Tag: donald trump

Trump Is Right to Play Hardball with Europe

The rhetoric of European leaders in response to Vice President J.D. Vance’s statements at the Munich Security Conference has been a mix of genuine fear and false bravado. They are terrified about the prospect of the U.S. rethinking its lopsided trade relationship with Europe and abandoning its commitment to provide for Europe’s defense. At the same time, they have flirted with treating the U.S. as just another nation, as if Europe has the economic heft and military potential to assert itself as an autonomous geopolitical power center. The Trump administration’s response to this alleged confidence has been clear: Go ahead and try. 

After all, the 47th president’s first several weeks in office have showcased the effective use of tariffs as statecraft, with Trump getting concessions from Mexico and Canada on fentanyl and border security. Next up on the docket is a reported 10 percent levy on all exports coming from the European Union. This coincides with the EU’s commitment to ramp up sanctions against Russia later this month. Aluminum, fertilizer, and a number of other products will now be restricted, along with a host of additional sanctions on Russia’s shadow oil tanker fleet. The likely effect will be to raise prices even higher as agricultural costs increase and European industry is further strangled amid efforts to keep Russian energy out.

Europe appears to be at the crossroads of practical reality and ideological principle. The commitment of the political class to punish Russia for invading Ukraine no matter the cost is being rejected at the ballot box as populist parties win elections across the continent. In reaction to the rising tide of populism, the EU leadership is mulling a mechanism for outright rejecting election results they deem illegitimate. The blacklisting of certain populist parties in order to bar them from participating in governing coalitions is sure to further inflame political tensions. Vance, in his Munich speech, drew attention to this exact issue.

But in reality, it is the Trump administration’s America First agenda that can restore some balance to the European continent. This may sound like a paradox to those at the Munich conference who were so incensed about Vance’s chastisement of their liberal internationalist orthodoxy—a chastisement that equally applies to the U.S. ruling class as well, as evidenced by the recent revelations into the deep rot at USAID. Prioritizing the U.S. national interest by ensuring fair trading practices and more reciprocal relationships with European countries will not only serve America well, but will also help to strengthen the U.S. geopolitical position in Europe and the world more broadly.

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President Trump Wants To Cut the Pentagon Budget in Half. How?

It is Presidents’ Day, and President Donald Trump has made a bold statement regarding military spending – one that no other president in modern history has made. He claims he could cut the Pentagon budget by about 50%.

President Trump has suggested a major cut in defense spending, proposing that the United States, Russia, and China each reduce their military budgets by 50%. He has also expressed a desire to begin denuclearization and arms control discussions with both Russia and China to accomplish this objective.

Military contractors poured $4,440,605 into Kamala Harris’s campaign – more than double what they contributed to Donald Trump. Yet, even with the support of establishment figures like Dick Cheney, their favored candidate fell short. The defeat of the military contractor’s candidate may have consequences for the industry.

Now, with President Trump in office and a bold initiative to cut Pentagon spending by 50%, the defense industry faces a challenge unlike any before.

The financial markets are already responding: Major U.S. defense firms are experiencing notable stock declines, while European defense companies surge in anticipation of increased regional military spending. Lockheed Martin, General Dynamics, and Northrop Grumman have all seen stocks fall, while companies such as Rheinmetall, BAE Systems, and Saab are benefiting from investors expecting a shift in global defense priorities.

Last week, we examined the staggering costs of U.S. military spending in ‘The Cost of Freedom: Confronting Military Waste.’ This week, we take the conversation further by analyzing President Trump’s claim that he could cut Pentagon spending in half – what that actually looks like, and which interests may be affected.

As President Trump pursues negotiations to bring peace to Ukraine, European governments appear to be moving in the opposite direction, increasing military budgets and deepening their involvement in the conflict. European defense firms are thriving as they anticipate further arms sales to governments committed to escalating military engagement rather than seeking diplomatic solutions.

This contrast underscores the significance of Trump’s initiative – challenging the entrenched military-industrial complex, wherever it is located, and seeking to end perpetual warfare.

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Trump Says He’s ‘Ready’ To Impose Death Penalty On People Who Sell Illicit Drugs, Calling Policy ‘Very Humane’

President Donald Trump is again promoting his support for executing people who sell currently illicit drugs, calling it a “very humane” policy to prevent overdose deaths that he’s “ready” to implement.

He also ambitiously projected that his administration will cut drug use in the U.S. by 50 percent during his new term by launching an aggressive advertising campaign to warn Americans about the harms of substance misuse.

During a White House event with governors from across the U.S. on Friday, South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster (R) told Trump about his concerns with fentanyl trafficking, to which the president responded by offering his extreme capital punishment proposal of following the lead of countries like China that impose the death penalty on people involved in selling illegal drugs.

While he said he’s unsure whether the U.S. as a whole is similarly “ready” to move forward with the policy, Trump encouraged governors to push for it at the state-level.

“If you notice that every country that has the death penalty has no drug problem. They execute drug dealers,” Trump said. “And when you think about it, it’s very humane, because every drug dealer, on average they say, kills at least 500 people—not to mention the damage they do so many others. But they kill large numbers of people.”

