Trump 2.0

[JohnDe]

 

[basilio]

Rod Serling, producer of The Twilight Zone, on Fascism i one of his stories.

 

[basilio]

But Rod Serling went one better. Only 3 minutes but it captures 2025 in the US

 

[sptrawler]

MSN

Ukraine has officially reached an agreement with the United States on a minerals deal, ending weeks of tense negotiations that saw sharp public exchanges between U.S. President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

The breakthrough was confirmed by Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister and Justice Minister Olha Stefanishyna in an interview with the Financial Times on February 25.

The agreement, which Kyiv’s Cabinet of Ministers is set to approve on February 26, establishes a joint investment fund into which Ukraine will contribute 50% of proceeds from the monetization of state-owned mineral resources, including oil, gas, and related infrastructure.

This fund will finance projects within Ukraine, aiming to strengthen economic ties with Washington.

However, the deal does not include resources that already contribute to Ukraine’s state budget—meaning operations by Naftogaz and Ukrnafta, Ukraine’s largest oil and gas producers, are exempt.

 

[Dona Ferentes]

coming to Gaza ,

 

[sptrawler]

coming to Gaza ,
View attachment 194188

Well, unless it falls over on a crowd of people, it will do less damage.
Maybe the lesser of two evils? Incoming wanker, as opposed to incoming missiles.

Maybe if Kamala had won the election, everything could have stayed the same, at least some lives haven't been lost.

 

[DB008]

​

 

[mullokintyre]

So the Trump administration is going to release the Epstein files?
Will it be a salacious reading of all the big names in Hollywood, business and the media?
Or will it be a damp squib?
I fear the latter.
Mick

 

[mullokintyre]

So the Trump administration is going to release the Epstein files?
Will it be a salacious reading of all the big names in Hollywood, business and the media?
Or will it be a damp squib?
I fear the latter.
Mick

My fears were confirmed.
The relase of the Epstein files were a complete nothing burger.
Nothing that was not already out in the public domain.
The real action is yet to come, as the FBI did not release all of the documents that it has.
AG Pam has demanded that the FBI release all of the documents by Friday morning, and has written to Patel demanding that the FBI release them.
This should be fun.
Will Patel agree to release all the docs?
Will the FBI long termers try to hide stuff from Patel?
Having got all the stuff, will Pam release everything, even if it makes some of her own side look like the crims they are?
I seem to remember someone on here crying about a lack of transparency.
Mick

 

[Knobby22]

My fears were confirmed.
The relase of the Epstein files were a complete nothing burger.
Nothing that was not already out in the public domain.
The real action is yet to come, as the FBI did not release all of the documents that it has.
AG Pam has demanded that the FBI release all of the documents by Friday morning, and has written to Patel demanding that the FBI release them.
This should be fun.
Will Patel agree to release all the docs?
Will the FBI long termers try to hide stuff from Patel?
Having got all the stuff, will Pam release everything, even if it makes some of her own side look like the crims they are?
I seem to remember someone on here crying about a lack of transparency.
Mick

I am sure there a number of billionaires involved. It's not going to happen. Much easier to talk about a prince.
e.g. Maxwell went on a retreat with Bezos to name one of the 200 names.

 

[moXJO]

I am sure there a number of billionaires involved. It's not going to happen. Much easier to talk about a prince.
e.g. Maxwell went on a retreat with Bezos to name one of the 200 names.

Politicians from both sides as well. It might just blow up the government.

 

[moXJO]

We all think "crazy Americans" but unfortunately Australians leftist are twice as bad. Seen a few rallies and they are mental cases. Seems to be growing as well.

 

[sptrawler]

Some US allies contribute, some loaf. Here’s a numerical assessment | The Strategist

Which US allies have paid their bills, as President Donald Trump would see things? Which, having given the United States little support in return for its security guarantee, now risk losing it? The short answer, ...

www.aspistrategist.org.au

 

[sptrawler]

Well Trump has been a busy boy, chaos over the Ukraine issue, a shaky ceasefire in Palestine and now Mexico is giving Trump the Mexican drug lords to look after, it has been a busy month since taking office.

