What a week! Donald had a two-hour phone conversation with his soulmate Putin, which was two hours more than he has had with Melania in the last 12 months. Then aping Russian talking points he started by accusing Ukraine of starting the war with Russia, followed up by saying that Zelensky had only 4% approval in recent opinion polls when he has 50%. He called Zelensky a dictator because he suspended elections, largely because a significant part of the population was away trying to stop their country from being overrun. Nobody could accuse Churchill of being a dictator when elections were suspended here during the Second World War. The meeting in Saudi between Rubio and Lavrov about Ukraine without the Europeans and Zelensky was a bit pointless, though to be fair, officials from two states are allowed to meet on their own.
Trump tried to negotiate a reverse Versailles with Ukraine, where the aggressors were the beneficiaries, not the country whose territorial integrity was violated. Trump also tried to negotiate a sort of colonial plunder in that he wanted Zelensky to give the US, for its support, access to and control of $500 billion worth of rare earth minerals. The US has spent $70 billion largely on military hardware, supporting Ukraine and boosting the profits of America’s military-industrial complex. When Zelensky said no, Trump got the hump. The post-war Marshall Plan was set up by the United States to provide financial assistance to restore the economic infrastructure of postwar Europe and in 1949 NATO was set up as Europe’s security backstop. Just to put this into context, the UK made its last repayment for post-war economic support from the US in December 2006. There is clearly a deal to be done with those who have supported Ukraine, however, now it is about really guaranteeing Ukraine’s long-term security and not repeating the mistakes of the 1994 Budapest Memorandum, rebuilding its economy thus putting Ukraine in a position, to compensate its allies for their support. Let us not forget the €350 billion of frozen Russian assets in Europe’s banks. Throwing the toys out of the pram goes to the core of Trump’s values, “The Art of the Steal.” Let us not forget his opining about the new Gaza Riviera and implying that ethnic cleansing was an act of humanity. Trump and others in his administration have slagged off Europe about defence spending, not an unfair comment considering Obama called Europe freeloaders when it came to their investment or lack thereof in the continent’s defence infrastructure. Assuming that the Europeans up their game on defence to say 3% of GDP, this should be no longer a right/left issue, then the US must provide a clear, unambiguous commitment to Article 5 of the NATO Treaty. What the Europeans need to do is simply, get on with it and stop prevaricating. All this, when the most consequential German election in decades is happening, will see AfD, Germany’s far-right anti-migrant party get up to 20% of the vote, which is impressive in a multi-party state. The worrying thing is, that many young Germans have been hypnotised by the AfD’s social media focused election campaign. The AfD is also a party that empathises with Putin’s narrative that his unprovoked attack on a sovereign state was on the basis that Zelensky a Jew, was a Nazi, and Ukrainians are actually Russians, in addition to NATO’s expansionism.
In DOGE Trump and Musk have recruited people with huge conflicts of interest. Musk’s companies like Tesla, Starlink and Space X have billions of dollars worth of Federal contracts and that does not take into consideration access to tens of millions of Americans personal data. Musk is acting like someone who would fit perfectly into a character in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” not as a medic but as one of the inmates. His slash-and-burn approach to Federal government reform has put the judicial and political establishment into a head spin while destroying dedicated civil servants lives and removing all independent oversight of the government machine. Interestingly, some of these oversight bodies were investigating several of Musk’s companies, long live the plutocracy and screw the ordinary American.
Regarding JD Vance, he is a puerile ass-kisser, simply aping all the King’s soundbites with one simple goal, to be the next Republican candidate to run for President in 2028. So, keeping in with white evangelical Christians, the Heritage Foundation, the new oligarchs and the MAGA mob, is vital to his future. Just to add, he converted from an atheist to a Catholic then on to a religious zealot, he surely is a thoughtful guy. Vance also constantly raises the issue of immigration as a threat to both the US and Europe but ignores the underlying causes such as the climate crisis, global wealth and income inequality and where Western and Chinese companies continue to rape undeveloped countries of their depleting natural resources to grow their respective economies. The result is that these resource-rich underdeveloped economies are not able to invest in their nation’s healthcare and education. This causes conflicts and humanitarian crises as neighbours fight to secure control of these minerals, as we see in Sudan and the DRC. In recent rants, Vance has also said that the threat to free speech will undermine European democracy yet, it is his administration that has banned a media organisation for not using the term Gulf of America and flooded the White House media space with Fox and News Max look-alikes.
Some Republicans have kicked back against Trump on Ukraine and other issues, but they are few and far between. What we are seeing is Steve Bannon’s strategy which is about flooding the zone with a lot of dead cats, keeping the media and the Dems flailing while undermining the state, the constitution and democracy itself. Clearly, the Dems need to step up and create a narrative that ensures them a resounding victory at the midterms but in the interim do not set your knickers on fire but create a firewall that protects all Americans, including the ones who voted for Trump, against Trump’s and his administration’s worst instincts. What is worrying, is that a recent poll showed that 40% of Democrats disapproved of congressional Democrats. Until the Democrats get their act together, Americans will have to rely on a handful of Republicans in the House and the Senate to show some moral fortitude and spine to stand up to Trump and those like Vance, Musk, and Vought.
The country that is loving this Simpsoness saga is China, what Trump needs to do, is bring China into the talks to end the war in Ukraine. Why, because China is buying cheap Russian oil in huge quantities to keep it economically afloat and is providing it with allegedly, “non-lethal “support. Finally, believe me, Trump cannot untangle the US from this interconnected and interdependent world, he will give it a good go, the real question is, what mess will he leave behind? 46 to go.
I forgot, good luck on Thursday Keir. Be firm, and polite, show him you are a critical friend and the relationship between the US and the UK is truly special. Do not also forget to stroke his ego as a lady-killer, author, and golfer.
Suneil Sharma
24th February 2024
The Gob 
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