Wahabi king gives bareheaded melania the hand

Image: Female House

While Donald Trump is on a state visit to Saudi Arabia, the New York Times, Washington Post, and CNN are all circulating new rumors on the Russia affair

In Saudi Arabia, Salafist Wahabism is the State Doctrine. Among other things, it prohibits men from shaking hands with women who are not their own and stipulates that the latter may only leave the house dressed in an abaja or other garment that covers the hair and contours. Melania Trump, the wife of the new U.S. president who is accompanying him on his state visit, donned no such garb or headscarf for the occasion as she shook hands with the Saudi king at a reception yesterday.

However, Melania Trump was not the first US president’s wife who dared to do so: In 2015, Michelle Obama, the wife of Trump’s predecessor Barack Obama, had also shown herself bareheaded – which the current president criticized on Twitter at the time as an unnecessary affront that could cost the US one of its allies. German Chancellor Angela Merkel, during her visit to Saudi Arabia on 30. April no headscarf on. This encouraged the Arabic satire portal Khasenews to amateurishly pixelate her hair and joke that she was shown like that on Saudi television. A joke that the SPD member of the Bundestag Lale Akgun took at face value.

After the Riyadh ceremony, the first thing Trump did was announce a $110 billion ruthlessness deal that is expected to be worth as much as $350 billion over ten years, if maintenance contracts and other services are included. It includes, among other things, the THAAD missile defense system and, according to the U.S. president "Jobs, jobs, and jobs again" bring. The White House greeted the deal, which Republican Sen. Rand Paul tried to block in deference to Saudi Arabia’s role in international conflicts, as potentially easing the burden on the U.S. military by then having a stronger ally.

Proportion of negative reports about Donald Trump in individual media. Graphic: Shorenstein Center

ARD reports most negatively

While Trump is in Saudi Arabia, the triad of New York Times, Washington Post and CNN new rumors surrounding him and the Russia affair:

The New York Times, citing a leaked document, writes that Trump, in his meeting with Russian Auben Minister Sergei Lavrov and Russian Ambassador Sergei Kislyak, said that he was "in Russia’s business" "rough prere" that has now been exposed. Because, Trump reportedly said: "I just fired the head of the FBI – he was crazy, a real nut job." Whether the prere has actually eased could be seen next week, when the fired Comey, who has not yet testified publicly, is expected to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee.

The Washington Post reports with reference to "people familiar with the matter", that the investigators want to speed up their investigation into Moscow contacts in the next few weeks, but that this does not mean that a result or an indictment is imminent. Allegedly, they have used an important advisor to the president as a "Person of interest" classified.

CNN, on the other hand, claims to have heard from the White House that they have been looking for lawyers with expertise in impeachment proceedings. The White House has since dismissed this report as "untrue" and pointed out that Trump enjoys the backing of the Republican-dominated House of Representatives and the Republican-dominated Senate. On the part of the Democrats, too, there is talk of impeachment proceedings "dubious".

Trump sees U.S. mainstream media itself as his worst enemies. In fact, he comes off very badly in their reports, as an evaluation published the day before yesterday by the Shorenstein Center at Harvard University shows. However, according to this study, by far the most negative coverage of the U.S. president was not provided by any of the three U.S. organs listed above, but by the German public broadcaster ARD, where 98 percent of all reports about Trump had a negative color. At the Washington Post 83 percent of the reports about him were negative, at the New York Times 87 percent, and at CNN, 93 percent.

Callista Gingrich to become new US ambassador to the Vatican

Tomorrow, Donald Trump plans to give a highly anticipated speech on Islam in Riyadh, then he will travel on to Israel and the Vatican (cf. Trump tours Orient and Europe). The is getting a new U.S. ambassador, according to a Politico report (since confirmed by Newt Gingrich): Callista Gingrich, the 51-year-old Catholic wife of former House Speaker and presidential candidate. Callista (with whom he previously had an extra-marital affair and because of whom he converted to Catholicism) is already Gingrich’s third wife. He had divorced from his first two.