The cohosts of The View laid into Donald Trump for his mishaps during his trip to the NATO summit in Ankara.
Whoopi Goldberg, Sara Haines, Joy Behar, Sunny Hostin, and Alyssa Farah Griffin were on hand for Thursday’s (July 9) episode and reviewed footage of him misspeaking to say things like “The Islamic Republic of Japan,” referring to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as “President Putin,” and bragging about his TikTok followers. Later, they also rolled a clip of Trump appearing to fall asleep during a conference with other member nations.
“Who was following any of that?” Griffin said, rhetorically.
“Get the net, get the net. It’s enough with him,” Behar then added. (She was referring to the old saying that implies someone needs to be captured with a butterfly net and institutionalized for mental health reasons.)
Goldberg then taunted Trump over the ongoing questions about his decision to fly the Qatar-gifted plane to the summit and then resume use of the official Air Force One vessel over security concerns. “You know that plane wasn’t supposed to be flying. You didn’t do the work that needed to be done on that,” she said. “What is going on?” She also called the plane a “free handout” that he shouldn’t have accepted in the first place.
Griffin agreed, adding, “I’ve been on Air Force One. It’s the most luxurious plane I’ve ever been on. But maybe he’s been on nicer. But it has anti-Abriant. It is meant for safety first and foremost for the president. It has anti-missile defense systems, which apparently this new plane doesn’t have, and if you missed the news, we’re back at war with Iran, so he needs his missile defense.” Later in the discussion, Behar brought up the point about Trump calling Zelenskyy Putin and said, “Where is the 25th Amendment? I mean, this guy has the nuclear codes. Come on.”
Haines then weighed in with a different take to say, “Well, the most offensive thing with the gaffes is, you sadly are getting used to [them]. They’re problematic, I mean, absolutely, you’re speaking on the world stage, but insulting the allies and our fellow NATO members was the biggest problem.”
Hostin then took a guess as to why Trump decided to insult allies, including calling Madrid a “terrible partner” and cutting off trade with Spain, saying, “He wants the NATO allies, who are defensive allies, to help him with an offensive war — an unconstitutional legal war, in my opinion — that he started with Israel.”
When Griffin then offered a morsel of praise for Trump for saying he would give Ukraine new missile access, Behar quipped, “Oh, give him a lollipop.” However, Griffin continued her point to say, “It proves that Ukraine is winning this war. They have been fighting hard, and they are winning. And somebody’s gotten to the president and said, ‘Russia is actually very depleted. Now’s the time to get on board and help.’”
As for Trump appearing to sleep at the meeting, Goldberg joked, “Maybe he’s writing a letter: ‘Dear NATO, I’m really sorry,’” and Behar continued the joke with, “‘Ayatollah, you’re a big doody head.’”
Goldberg concluded the segment by saying that perhaps Qatar’s plane to Trump, which had a price tag of $400 million (with millions more spent in American taxpayer-funded adjustments) was really just a dud. “Who knows? Who knows? You don’t know. You turn the thing on, and then the bathroom flushes. You don’t know. You don’t know about that plane, but the idea that you accepted it is also problematic, guys.”
The View, weekdays, 11a/10c, ABC