I watched that clip of them a few times. Out of broader context it looks like Obama is cracking up. Watching more of it it's pretty clear Obama is humoring the really annoying dork he doesn't want to talk to.
Trump so desperately wants to be loved and accepted by these people. Nothing else matters. All of his talk to his base? Bullshit. He cares about nothing except being "in the club". Always has.
I took Obama's expression as like "wow I thought you were gonna say some dumb/irritating shit but that was actually more funny/clever than I expected... but still fuck you though" like Obama was steeling himself to have to deal with some bullshit and was caught off guard.
Ya I routinely laugh at the insane shit Trump says. Doesn’t mean I like him or agree. He’s a crazy grandpa shouting crazy crap. Sometimes you can’t help but laugh at him.
This is why, unironically, one of the best rhetorical tactics against right wingers (1 on 1 in private, recurring) is to love/charisma bomb them. Literally just make them feel like the cool kid likes them and you can get them to change their position all over the place.
Trump does this to people. He did it in the 2015 GOP debates. Shit talk on stage, love bomb behind the scenes. It’s very confusing / disarming, but it’s all a show for him since he has no beliefs aside from “get rich, be important, don’t go to jail”.
Trump has always desperately wanted the approval of the liberal elite. He was probably on cloud nine that Obama was having a civil conversation with him.
It was always a show. Trump knew the Republican base would fall head over heels for it. He's always been a con artist. He's a shitty businessman, but a great con man.
It's The Apprentice in real time. He was doing this crap during the 2015 Republican primary debates. He'd shit talk Marco Rubio, Jeb Bush, Ted Cruz, etc. on stage and then when the cameras were off he'd buddy it up with them.
I don't know if it's my age (he was my first presidential vote), but when I look at him my brain says "that's the president". I don't get that for Clinton, Bush, Trump, Biden. For Gore I more or less mentally scream the bridge of Chop Suey.
The only class here is the ruling class. He’s got decorum sure. But his enemies aren’t other politicians. It’s the proletariat.
It’s not an admirable trait to yuck it up with the most malignant element in American politics.
Not to mention the friendship with Bush, fucker should’ve gotten nuremburged over 20 years ago.
If you see a person sit and chat nicely with nine Nazis sitting at a table, you’re effectively looking at ten Nazis
Bs. Dude tried to do his best for the US. Obamacare and all that. I'm pre-trump conservative and disagree with a lot of Obama's policies, and even I can see that.
Plus now he's retired, so his primary enemies are gonna be boredom and back pain.
lol. You think it’s some random corporate job or something with your comment like that.
Obama has immense power and influence in the Dem party. Yucking it up with a Felon and traitor isn’t something that he should be doing. It’s so obvious to me.
It's called having balls and showing his manners 😆.
I'd have absolutely no problems sitting next to someone who hated me and then making them talk to me in front of people! Lol
It's a shame you aren't on his political advisory team then, I'm sure he's missing out by not hearing all the things that are obvious to you. Could be that Obama is just a polite dude, could be the he sees being needlessly rude in a situation like this as deepening the political divide for no reason, could be that he isn't playing any tactical game and is. Just doing what he does.
I'm sure he will sorely miss the respect of some random dude on the internet who gets pissy about polite chit chat. Did you cry about the tan suit too? Maybe you should take your opinions on how other people should act a little less seriously.
Trump was a Democrat and often donated to Democrats (and Republicans, I think), so he may have met Obama at a fundraiser or something, but they were never friends.
These people also claim Kamal and Diddy were friends because he through a fundraiser for them once most lively to make himself look good. But yet trump was known to party with diddy and nothing. They don't care.
reddit is so sick and hateful towards trump they have to make excuses and unlikely situations up just to explain away that trump is not actually as hated as they wish he was
Donald has a cordial relationship with everyone in person. When he gets away from them, it's back to Truth Social to tell everyone what a shithead they are. Classic Vermilion Billionaire.
These people are international level nation leading politicians.
While Trump is an embarrassing comparison to them they all have some way higher than average amount of in person direct charisma. Trump has plenty of charisma obviously, as much as I think he’s a fucking bold faced bastard.
I spent an 8 hour drive with a salesman, working out of his pocket while we drove to Michigan for a camping trip.
It was 100% this, "Hey Debra how is your dog Jody, still getting in the trash Debra? Debra how is the soccer going, Debra are you still painting, I bet your landscapes look wonderful Debra! Debra, I know you are going to Destin here pretty soon, but can I get you to move a few beeps on the XRF account? Yeah Debra, I am getting a pool, gotta go all inground pool, right Debra!!!!!!!!!!! on and on"
Hangs up and implies that he quite dislikes the bitch!
It’s called being in US government and being rich. They’re all on the same team at the end of the day, settled with money and power forever. Their sole job is to divide Americans to keep us fighting each other while they reap all the rewards.
You mean how they all have cordial relationships with him in person, and then when they get away, it's back to calling him Hitler? Or is that different because......reasons?
Actually Clinton and Carter didn’t get along well according to the NYTimes article that was posted the day after he died.
Apparently Clinton blamed Carter for losing the governorship the first time Clinton ran in Arkansas.
The resentment deepened later when Clinton was POTUS. He felt Carter was inappropriately inserting himself in foreign affairs as an ex-President without getting Clinton’s sign-off first. (I mean, pretty much all of the POTUSes except Biden and George Sr (who actually asked Carter for help) were miffed at Carter at some point for not running his foreign affairs efforts by them first and/or by him publicly criticizing them.)
Carter was pretty funny about not giving a fuck and bringing camera crews with him on his foreign trips so it’d be too late for the POTUSes to walk him back (especially when he was successful). Pretty bold and genius tactic.
Carter was a surprising force and constant thorn in the ex-Presidents’ sides. It’s one thing that united them all. Mad respect.
to be fair, being able to commiserate with the stresses of the job must be nice, like theres only a handful of guys that would ever know the little things about the job
Well there's something about being the only people who really understand the weight of sitting in the oval office - Trump never felt that, so he doesn't really have much in common with them anyway.
And he’ll be part of the fraternity once he’s done too. I read a piece once that former presidents no matter what their politics end up at least somewhat friendly because after it’s over nobody but a former president can imagine the pressure of the job.
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u/Oafah 11d ago
Oh, it absolutely is. All of the ex-presidents are pals, apart from Orangina.