[guest post by Dana]

In reading about Trump’s request to stop the sentencing on Friday, this portion caught my eye:

President-elect Donald Trump is asking the Supreme Court to halt his Friday sentencing for his hush money criminal conviction after a New York appeals court judge declined to intervene.

Trump’s lawyers filed an emergency application with the high court early Wednesday after the New York appeals court on Tuesday turned down his request to indefinitely postpone the sentencing.

…

The trial court judge scheduled to sentence Trump on Friday, Justice Juan Merchan, has indicated he doesn’t plan to send Trump to jail and will permit him to attend the proceeding virtually.

…

Still, Trump’s lawyers told the Supreme Court that the sentencing will result in “burden, disruption, stigma, and distraction” to him as he carries out his duties as president-elect.

Heh. As if Trump and his warning threat about possibly using the military to seize the Panama Canal and Greenland (autonomous Danish territory) is *not*, at the least, troubling, and a big distraction and disruption to our allies’ sense of security with us.

Frankly, these threats only add to the stigma of Trump being an indiscreet blowhard on the world stage, making indefensible claims and upsetting the balance in relationships with important allies. While we know that, ultimately, his talk is silly talk, one shouldn’t simply blow it off as if he wouldn’t try to do the absurd during his tenure. So, words matter. And every word that a sitting President (and the President-elect) utters, matters. Trump is not a private citizen, and as his lawyers say, he is now carrying out his duties as president-elect. Thus, everything that comes out of his mouth matters, and has either a direct or indirect impact on Americans, and, as in this case, on world friends upon whom we depend. Leaders from Panama and Greenland have rejected Trump’s demands:

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen told Danish TV that “Greenland belongs to the Greenlanders” and that only the local population could determine its future.

She said “Greenland is not for sale”, but stressed Denmark needed close co-operation with the US, a Nato ally.

…

“The sovereignty of our canal is not negotiable and is part of our history of struggle,” Foreign Minister Javier Martinez-Acha said, adding that President Jose Raul Mulino had made his stance clear.

But you know who welcomes Trump’s rhetoric/threat concerning Greenland and Panama? That’s right: Russia. And China.

Bolton said he’s concerned that Trump’s language could “have a further ramification, based on what Trump said today about declining to rule out the use of force.”

“That’s exactly the same position Xi Jinping has on Taiwan. So I could easily imagine Xi Jinping saying, ‘Look, I perfectly well understand Greenland’s close to the United States. Taiwan’s close to us. Trump won’t rule out the use of force on Greenland. Exactly our position. We won’t rule it out on Taiwan.’”

Bolton said Putin, who directed Russia’s invasion of Ukraine nearly three years ago, could point to Trump’s rhetoric as justifying his actions.

“Or Vladimir Putin could say, ‘Look, I certainly understand that. Ukraine is critical to our national security. We are using force. And, you know, frankly, if the United States invaded Greenland — which, by the way, has U.S. troops stationed there today — I, Vladimir Putin, wouldn’t oppose that.’”

“It shows Trump, again, not understanding the broader context that his remarks are made in, and the harmful consequences that this is having all across NATO right now,” Bolton said.

Anyway, I got hung up at the absurd claims made by Trump’s lawyers. It reminded me that everything a President (and President-elect) says, matters. Words matter. Greatly.

–Dana