Changing focus to another world leader for a moment, why does Macron keep turning up looking like he’s trying to be a GTA character?
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Feedback from an ex-colleague who is a USAF reservist is just this.
However; he’s said those same people have already sought - or are currently seeking - confirmation with JAG about the intricacies of “illegal orders”. The vibes he’s got is that Trump doesn’t have the groundswell of support he thinks he does within the military circles; Hegseth’s summoning of commanders back in September caused a lot of resentment - and this continues to bubble away. And it’s not just the top tier that were impacted - it’s had a ripple effect down the chain. The relentless threats of invoking the Insurrection Act and deploying troops on home turf isn’t sitting well with many.
The downside of course, is that Trump losing these people (in whatever manner he chooses to manage this situation) will not only weaken his position, but also weaken NATOs long term. The volume of skills, knowledge and experience amassed within those people can’t be underestimated; and the loss of them will hit hard and leave a significant capability (and capacity) gap.
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Sure, but they are spending that money regardless, as it is on their assets. It isn’t like they would cut defence spending if they left NATO. How about those “Trump class” ships that he thinks will be launched with his name on them?
The NATO ‘spending targets’ of 2 / 3.5 / 5 % GDP are for members to spend that money on their own defence. This then contributes to a stronger NATO as a whole. The cost of dedicated NATO infrastructure is almost insignificant by comparison (and the Americans don’t need it as much as the rest of us).
Especially with is subsidising the cost of their bases rather than charging rent.
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Mark Carney gets it.
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Konstantin Kisin made a similar point.
Unfortunately, Mark Carney’s solution appears to be to suck up to China.
Trade-offs are inevitable in this scenario. He’s chosen to protect (as best as possible) the Canadian economy but had to cosy up to China to do so.
The alternative would have been remaining free of China but suffering probably quite a sharp economic contraction that would have caused direct harm to the Canadian people.
It was always a lose-lose scenario, and I think he’s made the best of an awful situation that was ultimately not of his own creation.
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And Sweden.
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It’s that thing - the US is this weeks problem, China is next years problem.
Everything is sub-optimal, everything has downsides - you just get to pick which downsides you can more easily live with this week.
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It’s international relations in general and the thing that Trump doesn’t appear to understand; it’s impossible to get everything you want and necessary to collaborate for shared goals.
He’s thrown away decades of good faith and support from the rest of the world to try to strong-arm his desires. The US will be left weaker for it, as already all other states know (even if they’re not directly saying it out loud yet) that the US can no longer be trusted.
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i think that is the head hitting the nail square on the head
he wants to MAGA but yet is turning the world against USA either to trade with, or to trust which will create a Russian/Chinese style approach - isolated, feared of what they might do next (unstable/selfish decision making) and thus weary of
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He’s currently over our airspace as I type this, in a baby version of Air Force One because the 747 broke down earlier.
When he arrives at Davos, I sincerely hope European leaders completely ignore him. His ego won’t know how to deal with it.
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he’s so arrogant he’ll not notice/force the situation.
i recall footage of him forcing his way to the front for a photo line up, he was less than polite about moving people out of the way if i recall correctly
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Everyone is cosying up to China - Rachel Thieves has been out there and now we’ve approved their new embassy in London, Starmer will be on his way shortly.
Let’s face it very few can compete on their no doubt subsidised prices which kills off home country industries!
Just browsing through Waterstones and saw something that made me pause for a moment.
Both of these things happened this year, which is now 3 weeks old. Yet such is the degree of utter insanity that has happened since that we no longer speak about either.
I think they should all just walk out if his speech
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James Dyson closed his factory in the UK and moved it to China. Very patriotic of him…..
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And probably equally important to Trump’s downfall is the current virtual silence about the Epstein files where I reckon there has to be some dirt on him though they seem to be redacting loads supposedly to protect only those who were abused.
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Thoughts?
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