So, let’s get this straight: We are on the verge of renting our military to a murderous monarchy (Jamal Khashoggi; indiscriminate bombings in Yemen), protecting a society that relegates women to the status of subhumans and that produced 15 of the 19 perpetrators of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on our homeland. The rationale: They are good customers who buy our weaponry (with cash? Really?). Is it that we haven’t had such a reliable customer in the region since the shah of Iran?

Literally, what is Donald Trump’s deal with the Saudis? Gratitude for their playing to his boundless vanity during his first state visit (the sword ceremony, the gold medal placed around his neck, permission to touch the orb)? Will Riyadh replace Moscow as the site of the next Trump Tower?

When thinking of the Saudi leader, I can’t decide which photograph of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is more disturbing: the one with him holding court in the Oval Office or the snap of him high-fiving and laughing with Vladimir Putin at the G-20 summit (the presumed caption: “I told him the same thing – I had nothing to do with it – and he bought it!”).

So, what happened to “America First”? Sold, off the lot and forgotten.

Throughout his life Trump has been nothing more than a shady huckster. Everything, including our country’s international reputation, our social cohesion and the stability of our political institutions, is on the block, available to the highest foreign bidder. Just how much more will the domestic customers buy?

Joe Wagner

Lyman

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