OBAMA/RUSSIA/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Without mentioning President Trump by name, former President Barack Obama delivered a pointed rebuke of ‘strongman politics’ on Tuesday [7-17-18], warning about growing nationalism, xenophobia and bigotry in the United States and around the world, while offering a full-throated defense of democracy, diversity and the liberal international order. A day after Mr. Trump met with President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, Mr. Obama delivered his highest-profile speech since leaving office, at an event in South Africa marking the 100th anniversary of Nelson Mandela’s birth…Mr. Obama opened his nearly 90-minute speech with a nod to current events, saying that times were ‘strange and uncertain’ and that ‘each day’s news cycle is bringing more head-spinning and disturbing headlines.’ He said that leaders embracing the ‘politics of fear, resentment and retrenchment’ were undermining the international system established after World War II…Just the day before, Mr. Trump had stood next to Mr. Putin in Helsinki, Finland, and disputed his own intelligence agencies’ conclusion that Moscow, at the behest of Mr. Putin, interfered in the 2016 presidential election. Mr. Trump said he believed Mr. Putin’s denial, drawing widespread condemnation, even from some members of his own party.”
–Matthew Haag, “Obama Speech in South Africa Warns Against Rise of ‘Strongman Politics’,” The New York Times online, July 17, 2018