There is an ancient and seemingly forgotten principle of diplomacy that says you do not greet the leader of a hostile nuclear power by running down the driveway screaming obscenities and throwing patio furniture at his limousine.
“Speak softly and carry a big stick.”
— Theodore Roosevelt
This concept has become controversial, especially if you listen to the legacy media talking heads.
Donald Trump welcomed Xi Jinping to the White House this week, shook his hand, smiled at him, treated him like an honored guest and generally behaved as though the purpose of diplomacy were to conduct diplomacy rather than stage a drunken brawl inside of a Waffle House. Naturally, people lost their goddamned minds.
Trump was being nice to Xi!
He was smiling!
He said NICE THINGS!
Sweet Jesus, somebody alert NORAD. The Republic has fallen! TRUMP IS SUCKING UP TO OUR ENEMIES!!!!11!!!!111!!
No. You drooling, low-IQ mouthbreathers. This is how diplomacy works. You “Speak softly” to your enemies.
To explain it to the 85 IQ legacy journalists, that means you are polite to them. You shake their hands. You offer them tea. You compliment their country. You let them save face. You behave like a civilized human being because the alternative is behaving like an unrestrained Chihuahua barking through a screen door. Or, like Obama, apologizing for American greatness.
And then? You remind them about the stick.
Trump gave Xi a tour of the White House and walked him past his new “Presidential Walk of Fame.” where Joe Biden is represented by a picture of an autopen signing his name. Xi actually laughed when Trump pointed it out.
It is petty.
It is juvenile.
It is extremely Trump.
There was another message buried in the joke: I remember.
You are dealing with a man who keeps a list, and checks it twice. Unlike Santa Claus, Trump controls a dangerous military.
Trump can’t have his domestic political enemies hauled off to some basement dungeon because America is not China. He can STILL make damn sure everybody walking through the White House knows exactly what he thinks of them. Xi understands that kind of symbolism better than most Americans do.
Next came the really subtle part.
A B-2 stealth bomber accompanied by four F-22 Raptors flew over the White House while Xi was there.
Now that is a stick.
The B-2 is quite the stick, actually. It is an intercontinental stealth bomber designed to penetrate sophisticated air defenses and deliver conventional or nuclear weapons. There it went, sailing peacefully over the White House while the President of the United States stood beside the President of China.
Beautiful weather we’re having. Lovely ceremony. Your wife looks wonderful.
✈️WHOOOOOOOOOOSH.✈️
“Anyway, Mr. President, shall we have tea?”
THAT is diplomacy.
Trump does the same strange dance with Vladimir Putin. He says flattering things. He talks about respect. He avoids the sort of theatrical chest-thumping that makes cable-news panels feel sexually fulfilled.
That does not, by itself, tell you what American policy actually is. Watch what governments do.
Watch the sanctions. Watch the tariffs. Watch the export controls. Watch the military deployments. Watch the weapons sales. Watch the negotiations. Watch where the aircraft carriers go.
And yes, watch the B-2 flying overhead.
Diplomacy between powerful countries is not a Twitter argument. (I should know, i’m really good at Twitter arguments.)
Unlike on social media, you don’t demonstrate strength by screaming continuously. Any lunatic on a subway platform can do that. Many lunatics in Democrat controlled areas do. Hourly.
Real power is being perfectly cordial to the man sitting across the table while both of you understand exactly what happens if the table gets flipped over. You point out your big stick sitting in the corner of the room, in case anyone forgets.
Trump’s version of Roosevelt’s maxim may therefore be something like:
Speak loudly, compliment everybody, insult somebody who failed to destroy you, serve excellent food, and point out the
stealth bomber flying overhead.
Crude? Absolutely. But nobody looking up at that B-2 had to ask what the big stick was.
Remember the button comnent to Kim? "Bigger... and mine works...".
Three eas also a stick not much mentioned, and as demonstrated to a former El Presidente named Maduro.
Nothing you said needed to be explained (in a perfect world) but you did it anyway (thank you).