Trump Jr.’s ‘dodgy’ meeting

RUSSIA: In a nutshell, The Wall Street Journal’s Gerald Seib explains why the emails from President Donald Trump’s namesake matter (italics mine):

“Whatever else the stunning email chain released by Donald Trump Jr. did or didn’t show, it undermined the argument that the idea of Russian collusion with the Trump campaign is so ludicrous that it shouldn’t be taken seriously. Instead, in black and white, were messages showing that someone offered help from the top of the Russian government to distribute damaging information about Hillary Clinton—and that the president’s son, in his own words, was eager to get it. Indeed, he scheduled a meeting to receive it.”

In any presidency, such assignations would demand scrutiny. What’s ironic is the Russian hacking of Democratic emails is likely to prove more damaging to the Republican president.

Recalling the reckless Trump candidacy we at WORLD said made him an unfit candidate last year, National Review editorialized yesterday:

“No campaign professional would have accepted such a dodgy meeting the way Trump Jr. did, and no person with a strong sense of propriety—Russia is a hostile power run by a deeply corrupt regime—would have wanted to.”

Besides naming the Russian lawyer who met with Donald Trump Jr., this complaint to the Justice Department last year highlights the shadowy world the Trump scion was stepping into and the extensive effort by Russia to influence U.S. policy. In addition to Russian lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya, the guns for hire include former bad boy Democratic congressman Ron Dellums.

SUDAN: Suggesting the administration might cave on sanctions, Trump has delayed by three months a decision to permanently lift U.S. restrictions. That action keeps in place a temporary lifting of sanctions issued by President Barack Obama in January. Here’s what’s wrong with giving Khartoum a pass. Among its many atrocities and human rights violations, the Khartoum regime has destroyed 27 churches in the past year in its effort to abolish Christian activities.

JAPAN: A Japanese blogger appears to have debunked the documentary suggesting Amelia Earhart survived her plane crash and was taken prisoner by the Japanese.

MALI: The wife of abducted American missionary Jeff Woodke put out a video plea for his release, nine months after the award-winning YWAM worker was abducted in Niger. A proof-of-life video released last week by al-Qaeda-linked militants in Mali contained reports on six Western hostages held by the group, but did not mention Woodke.

IRAQ: Scenes from liberated Mosul and what ISIS left behind, as Iraqi forces continue clashing with ISIS holdouts in Iraq’s second largest city.

To have Globe Trot delivered to your email inbox, email Mindy at mbelz@wng.org.