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Like Wind Upon A Rock
April 19, 2026
Posted 3 hours ago by
The rock is unfazed When Donald Trump huffs, and he puffs, and his target blows raspberries, what’s a bully to do? Al Jazeera Opinion: The pope has shown the world how to stand up to Trump That bully is, of course, United States President Donald Trump – whose idea of diplomacy is to strut around the globe spewing puerile, profanity-laced threats meant to frighten or intimidate other presidents and prime ministers into acquiescence or submission.
For years, Trump’s modus operandi worked. Too often, too many presidents and prime ministers opted to mollify him, instead of challenging him. Their myopic reasoning – that assuaging Trump’s ego would soothe his petty, vindictive instincts – only emboldened a president who, like every bully, takes keen pleasure in exploiting weakness to satisfy a narcissism-centred hunger for dominance. With 1.4 billion Catholics backing Pope Leo XIV and a mere 325 million American citizens (only citizens count in Trump’s America, right?), but only 135 million approving of Trump (41.5 RCP average), the man who would be Orange Julius Caesar finds himself outmatched in every way except militarily. Leo is 10 times the man Trump never was. Leo is also more of a leader than many nominal ones in government and business who’ve attempted to deal with Trump’s bullying by placating him and offering gifts. Yet “Leo made his objections plain – without hesitation or even a hint of qualification,” writes Andrew Mitrovica. Trump and his Christian nationalist mob got right miffed at the pope’s urging to
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