White House blindsided by Iranian Foreign Minister Zarif's G-7 appearance

[Recursion]

Source: NBC

The White House was blindsided by the arrival of Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif on Sunday in the coastal French town where President Trump and other world leaders are meeting this weekend, according to three U.S. officials.

It’s unclear how much notice Trump had of Zarif’s arrival in Biarritz, France, the site of this year’s Group of Seven summit. When asked about it, the president told reporters he had no comment.

A spokesman for Zarif announced Zarif had arrived in Biarritz at the invitation of the French foreign minister “to continue talks” between the Iranian and French governments. The statement followed reports of an Iranian government plane landing in Biarritz.

“No one was expecting it,” one U.S. official said of Zarif’s arrival. “It was a surprise.”

Read more: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/iranian-foreign-minister-zarif-arrives-french-city-hosting-g-7-n1046171

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Well, Macron is at least enjoying himself

[Iliyah]

1. Good . . . .

shithole don't know what to do.

[karin_sj]

23. Ha ha ha!

[iluvtennis]

54. And even if he did know what to do (..BIG IF...), he wouldn't do shit anyway cuz he a coward. nt

[machoneman]

2. Love it! The French are playing Trump like a fine violin!

Shaming Trumpyboy and his staff. A great move by Macron and his truly diplomatic staff, unlike the losers Trump employs.

[hay rick]

32. More like a kazoo. A fine violin would be wasted on Trump.

[machoneman]

47. True!

[BlueIdaho]

3. Oh Ouch!

Looks like America is losing its place in the world of diplomatic influence.

[stopdiggin]

9. right -- this looks like a MAJOR diplomatic slap in the face

certainly not unintentional .. and hardly subtle. About as in your face as these things get at upper levels.

[C_U_L8R]

4. Trump's an amateur

A total chump.

[OneBlueDotBama]

5. Macron is having much fun...

Burnt steak... sorry Mr. President, KFC???? oh PFK, poule frit Kentucky... no sir, Ketchup...sorry but no sir...

Macron opened the summit with a dinner at the base of a cliff top lighthouse overlooking Biarritz, at which a menu of piperade, a Basque vegetable specialty, tuna and French cheeses awaited the leaders.

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/g7-summit-leader-squabble_n_5d61c450e4b0b59d2575a665

[Hotler]

22. I just looked up piperade, sounds really good. nt

[karin_sj]

25. It does sound good

But I can tell from the pictures alone that the orange turd ain't gonna like it!

[OneBlueDotBama]

28. Not to mention...

there was no golf cart available for trump to ride the quarter mile up the hill to the lighthouse, where dinner was served...

[Chemisse]

6. Good times!

I'll bet all the G-7 participants are getting a good chuckle at Trump's discomfort over this.

[Cousin Dupree]

7. Vegetables? Tuna? He has the palate of a toddler. Bet he left the dinner hungry.

[PSPS]

8. The US has lost its standing in the world

That should be a highchair if it weren't so serious.

[mr_lebowski]

29. A highchair ... or a separate kiddie table (nt)

[Meadowoak]

30. They should just have a toilet for Trump to sit on.

[Igel]

42. For a while the standing was only symbolic.

Sort of like the power a popular guy has on the student council. Form? Sure. Substance? Not so much.

Take away the popular guy and there's still no actual power.

[kag]

10. "No comment?" Sure.

My guess is that his comment to his staff when they told him was...

"Who?"

[karin_sj]

26. My first thought too

[Fritz Walter]

51. Wait for it...

He will vent his massive spleen via Twitter as soon as he finds the words,... by tuning into Faux Noise.

[The Liberal Lion]

11. Macron flips trump the bird with this move

We are at war with France
We have always been at war with France.

We are at war with the G6
We have always been at war with the G6

[Bayard]

12. tRump with no comment?

Are his lips broken?

[riversedge]

13. WELL DONE FRANCE.

[dalton99a]

14. Excellent.

[Raven]

15. As much as I love what France just did, this could be very dangerous. We are not

dealing with a stable mind and Trump was already out of control when he left the US.