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Trump Policy Will Embolden Developing World to Reject Climate Agenda

President Donald. J. Trump’s seismic shift in energy policy will be felt far beyond U.S. borders. His withdrawing from the Paris Agreement, expanding American oil and gas exports, terminating the Green New Deal and eliminating the prospect of carbon tariffs offers a lifeline todeveloping nations grappling with chronic energy poverty.

When the United States pivots sharply, other nations reassess their positions. Nowhere will a change in the dynamics of energy policy be more welcome than in developing nations whose imperative to increase access to energy conflicts with pressures to submit to Western climate lords’ anti-growth, anti-humanistic, and dystopian Paris climate agreement.

Many developing nations have long expressed frustration with the climate agenda’s constraints on their economic growth. India and China, for instance, have consistently maintained that they need flexibility to determine their own domestic energy mix, emphasizing that access toaffordable fossil fuels is crucial for lifting millions out of poverty.

Similarly, nations across Africa have argued that their development priorities must include utilizing their natural resources – including coal, oil and natural gas – to meet people’s basic needs. 

Take Nigeria, for example. With its significant natural gas reserves, the country has been caught between international pressure to limit the use of hydrocarbons and the urgent need to provide electricity to its growing population. International financial markets friendlier to fossil fuels could accelerate Nigeria’s plans to monetize its natural gas resources and expand domestic power generation.

As Yemi Osinbajo, a former Nigerian vice president, said, “Africans need more than just lights at home. We want abundant energy at scale so as to create industrial and commercial jobs. To participate fully in the global economy, we will need reliable, low-cost power.” 

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Israel Pushes Trump Administration To Deal With Egypt In Sinai

Israel’s political leadership is deeply concerned about Egypt’s violations of the peace agreement in the Sinai Peninsula and intends to address the issue with the Trump administration. Senior security officials warn that despite the peace treaty, Egypt has a vested interest in weakening Israel militarily and politically. They argue that it is time to abandon the misconceptions that led to the intelligence failure on October 7, 2023.

The violations of the peace agreement between Israel and Egypt are causing significant alarm within both political and security circles.

According to security sources, Egypt has expanded military airfields in Sinai, specifically in the Refidim and El-Arish areas, constructed new bunkers and anti-tank obstacles, and established new ammunition and fuel depots.

Additionally, seven tunnels have been built under the Suez Canal—four in the Ismailia area and three in Port Said.

Reports also indicate that Egypt has widened major transportation routes in Sinai into highways, despite the region’s sparse population, writes Israeli journalist Amir Tsarfati.

While some of these violations were permitted by Israel to assist the Egyptian military’s fight against ISIS affiliates in Sinai, security officials emphasize that such approvals were always granted retroactively to avoid diplomatic confrontations with Egypt.

Nevertheless, according to their assessments, Egypt currently maintains four times the military forces in Sinai than permitted under the peace treaty.

Since assuming power in 2014, President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi has been modernizing Egypt’s military forces—on land, at sea, and in the air—investing heavily with the assistance of the U.S. military aid package, which amounts to $1.5 billion annually.

Furthermore, the Egyptian military continues to conduct exercises simulating combat scenarios against Israel.

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The Deep State Wins Again: All the Ways ‘We the People’ Keep Losing Our Freedoms

Almost one month into the Trump presidency, and the Constitution and the entire section on the various branches of government and how they work together are still missing from the White House website.

This is no small thing.

This omission, deliberate or inadvertent, speaks volumes about the priorities of this current administration. It also explains a lot about the legal mindset that is driving the Trump train, which continues to push forward with a theory of unitary executive power.

You know what is not driving the Trump government? Any sense that it is bound by the rule of law, i.e, the US Constitution. As Trump recently declared, “He who saves his Country does not violate any Law.”

Then again, Trump has never made any pretense of his aspirations to rule as a strongman. As the Washington Post reports:

In 2017, he claimed “an absolute right to do what I want with the Justice Department.” In 2019, he claimed that Article II of the Constitution gave him “the right to do whatever I want as president.” In 2020, he said he could override state and local public health orders related to the coronavirus pandemic by saying: “When somebody is the president of the United States, the authority is total. And that’s the way it’s got to be. It’s total.” In 2022, he said that purported voter fraud in the 2020 election “allows for the termination of all rules, regulations, and articles, even those found in the Constitution.” In 2023, he mused that he would be a dictator, but only on Day One of his presidency. And a year ago, he argued that presidents should have total immunity from criminal prosecution, even for “EVENTS THAT ‘CROSS THE LINE.’ ”

Listen, when someone shows you who they are, believe them.

Then again, maybe the majority of Americans just don’t care about the Constitution anymore.

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Yes, Ukraine Started the War

The outcry spread quickly across the Western world: Donald Trump dared say Ukraine started the war.  

The New York Times accused Trump of “rewriting the history of Russia’s invasion of its neighbor.” The paper’s White House correspondent wrote: 

“When Russian forces crashed over the borders into Ukraine in 2022 determined to wipe it off the map as an independent state, the United States rushed to aid the beleaguered nation and cast its president, Volodymyr Zelensky, as a hero of resistance.

