Trump on seized drone: "Let 'em keep it"

This is where Donald Trump makes me crazy. He says things that are outrageous for the sake of sounding outrageous--at least that's what seems to be his motivation.

Trump tweeted on Saturday that the US should let China keep the US Navy's unmanned underwater drone that it seized in the South China Sea.

"We should tell China that we don't want the drone they stole back.-let them keep it!"

This tweet went out soon after our military said that an understanding was reached between the US and China for the underwater glider's return.

This is where Trump gets me exasperated. Why would he say such a thing other than to sound outrageous? And what does sounding outrageous accomplish for him?

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Donald J. Trump 

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We should tell China that we don't want the drone they stole back.- let them keep it!

7:59 PM - 17 Dec 2016

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China claims they seized the glider to ensure safe navigation of passing ships. They said that they will return the glider back to the US.

The US has called the incident an "unlawful seizure," and some have even called it an act of war, but that seems to be an exaggeration.

When it first happened, Trump tweeted, "China steals United States Navy research drone in international waters-rips it out of water and takes it to China in unpresidented act." 

This is why Trump should not tweet without Spell Check. 

He soon after corrected the spelling of "unprecedented," but before every grammar cop in the West got on his case. 

So tell us, Mr. Trump, what will allowing China to keep the glider accomplish? Really.




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China steals our underwater drone as we scratch our butts and look on

A Chinese Navy vessel stole one of our underwater research drones while a U.S. crew watched them do it. This all took place in a South China Sea area that is being contested by the Chinese and the Philippines.

The incident occurred around noon Thursday local time and happened about 40 miles west of the Philippines and 150 miles from Scarborough Shoal after the Chinese vessel had been shadowing the USNS Bowditch,  a US Navy-owned research ship, which deployed the Slocum Glider drone.

The ship is operated by Military Sealift Command, with a contracted civilian crew composed of mariners and scientists.

"This is an act of war against the United States," said Gordon Chang, an analyst an author of "The Coming Collapse of China," told Fox News. He called it an act of war because US military equipment was stolen.

The American crew watched the Chinese take the underwater drone from a short distance away--the Chinese vessel was about a quarter mile from the impotent Americans who kept their hands in their pockets as they looked in the opposite direction and whistling a tune. The US ship tried calling the Chinese vessel but they got a 'busy signal'.

The drone's cost is around $150,000 which, in Obama terms, is 'chump change.' He spends more than that on vacation, just for golf and ice cream.

Pentagon Press Secretary Peter Cook responded angrily: "We call upon China to return our [unmanned underwater vehicle] immediately, and to comply with all of its obligations under international law."

White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest had no comments at the time it happened; he simply wet his pants and went back inside the building.

The State Department lodged a formal protest called a demarche, which the US Ambassador in Beijing delivered to the Chinese government Friday.

Chinese Embassy officials said they had no comment on the matter but we know that the incident is just China's way of flipping an 'inscrutable bird' at Barack Obama.

The United States is eagerly awaiting a response from President Obama or Secretary of State John Kerry, along with James Taylor on guitar and vocal. 

Best guess is that once Trump is sworn in, China and Russia are going to test him.

So don't blow it, Donald.


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