MSN

Mexico has sent 29 drug cartel figures to the US, including most-wanted drug lord Rafael Caro Quintero, as the Trump administration ramps up pressure on the criminal gangs.

The surprise handover — one of the biggest extraditions in Mexico's history — comes as top Mexican officials are in Washington trying to head off US President Donald Trump's threat of imposing 25% tariffs on all Mexican imports, which are set to start on Tuesday.

 

[moXJO]

Well Trump has been a busy boy, chaos over the Ukraine issue, a shaky ceasefire in Palestine and now Mexico is giving Trump the Mexican drug lords to look after, it has been a busy month since taking office.

MSN

Mexico has sent 29 drug cartel figures to the US, including most-wanted drug lord Rafael Caro Quintero, as the Trump administration ramps up pressure on the criminal gangs.

The surprise handover — one of the biggest extraditions in Mexico's history — comes as top Mexican officials are in Washington trying to head off US President Donald Trump's threat of imposing 25% tariffs on all Mexican imports, which are set to start on Tuesday.

I saw reports they were killing all the cartels across certain cities and the population was rejoicing.

 

[wayneL]

Snip from @Smurf1976 :
"In truth if you went there that's not what you'll find. Rather you'll find a lot of young people who haven't even seen the thing they're writing policy about, let alone have any practical experience with it. It's their first job not their last, all their knowledge coming straight from uni.

Now it gets even worse than that once you realise what they studied at uni....."

I've come across this time and time again in all sorts of different fields, so yes this is so true.

Even in my own humble profession in dealing with the recently degreed/diplomaed of various stripes with some BS letters after their name and NFI.

 

[basilio]

Understanding US History and why Trump is trashing democracy.
Please note if you can't access this post.

The Triad

‘America First’ Is a Lie​

America has *always* been about putting America first. Trump’s “America First” movement is about something else entirely.​

Jonathan V. Last
Mar 04, 2025



Trump Forever. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
Donald Trump and Republicans explain their worldview by calling it “America First.” That’s a lie.

American foreign policy has always put America first. That’s what nations do. It’s axiomatic. Why did the United States do Lend-Lease with Britain before we entered World War II and bankroll the Marshall Plan afterwards? Why did we airlift supplies into West Berlin? Why did we spend trillions of dollars on nuclear weapons that have never been used? Why do we police the global shipping lanes and ensure stability in Europe, Asia, and the Middle East?

It’s not because we’re nice.

It’s because these actions further our interests. They make America safer and wealthier. They check the rise of rival powers. They put America first.

---

Leadership is how we have put America first from the time we became a global superpower.

Trump and Republicans want to retreat from that leadership not because they want to put “America first,” but because they want to elevate Russia and China to peer status.

And why do they want to do that? Because they think that Russia and China can be helpful with Trump’s internal political project of dismantling democracy and establishing permanent rule.

Trump’s “America first” policy is actually about selling out America’s interests in exchange for foreign assistance in putting Trump first.

‘America First’ Is a Lie

America has *always* been about putting America first. Trump’s “America First” movement is about something else entirely.

www.thebulwark.com

 

[DB008]

Propaganda is alive and well

​

 

[JohnDe]

Trump’s strongman tactics serve to diminish America​

Donald Trump brings a reality-TV culture and real estate mentality to his rewriting of history and promotion of lies from the President’s office.​

Beneath the Trump-Vance-Zelensky debacle in the Oval Office lie two realities – Donald Trump’s adolescent-like sensitivity to the slightest criticism and, more important, his profound contempt for historical norms and the strategic rationale that have long guided US global policy.

Trump is ahistorical. While all his predecessors since Harry Truman have seen US alliances as force multipliers that accentuate American influence and power, Trump brings a “dollars and cents” accounting to US dealings with the world, fixated on a transactional balance sheet that means a shrinking American impact.

