President Donald Trump humiliated himself Monday at a summit of world leaders gathered to sign a peace agreement between Israel and Hamas.
The historic peace deal was signed in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, following the release of the remaining 20 Israeli hostages in Gaza, and the release of nearly 2000 Palestinian prisoners in Israel, including 1,700 taken over the last two years and held without charges. While both sides have agreed to this first phase of Trump’s 20-point peace deal, it’s still unclear whether peace will persist.
While celebrating his momentary victory in front of his fellow world leaders, Trump spoke incoherently and made several embarrassing comments.
Speaking about being escorted to the signing on Air Force One by Egyptian military aircraft, Trump came across unintelligibly.
“But Air Force One was really—it was covered with Egyptian desert just a few months ago, if you think about it. Just a few months ago it was Egyptian desert, and now it was just a few feet off our window, and it was a spectacular sight, and I appreciate it very much,” said Trump.
It’s not clear what Trump was attempting to convey here. The U.S. president has a tendency to steer into meaningless remarks when speaking without a teleprompter. And that was only the beginning.
In a room full of world leaders the U.S. president claimed that his opinion was the only one that mattered, while directly praising Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who has become something of a model leader for those on the contemporary right after he systematically weakened his country’s free press, replacing it with a state-controlled propaganda machine.
“You are fantastic, all right? I know a lot of people don’t agree with me, but I’m the only one that matters. You are fantastic,” Trump said. “He’s a great leader. I endorsed him in the last election he had, and he won by 28 points. You’re gonna do even better next time.”
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni had a pained expression as she stood behind the babbling U.S. president. She looked particularly horrified as Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said he’d nominate Trump for a Nobel Peace prize, which the U.S. president lost last week.
In another cringeworthy moment, Trump turned his attention to Meloni to fawn over her appearance.
“We have a woman, a young woman, who’s uh—I’m not allowed to say it ’cause it’s usually the end of your political career if you say it. She’s a beautiful young woman. Now if you use the word ‘beautiful’ in the United States about a woman, that’s the end of your political career, but I’ll take my chances,” Trump said.
He added that Meloni was very respected in Italy. Clearly, he was not party to that respect.
Later, while patting himself on the back for his work on the peace agreement, Trump mistakenly called Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney the “president” of Canada.
After Trump’s remarks, Carney was caught on a hot mic joking, “I’m glad you upgraded me to president!”
“Did I say that?” Trump laughed. He leaned in, adding, “At least I didn’t say governor.”
The post Trump Fumbles Repeatedly While Bragging in Front of World Leaders appeared first on New Republic.
