"Table for Five" host Abby Phillip (YouTube Screengrab)
"Table for Five" host Abby Phillip delivered a ruinous montage of footage revealing the quickest way to determine when President Donald Trump has already lost interest in a particular topic.
“A fortnight: It's not just one of Taylor Swift's hits. It is also one of Donald Trump's biggest tells this week after threatening to invade Greenland, declaring that the United States will own the island and insulting and isolating America’s allies over that issue,” Phillip said. “He basically said, ‘never mind.’ Why? Well, because a deal he reached with NATO that is ‘forever,’ in his words. But when he was asked about this deal, he gave this response.”
“We’ll have something in two weeks,” Trump told a reporter, after his controversial speech in Davos.
“Now, if that timeline doesn't sound familiar to you, it should,” said Phillip, before ticking off a slew of identical Trump-style promises over other momentarily imperative but now hazy topics, including expiring healthcare subsidies and other issues important to U.S. voters.
“We are going to be announcing over the next two weeks, numbers and specifics…”
“… We're signing a health care plan within two weeks …”
“… I think so, over the next 2 or 3 weeks…”
“… you can ask that question. In two weeks…”
“… I'd rather tell you in about two weeks from now…”
“… I can't tell you that, but I'll let you know in about two weeks…”
“… I would say within two weeks or so. Pretty quick …”
“We don't know the details of how all this is going to shake out — I know that's what everybody seems to think. And he's a very optimistic guy on two weeks. Yes, I will give you that,” admitted Republican Strategic Communications Consultant and former GOP press secretary Lance Trover.
“Oh, this is not the end, because Trump will do something else crazy that will be intended to harm [NATO] sooner rather than later,” said “Tabe for Five” panelist Josh Rogin, a Washington Post lead global security analyst.
“How much would you trust a friend after they threaten to sleep with your wife?” demanded Higher Learning podcast Host Van Lathan. “It doesn't matter how good of a friend or what you get from the friend. Once the friend goes, ‘hey, man, I'm thinking about sleeping with your wife.’ Whoa. Now I have to protect myself. It changes the nature of the friendship completely.”
“We all agree that Greenland is important for our national security and economic interests, right?” asked panelist Alyssa Farah Griffin, who served in Trump’s first administration as director of strategic communications.
“It's kind of a straw man because it's irrelevant,” quipped Rogin. “… It’s just a banal point and not relevant to what we’re talking about.”