[Cosmocat]

17. Eh

part of why he is acting the way he is, is that no one is pushing back.

No doing anything only enables him, his party, our media, dems being so friggen scared of their shadows, our allies being so unsure and deferential.

Can't hurt, and further, they have a responsibility to move on wo us if we continue to have the ogre in the White House.

[Raven]

21. Good point. I guess I just have to get used to feeling like I need an air raid shelter!

[Duppers]

38. "dems being so friggen scared of their shadows"

At you, Madam Speaker.

At one time I thought I understood Pelosi's strategy but then decided nope, she's just afraid of some sort(?) of pushback. The fact that McConnell will not let impeachment come to a vote should not deter her from delving into the facts in PUBLICLY broadcasted impeachment hearings.

Along with her little talk with The Squad.😒 So, back to being really pissed here.

And we're heartedly laughing along with Macron for demonstrating to TRump that the G7 is not one of his rallies. The Iranian foreign minister, the food, lack of golf cart are nice touches.

I'm surprised someone's not thrown a shoe at him yet.

[LiberalFighter]

45. I go with that.

[JI7]

19. fuck that. people need to start doing more of this shit

he is already calling for people to kill minorities .

[notdarkyet]

33. Here comes the tariffs on wine.

[Voltaire2]

43. Sorry wrong.

He needs to shunned or insulted or ridiculed everywhere everyday.

[calimary]

16. They aren't reporting to you, donald. They don't work for you

and they don’t have to answer to you. This isn’t the trump organization where you could rationalize being king of your own little fiefdom and your handful of employees do have to bow and scrape and defer to your every whim and obey your every order.

YOU made this bed. Get used to it.

[pandr32]

18. Exactly this!

[ChazInAz]

34. Isn't it odd?

Our intelligence people were unaware that Iran was sending him, or they simply didn't inform Trump.

[pandr32]

39. Or he didn't listen because it was over his head

More likely our intelligence people (what is left of them) are now out of the loop.

[LiberalFighter]

46. They were more likely afraid to say anything about it.

[FakeNoose]

20. It's probably announced in the G7 meeting agenda but Chump never read it

He never reads anything, and Macron was counting on it. Seriously Macron has been preparing for this meeting all summer, and Chump never gave it a single thought.

[bucolic_frolic]

24. We as a nation and the world too, may be lucking out here

It is clear Donald Trump is not setting the agenda. We so much fear that Trump is an obese Hitler, but Trump is not dictating terms of anything to the world very well. Macron is a smooth, educated, intelligent piece of work. The G-7 is setting the agenda around Trump, and for Trump to see. Trump is powerless at this summit. Feel the glow, feel the pride in humanity, this is a warm sunshine on the coldest winter's day.

[world wide wally]

27. Now Trump will invite Putin

[Voltaire2]

44. Don't work that way.

Hair Shitler can’t invite heads of state to other countries.

[world wide wally]

49. Next year he can

[Kali]

31. well, drumpf has been blindsiding the entire world from day one, so...

fuck him.

[WhoWoodaKnew]

35. Expect Trump to now put tariffs on French Fries.

[Maxheader]

36. Kim Jong-un..Xi Jinping..Putin..Angela Merkel..Elizabeth II..

They all play stumpy and its boys for fools...

[malthaussen]

37. Maybe he should pay attention to his reports?

Hard to believe that the actual professionals remaining in the government could be "blindsided" by something like this.

-- Mal

[Recursion]

40. They were

Nobody at State had any idea

[B Stieg]

41. tRump got rickrolled by the French!

tRolling tRump like this has got to be fun!

[Submariner]

48. Trumpkins will probably argue Macron put Trump at risk for assassination by Iran

agents, by not revealing Iran's visit to the U.S. Secret Service before the trip overseas. So Trump will secretly invite Putin to the U.S. G7 next year to get revenge, in his sicko mind.

[bucolic_frolic]

50. "blindsided" - just like tariffs

This is marvelous tit for tat

[CanonRay]

52. A modern day "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner"

[SallyHemmings]

53. Viva Macron!