Donald Trump in bad shape after several setbacks

Text by: RFI Follow

As the American electoral campaign resumes, the president, candidate for a second mandate, must fight on many fronts, political, social, economic, health and diplomatic.

Publicity

With our correspondent in Washington, Anne Corpet

Donald Trump is assaulted on several fronts. First of all, the Supreme Court: this is the second time this week that the country's highest court has decided against its opinion. On Monday, it extended the rights of gay and transgender workers. And this Thursday, she considered that the will of the American president to cancel the DACA program was a "  capricious  " and "  arbitrary  " decision. Suddenly, the head of state made it a personal matter and chose the victim strategy.

Do you get the impression that the Supreme Court doesn't like me?

A book that embraces the head of state

Second, the president must deal with the explosive revelations of the book to be published by his ex-national security adviser John Bolton. The good sheets are already out: John Bolton accuses, among others, the American president of having sought the help of China to win his re-election in November, and denounces the chaotic management of international affairs by the White House.

The White House may try to block the publication scheduled for Tuesday, June 23, the leaks and statements by John Bolton fuel the image of an incompetent president - "  unfit  " to preside, according to Bolton, who will however advised for almost a year and a half before being fired - on the international scene, mocked by his own ministers or advisers, and above all who made his thirst for re-election pass on November 3 before the interest of the country. Donald Trump's conversations with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping "  reflect not only the inconsistencies of his trade policy but also the interconnection in Trump's mind between his own political interests and the American national interest  ," he wrote.

► Listen : Trump: will the revelations of his former adviser John Bolton be harmful ?

Anyway, after a brief truce in the trade war between the two giants, the Covid-19 has come to throw a new chill in Sino-US relations. The Trump administration has repeatedly accused Beijing of hiding the scale of the epidemic and of being responsible for the hundreds of thousands of deaths worldwide. On Twitter, the American president again said on Thursday that he was planning to  cut ties with the Asian giant, saying that " cutting all ties with China  ", including economic ones, was an option.

Coronavirus rebound

Finally, another bad news for the American president: the coronavirus is back in the news. The virus registers a clear progression in 23 States , that is to say more than half of the country - and this even if for the eighth day in a row the daily assessment goes under the bar of the thousand deaths. His management of the pandemic, which has killed more than 118,000 people and 2.2 million cases in the United States, is strongly criticized.

At the same time, Facebook removed ads from its campaign team because they displayed an inverted red triangle, a symbol used by the Nazis to designate political prisoners in concentration camps.

Blow for blow

But in this bad patch, the president remains combative. He gives a blow for blow as usual. He responds virulently to his ex-advisor, describing the book as "  pure fiction  ", and his author as "  sick  " that he "  fired  " as he deserved.

As for the Covid-19 epidemic, it does not seem to worry the billionaire. Donald Trump is organizing his first big meeting on Saturday since the start of the epidemic, it will take place in Tusla, Oklahoma. Against the advice of the State Department of Health.

The president absolutely wants to re-mobilize his base, while his popularity rating drops. In particular, he relies on the decisions of the Supreme Court: they are proof, he believes, that he must be re-elected in order to be able to appoint more conservative judges, who will rule in his favor.

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• United States
• Donald trump
• Coronavirus
• USA elections 2020

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