What in the hell happened this Friday?

I already considered Trump's attempted shakedown of Ukrainian mineral rights to be thuggish and unhinged. What happened on Friday during what was around the start of my lunch break was at a completely different level of insanity. Don't believe me? See for yourself:

 

Chris Hayes' commentary strikes me as spot on. But even if you want to skip his commentary, watching the 7-minute meltdown that occurred at that particular event is a sight to behold, and I do not mean that in a good way. It was beyond embarrassing, and it was something many of us would have predicted as likely to happen - maybe I would not have predicted this clusterfuck from yesterday, but some other unhinged rant followed by a betrayal of our allies was to be expected. Many of us warned you. Many of you did not listen.

After this debacle, old Trump let slip that the US government was turning its back on Ukraine. Again, this was predictable. If we interpret what old Trump and Vance did as an ambush on a leader of another nation on live television, the conclusion that old Trump was looking for an excuse to betray Ukraine makes a great deal of sense. That old Trump and Vance used Putin's talking points the entire damned time as far as I am concerned gave the game away. The US government has arguably switched sides and is now a pro-Kremlin regime. I am not the only one who sees it that way. The Russian propagandists are thrilled at the moment. Allies of the US are trying to be as diplomatic about their disgust with Trump and Vance's temper tantrum while signaling their continued support of Ukraine and its president, Zelenskyy. 

 



I do suspect that we will see the beginning of the end of NATO as we've known it, especially after this latest incident. What follows NATO is anyone's guess, I suppose. I honestly don't know and don't have the expertise. Those who arguably have that expertise don't see NATO collapsing right away and that what would emerge would likely utilize the infrastructure of the current NATO alliance. Regardless, the Europeans are going to have to step up their defense game considerably in the near term. Thankfully we are seeing movement in that direction, and hopefully it is not too late. I would definitely advise anyone with direct contact to European elected officials to make it crystal clear that European security must take primacy as the US is no longer going to be a dependable partner. After Trump, we may get a sane leader for a bit, or we won't. We simply don't know. And even with a sane president, the US could still hamstring the NATO alliance depending on what party is in charge of each chamber of Congress. I think we got a bit of a taste of that during the last Congressional session. 

As of now, the European reaction to the Trump/Vance tantrum has been appropriate. We will see if the European continent can get its collective act together. Sunday should give us a clue. 

As for Ukraine's relations with the US under Trump? I'd say those are effectively ruined. There's no coming back from that clusterfuck. As far as I am aware, the Ukrainian public is generally pleased with Zelenskyy's efforts on Friday and he still has the support from his military brass. That's important given that Trump and Vance and their various toadies are trying to bully Ukraine into ousting Zelenskyy. It's obvious that much like Putin, Trump considers Zelenskyy an obstacle to be removed. Basically nothing has changed since 2019 in that regard. Trump does not like leaders who stand up to him and tell it like it is. Zelenskyy is one of those who has the backbone to do so.

If the EU can step up funding to Ukraine significantly - and I do mean significantly - I will remain cautiously optimistic of Ukraine's prospects as an independent democracy. Better, if the EU can commit troops to Ukraine in the eventuality of a negotiated armistice, Russia will be less of a threat going forward. I am sure that once Trump has finished with the US, that the US will also be much less of a threat, if for no other reason than the US will have become economically and militarily much weaker than is currently the case, and the US will be considerably more isolated internationally than has been the case for the duration of my existence. 

What Trump and Vance did was thuggish and stupid. You can't fix stupid. The world will remember. This was the US government committing political suicide on an international level. There is no coming back from that. Let's just hope the next world order that emerges is one of relative calm.

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