Schumer: Trump’s Asia trip a ‘colossal flop’

Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) panned President Trump’s 12-day Asia trip as a “colossal flop” Tuesday in a speech delivered on the Senate floor.

Schumer said he had “never been so ashamed” of a president’s actions abroad.

“I have never been so ashamed of a foreign trip in my years. It’s just inside-out,” Schumer said. “We attack our friends and the people who have given us the most trouble, China and Russia, we mollycoddle — that is so bad for the future of this country.”

Trump has taken criticism for ignoring rampant human rights abuses while interacting with the leaders of nations such as China and the Philippines, as well as for his bellicose attitude toward North Korea.

Schumer blasted Trump for actions that he said “unsettled” U.S. allies and “emboldened” the country’s enemies.

“Adding insult to injury, he seems to have a love for dictators,” Schumer said. “In the Philippines where a strongman leader is engaged in a vicious campaign of extrajudicial killings does Trump admonish him? … No. He lectures and unsettles our allies while emboldening our adversaries like China and Russia by treating them with kid gloves.”

The New York Democrat also took issue with Trump’s name-calling after he referred to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un “short and fat.”

Why would Kim Jong-un insult me by calling me “old,” when I would NEVER call him “short and fat?” Oh well, I try so hard to be his friend – and maybe someday that will happen!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 11, 2017

{mosads}

“He settled for a sophomoric exchange of insults on Twitter, far below the dignity of the office,” Schumer said. “Every American should be embarrassed.”

Earlier Tuesday, Trump told reporters in Manila that his longest trip abroad yet as president had been “tremendously successful,” citing progress on trade.

“We’ve had a tremendously successful trip. Tremendous amounts of work was done on trade, not only on the deals — and we have at least $300 billion worth of deals, but that will be, I think, way triple that number in a fairly short period of time,” he said.

In addition to South Korea, China and the Philippines, Trump’s Asian Pacific tour included stops in Vietnam and Japan.