to Russia, they've been talking to China quietly, but definitely.
"And Trump is saying, wait a minute, Greenland is an asset of NATO. Essentially. Forget about the United States.It's an asset of NATO. It'scritical for our defense. Quitplaying these games," Sondland continued. "If you'regoing to do this, we're going totake Greenland. And he says thatin quotes. 'We're going totake Greenland.' Think about it.Multiple presidents have talkedabout Greenland. Now everyone isfocused."
Cornish noted that the U.S. has had a deal with Greenland since the 1950s, but Sondland said that the "deal" includes China and Russia and Trump doesn't want them included. In fact, the deal with Greenland includes NATO, of which neither Russia nor China is a member. Greenland allows for a U.S. base to exist on Greenland soil and create "defense areas" that NATO deems necessary., CNN's Jim Sciutto explained. Given that the U.S. is a member of NATO, it can move freely through such areas, while Russia and China cannot.
Cornish said there was a way the U.S. could have had these conversations without "freaking out" NATO partners.
Any anger he sees coming from Congress, Sondland attributes to "bruised egos" and not legitimate concern about the separation of powers. He argued that every modern president has been given huge leverage in operating military actions. The difference, however, is that all of those were related to Middle East terrorism and fell under the AUMF (Authorization for Use of Military Force), which Congress passed in 2001.
Other than the bruised egos, Sondland said others are "miffed that the president didn't pick up the phone two seconds before he toppled Maduro. So,even if he had done so, what arethey going to do?"