President Obama’s currently touring Japan as the first sitting president to visit Hiroshima since World War II, which saw the United States drop a nuke on the city in 1945. He’s shown above with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at the Ise-Jingu Shrine (in Ise) before heading to the G-7 meeting to discuss counter-terrorism and sustainable development. Ahead of the visit, Obama made it clear that no apology would come from the U.S., but he spoke about the need for nuclear disarmament on Thursday. Obama announced plans to visit the Hiroshima Peace Park Memorial to “underscore the very real risks” and the “sense of urgency” to achieve disarmament. And he alluded to the Iran nuclear deal as evidence of progress.
Obama also spoke at a press availability where reporters asked about Donald Trump, who just officially crossed the 1,237 threshold of delegates needed to win the GOP nomination. He’s not the official nominee until the July convention, but — let’s get real — this is happening. Obama wasn’t reacting to this development, but the timing is interesting, as the president spoke in his usual measured manner, but didn’t hold back long. While talking about how the world is fixated upon the current U.S. election, Obama illustrated why he believes Trump’s foreign policy would be a disaster. He can’t count on the real estate mogul to keep the world safe:
“Things don’t hold together well if the United States is not making good decisions. [They] count on us to provide a little stability and direction when meeting global challenges … I think it’s fair to say they are surprised by the Republican nominee. They are not sure how seriously to take some of his pronouncements. But they’re rattled by him. And for good reason. Because a lot of the proposals that he’s made display either ignorance of world affairs, or a cavalier attitude, or an interest in getting tweets and headlines instead of actually thinking through what is required to keep America safe, secure, and prosperous and what’s required to keep the world on an even keel.”
Obama also addressed Bernie Sanders and his contested convention promise. He used the word “grumpy” while referencing Sanders, but Obama believes there’s not much of an ideological difference between the Bern and Hillary Clinton. Mainly, there are “tactical” disagreements between the candidates (except for gun control, where they don’t agree at all). Obama expressed pride at how his party’s candidates actually debated the issues. You know, unlike the Republicans, who spent several debates pulling down each other’s pants before pretending to be serious at the last possible moment.
Here’s the video clip of Obama’s press availability. Although he was willing to discuss Trump and Sanders, the president declined to comment upon Clinton’s Wall Street transcripts.
(Via Associated Press & NPR)