The odious JDV's world view, as perceived by the Beeb.  Never heard the ghastly expression, "red-pilled", before, but then, I barely remember the first Matrix film & don't frequent internet sites on which it is likely to be used.

And James Marriott in today's Times on the yawning gap these days between the Brits & the Yanks.

Bob in Spain wrote:

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This would be hysterical, if you didn't have to add in the fact that Marco Rubio is currently trying to negotiate a ceasefire in Ukraine.

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I agree, Bob.  Up there with Dubya's famous quote:   "The problem with the French is that they don't have a word for "entrepreneur"", but arguably less "innocent".  I half-heard (the programme didn't have my full attention) a commentator on the BBC News channel this afternoon say that Rubio wasn't a Secretary of State &, in response to a question from the reporter about how much longer he might might last, add that Trump never shied away from sacking people...     

You cant make it up 

Donald Trump took to social media to whine about who negotiated a deal allowing Canada to supply energy to the U.S. but, it turns out, he made the deal. 

https://www.yahoo.com/news/trump-whines-signed-deal-allow-164124551.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAIzWWRUqhR1e7c-HFRbVxdgZqXrnnMxwq9hgoLxZym4-p5OYSD6pRSIkPBPcDb5KLYKr8CXaxsOZNgvmnM-KwMLS3oM5drMHKnQE4mLBBalOnx1vwmSXju1Yw5XVU0Csh7ebQ5F0LrjdQ05LPloIvTdb7aEGsxzlPSPvRrQu00ei

The concern for me is whether Trump would go further than economic war with Canada and take it to a military level. Id like to think it would be impossible as people around him would stand up and be counted and the US military would refuse; and in both the cases of Canada and Greenland, attacking the sovereignty of an ally would surely cause a lot of push back from NATO countries. I hope Britain would have the balls to call him out and stand up against him.

But the whole thing is incredibly concerning that this rhetoric is being pursued by him and makes one wonder if the USA can be trusted as an ally going forwards or just the play ground bully that your glad isnt bullying you at the moment and is picking on your friends.

I wonder if Americans generally are embarrassed - I have a work contact (ex work contact given my situation) who is American and lives in Atlanta. Also ex military. And he is distraught at the behaviour of Trump towards Zelensky. Havent spoken to him re Canada or Greenland or Panama for that matter.

Stranger Things.

There is a suggestion that under the Trump 2.0 administration, the United States has exhibited  a shift in foreign policy and domestic rhetoric that draws parallels to the governance styles of Russia and China, diverging from traditional European norms.

Trump's emphasis on nationalism, skepticism towards international alliances, and prioritisation of unilateral action resonates with the authoritarian tendencies seen in both Moscow and Beijing. His approach to governance, marked by a disdain for traditional media narratives and a penchant for direct communication via social media, mirror the information control strategies employed by authoritarian regimes.

Moreover, Trump's transactional view of international relations, where alliances were often evaluated through the lens of immediate national interests rather than shared democratic values, further align U.S. policy with the more pragmatic, power-centric perspectives of Russia and China. This shift highlights a departure from Europe's multilateralism and commitment to democratic principles, underscoring a growing ideological rift in the global order.

On a lighter note - Elon Musk explaining Tesla cars to Trump: It's literally like a golf cart that goes really fast. ... 

Stircrazy wrote:

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What next?

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This, this, this (good to know that at least some representatives of US officialdom are capable of demonstrating a bit of backbone) or this (the painting makes his cheeks look unnaturally pudgy, but the permanent scowl is about right)?  And this latest business with the accidental leaking of exchanges about possible air strikes against the Houthis in Yemen to a journalist "accidentally" added to a Signal chat group beggars belief!   

If you want to understand the US end-game here, search out and read the policy paper that is behind it all, from Trump's Chair of the Council of Economic Advisors, Stephan Miran. Published after Trump was elected, and is the paper that secured him the nomination for his position.

It's name: "A User's Guide to Restructuring the Global Trading System" (This is the link to the original PDF on the site of the original sponsoring body)

Oh boy! you ain't seen nothing yet.

Even a worldweary cynic like me was a bit staggered to see the sheer magnitude of their ruthless ambition, and the degree to which they believe they are owed it, and the disregard and contempt for everyone and everything on the planet that is not them.

Summary, for those so inclined:

Spoiler

They aim to force other nations to strengthen their currencies and weaken the dollar to make US exports more competitive - in a similar way that, in the 1980s, the US forced the Plaza Accord on the then G5 to deliberately hamstring Japan as it began to outcompete the USA; from which it has never recovered.
So US exports become more competitive and everyone elses less so. All the assets that the US secured during the years they like a strong dollar, well they keep those. They offer nothing.
Look at the 'deal' they're currently holding to Ukraine's head (i.e. their latest revision to their demands are: total control of minerals, oil, gas, and all infrastructure related to energy or natural resource extraction - roads, rail, ports, refineries, airports; that only US companies will be allowed contracts - not preferred bidder, exclusive bidder; that in addition Ukraine pay $100B + compound interest 'repartations'. Ukraine gets only a token say in any of this (2 seats on a council where US gets 3), US offers no guarantee on security, defense and the US puts up no collateral.)
America wants to do that to the world in finanacial terms.
Surely that's all? Oh, no, no, no, no, no! You underestimate their sense of grievance and vituperativeness.

They also want to make their $16T debt go away. You use utterly ludicrously outlandish tariff hostility to force other nations to agree on their knees to restructure the US debt.
e.g. 10 year bonds would now not pay out in a decade, but be forced to accept the US imposition of century bonds instead. That lowers US debt repayments massively for 90 years for free.
They even suggest perpetual bonds - because they say the world owes US because of the great job it's done with everything over the last 70 years (they are quite serious about that reasoning - it is NOT satire) - in which the nations of the world would be forced to buy US debt and make it their own so that US debt shrinks, and so does it's interest on it's repayments making the burden more manageable for the US.
Again, the US gives up nothing, promises nothing, and bears no cost or anything as collateral. The world just writes of US debt because the US says they should, otherwise the US is going to ruin them through financial hostility.

There's even more, but just read it. They should read it out on every channel and every everything outside USA because this is war.

USA has declared real war; not trade, not metaphorical, not proxy, but very real war on the world.
In the modern world, with capital so liquid, crippling punishment can be poured on a country, setting it under siege, and forcing it's capitulation without the need to involve the military. That's what the USA has done.

People still underestimate the scope of their grab for total control of the world here.

Don't take my word for any of it: find it, read it. Be prepared. Tell your friends! Happy Easter!