Three years almost to the day later, President Trump is rewriting the history of Russia’s invasion of its smaller neighbor. Ukraine, in this version, is not a victim but a villain. And Mr. Zelensky is not a latter-day Winston Churchill, but a ‘dictator without elections’ who somehow started the war himself and conned America into helping.”

The BBC reported: 

“Ukraine didn’t start the war. Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, having annexed Crimea in 2014.

The annexation came after Ukraine’s pro-Russian president was ousted by popular demonstrations.”

CNN howled: “President Donald Trump has now fully adopted Russia’s false propaganda on Ukraine, turning against a sovereign democracy that was invaded in favor of the invader. … Trump wrongly accused Ukraine of starting the conflict.”

“In comments to reporters at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, Trump falsely claimed Kyiv had started the conflict, the largest on European soil since the second world,” complained the Financial Times. 

It was pretty much the same thing across the Western media landscape, which spoke with one voice.

The media takes speaking with one voice as confirmation that they are right. But it’s often just massive confirmation bias for the story Western intelligence services and political leaders tell them, rather than an independent examination of the facts. 

In this case the facts show that Trump is right. 

The central question in all this is: when did the Ukraine war actually start? The Western mainstream leads masses of people to believe it began Feb. 22, 2022, when the Russian regular army intervened in what was already an eight-year old civil war, which was very much begun by Ukraine, with U.S. help. 

That’s the part they don’t tell you.   

The key to the falsehood is what the BBC calls “Ukraine’s pro-Russian president” being “ousted by popular demonstrations.” [Emphasis added.]

Of course Trump didn’t explain that. He’s not a great public speaker. He too often fails to lay out the context needed to understand what he’s talking about. 

Trump’s fleeting remark at a press encounter at his Florida estate last Tuesday set off the international furor.

“Today I heard: ‘Oh, well, we weren’t invited’ [to the talks in Saudi Arabia with Russia],” Trump said about Ukrainian president Volodmyr Zelensky. “Well, you’ve been there for three years … you should have never started it. You could have made a deal.”

It was those six italicized words that ignited the firestorm. The rest of what he said in that sentence was ignored. 

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‘Something’s Wrong’: Donald Trump Was Right About Autism

‘Something’s wrong.’ So said Donald Trump, about the rising prevalence of autism in children. It was in an interview with NBC’s Kristen Welker, on the 17th of December.

It is not an implausible statement. Conservative estimates are that there has been a one-thousand-fold increase in diagnoses of autism in children since the turn of the millenium, in the UK and US at least.

1 in 100,000 children with autism to 1 in 100 children with autism. In 25 years.

Yet Trump’s statement is controversial. So much so that the like of it is rarely made.
Welker’s eyes widened when she heard it. Their whites became clearly visible. We associate the look with a kind of madness.

And indeed a kind of madness ensued, as Welker eagerly parrotted the party-line: ‘Scientists say they’ve gotten better at identifying it.’

As if autism could go undetected. As if autism must be winkled out. As if autism can ‘mask.’

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“Journalist” Susan Glasser Tries to Play Race Card Against President Trump But Forgets One Key Fact

The New Yorker’s Susan Glasser tried to play the race card over President Donald Trump’s firing of Air Force General CQ Brown Jr. as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

The Gateway Pundit reported on Brown’s ouster on Friday.

In a post on X, Glasser floated the idea, via a quote without attribution, that claimed Brown was fired because he is Black.

Glasser conveniently failed to acknowledge that Brown was nominated by him for Chief of Staff of the Air Force during his first term.

Users on X were quick to point out Glasser’s embarrassing omission.

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Zelensky Caves: Will Sign Over Ukraine’s Mineral Rights to U.S. as Compensation For Military Aid

Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelensky has agreed to sign over Ukraine’s mineral rights to the U.S. as compensation for the hundreds of billions of dollars given to the European nation for its war against Russia.

After initially rebuffing the Trump administration, Zelensky on Friday reportedly agreed to sign over the country’s mineral rights to the U.S. in exchange for military support.

“This is an agreement that can strengthen our relations, and the key is to work out the details to ensure its effectiveness,” he said in a nightly video address. “I look forward to the outcome—a just result.”

From the Wall Street Journal:

Zelensky was presented with a deal by U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent in Kyiv last week, but refused to sign, saying the Ukrainian side needed to study it further and that a deal should contain some form of security guarantees for Ukraine.

Ukrainian officials said that they had only a few hours to study it before it was presented to them.

An agreement could be signed as soon as Saturday, although it isn’t yet complete, people briefed on the talks said. The exact terms couldn’t be learned.

Though the exact terms of the deal have yet to be revealed, White House officials say Ukraine would give up 50% of its mineral resources, which include major reserves of iron ore, coal, titanium, lithium, and uranium.

In exchange, Zelensky has demanded “reliable and clear” security guarantees from the U.S. that ensure long-term protection from Russia.

Zelenskyy had previously refused to sign such a deal, prompting Trump to fire off a scathing statement calling the Ukrainian leader a “dictator.”

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