The Trump Presidency, Season 2

[Innula Zenovka]

Unserious President; Serious Country

The intention behind the King’s invitation to come to the UK for a state visit, handed over by Prime Minister Keir Starmer to President Donald Trump in the Oval Office in February, was transparent.

samf.substack.com

Evernote Link

Lengthy but interesting piece by a leading British expert on diplomacy and international relations.

 

[Cindy Claveau]

Prosecutors already have dropped nearly a dozen cases from Trump’s DC crime surge, judge says

More than 50 people have faced federal charges in Washington, D.C., since President Donald Trump’s emergency law-and-order surge began last month. Already, prosecutors have dropped at least 11 of those cases, an unusually high collapse rate that judges say is wasting court resources.

The dismissals highlight the risks of Trump’s emergency surge strategy: an unprecedented flood of arrests that has produced headline-grabbing numbers but faltered under judicial scrutiny, with some of the most serious cases — from assaults on federal agents to gun charges — unraveling before they ever reach trial.

 

[Khamon]

Unserious President; Serious Country

The intention behind the King’s invitation to come to the UK for a state visit, handed over by Prime Minister Keir Starmer to President Donald Trump in the Oval Office in February, was transparent.

samf.substack.com

Evernote Link

Lengthy but interesting piece by a leading British expert on diplomacy and international relations.

How much longer will Trump matter to the UK because the United States matters to the UK do you think?

 

[Innula Zenovka]

How much longer will Trump matter to the UK because the United States matters to the UK do you think?

Trump, I am sure, has persuaded not just the UK but all of the US' traditional allies and partners in NATO, Five Eyes, the EU and so on that the US can no longer be trusted as a reliable defence or trading partner, and that we consequently need to revise the fundamental assumptions underpinning all our post WW2 defence, foreign and trade policies as soon as possible. That's going to take time to implement and, in the meantime, our existing relationships with the US are what they are, so we have no choice but to try to keep Trump onside.

However, as Laurence Freedman says at the end of the article

The United States remains a country of extraordinary power. It has significant advantages in its energy, agriculture and technology, in the vibrancy of its economy and the international role of its currency, and in its range of military capabilities. In all these respects it is a very serious country, one with which others naturally wish to be associated and have productive relations. But it is led by an unserious man. The question is how much unseriousness at the top can a serious country take?

So, in answer to your question. while it certainly makes sense for Britain and other countries to recalibrate our relationships with the US, we will want to to remain on as good terms as possible, because that's in best our interests. However, that's going to take time, so we have little choice but to try to keep Trump happy in the hope of keeping him onside as much as possible.

When there's a new president, we'll all want to maintain good relations with him, too, which may be more or less challenging than is keeping Trump happy. We'll just have to wait and see.

 

[Cindy Claveau]

 

[GoblinCampFollower]

Trump, I am sure, has persuaded not just the UK but all of the US' traditional allies and partners in NATO, Five Eyes, the EU and so on that the US can no longer be trusted as a reliable defence or trading partner, and that we consequently need to revise the fundamental assumptions underpinning all our post WW2 defence, foreign and trade policies as soon as possible. That's going to take time to implement and, in the meantime, our existing relationships with the US are what they are, so we have no choice but to try to keep Trump onside.

However, as Laurence Freedman says at the end of the article


So, in answer to your question. while it certainly makes sense for Britain and other countries to recalibrate our relationships with the US, we will want to to remain on as good terms as possible, because that's in best our interests. However, that's going to take time, so we have little choice but to try to keep Trump happy in the hope of keeping him onside as much as possible.

When there's a new president, we'll all want to maintain good relations with him, too, which may be more or less challenging than is keeping Trump happy. We'll just have to wait and see.

Agreed. I don't think there is much chance the USA will become irrelevant as a market or military power in the near future. We're still the largest economy in the world by a good margin. We are just a lot less reliable as an ally.

 

[Innula Zenovka]

Agreed. I don't think there is much chance the USA will become irrelevant as a market or military power in the near future. We're still the largest economy in the world by a good margin. We are just a lot less reliable as an ally.

In the long term this will be bad news for US manufacturers of military equipment, because if we can't rely on the US as a military partner, it makes sense not to rely on the US to sell us new materiel when we need to resupply (this is already a problem for some countries that have donated equipment to Ukraine and need to replace it). Cindy's infographic above gives an example of this.

It's certainly an impending issue in the UK, because our independent nuclear deterrent uses British nuclear warheads delivered by UGM-133 Trident II missiles, made by Lockheed in California. It's badly in need of updating, and it's now highly unlikely we'll source the next generation of missiles from the US. Nothing's decided but it's most likely to be an Anglo-French joint venture.

 

[GoblinCampFollower]

I've heard of a few of these, but how can Qatar pull 1.5 Trillion in investment in the US when their entire GDP is about 220 billion?

 

[Cindy Claveau]

Could someone explain what Melania is doing? Her Sia impression?

 

[Bartholomew Gallacher]

Some nasty brits greated Trump with these projections on Windsor Castle.


You can also get coffee mugs with Trump together with Epstein photo printed on it in many souvenir shops around Windsor castle. The image was also on a big sheet of plastic laid out on the lawn before Windsor Castle.

 

[Innula Zenovka]

The Guardian: Trump says he plans to designate antifa as ‘major terrorist organization’

It was unclear how the administration would label what is in effect a decentralized movement as a terrorist organization, and the White House on Wednesday did not immediately offer more details.

 

[Free]

When you're a fascist, anti-fascists are a terrorist organization.

 

[Cindy Claveau]

 

[Free]

That's unfair. Trump isn't running Fox News. Disney/ABC...and Paramount-Skydance/CBS...and Comcast/Universal/NBC, are letting him run them. Big difference.

 

[Rose Karuna]

Love the UK press for this!

Channel 4 Announces Night of TV Dedicated To Donald Trump Untruths | Channel 4

To mark the historic second state visit to the UK of American President, Donald Trump, Channel 4 is rolling out an altogether different kind of welcome, with an unflinching night of programming that puts a spotlight on his prolific oeuvre of untruths and falsehoods.

www.channel4.com

Bet it never runs in the US.

 

[Free]

Channel 4 Announces Night of TV Dedicated To Donald Trump Untruths | Channel 4

To mark the historic second state visit to the UK of American President, Donald Trump, Channel 4 is rolling out an altogether different kind of welcome, with an unflinching night of programming that puts a spotlight on his prolific oeuvre of untruths and falsehoods.

www.channel4.com

Bet it never runs in the US.

I was going to say it's something PBS might be able to rebroadcast, but...

 

[Beebo Brink]

Excellent analysis by a (Democratic) farmer on why (Republicans) farmers voted for Trump.

 

[Cindy Claveau]

 

[Jopsy Pendragon]

Here's hoping he gets some of that urine colored candy-floss on his head mixed in and goes full Ouroboros.

 

[Innula Zenovka]

Apparently during the Trump-Starmer joint press conference today, the US reporters all stood up and applauded both when the two men entered the room and again when they left. Their British counterparts remained seated and didn't applaud.

Is the US reporters' behaviour typical, or does it reflect the nature of the journalists who were allowed to accompany Trump?