He believes the EU was “formed to screw the United States”. He blames Ukraine for the war triggered by Russian aggression. He has no conception of a post-war world aspiring to uphold sovereign rights and democratic freedoms. Trump brings a reality-TV culture and real estate mentality to his rewriting of history and promotion of lies from the President’s office.

Ukraine is a template for Trump-Vance thinking about the world. They have a contempt for Volodymyr Zelensky as a democratic leader. They have no attachment to Ukraine as a sovereign democracy.

“They may be Russian some day, or they may not be Russian some day,” Trump said. He seemed not to care. He assumed no great principle at stake. But his preference for Vladimir Putin over Zelensky was undisguised.

Trump’s instincts are to flatter or bully. He flatters Putin and bullies Zelensky, his contemptible ultimatum to the Ukrainian leader being “make a deal or we are out”. A threat issued in public before the world. Trump’s subsequent decision to pause all military aid to Ukraine is predictable and defining – he acts as Putin’s agent.

His aim is to weaken Ukraine, discredit Zelensky, blame Zelensky for anything that goes wrong and impose a peace without any US security guarantee, a peace that manifestly cannot endure.

Trump’s frustration with Zelensky is fanned by the Ukrainian leader’s insistence that Putin cannot be trusted and will break any agreement. Of course, it’s true. Zelensky knows only a US security guarantee can underwrite a war settlement, but Trump and JD Vance oppose any such US guarantee, the pivotal concession to Putin.

The President’s senior office holders fall into line. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, once a champion of Ukraine, now parrots Trump’s anti-Zelensky diatribes.

Trump’s fascination with Putin is a bizarre blend of strongman self-identification and strategic calculation. Although Putin’s war has killed thousands of Ukrainians, Trump told Zelensky that “Putin went through a hell of a lot with me” – a reference to the Russian election interference saga.

Yet his affinity with Putin is folly and guaranteed to rebound against Trump. Trump keeps saying Putin wants a deal. We shall see. Why would Putin agree to a ceasefire when a foreshadowed condition is a European military presence in Ukraine, which Putin believes is Russian territory? Trump may be shocked to find Putin won’t fall into the alignment he expects.

The ultimate issue here is Trump’s strategic transformation of US attitudes, policies and beliefs. Trump has reversed Joe Biden’s policy from support of Ukraine to de facto backing for Putin.

Russian President Vladimir Putin. Picture: Pool/AFP

He lacks any moral or strategic view of a democracy under threat from an autocratic power. He refuses to distinguish ally from foe in his unilateral imposition of tariffs. He signals a US retreat from European security and a diminished commitment to NATO that for 70-plus years has prevented a major power conflict in Europe.

How far Trump will push US disengagement remains unknown – maybe he will pull back – but he functions as a unilateral wrecker of an alliance that has every reason to endure albeit with a major reallocation of the burden to Europe. Above all, Trump has given the autocratic powers – Russia and China – what they most craved: a strategic fracture between America and Europe.

And Trump doesn’t seem to care. Putin and China’s Xi Jinping will be surprised but ecstatic. They couldn’t have pulled it off – but Trump has gifted them.

Trump could not be clearer, saying a fortnight ago: “This war is far more important to Europe than it is to us. We have a big beautiful ocean as separation.”

Here is the strategic heart of the matter. For Trump and Vance the cycle of history has turned full circle. They operate beyond the legacies of World War II, the Cold War and “end of history” liberalism because they are convinced such global commitments have eroded American life and treasure, damaged the US heartland, been exploited by ungrateful allies and must be urgently reversed.

They cast themselves as hyper-realists when they are engaged in hyper-delusions. Trump is functioning on trade, security and diplomacy as an agent of destruction. He offers no considered statement about his global view but prefers to keep everybody guessing.

The elemental signs are that he seeks a great power triangular, competition among strong men – himself, Xi and Putin, a recipe for political narcissism, rising nationalism, the law of the jungle and the rule of the strong.

In a confused Breitbart interview, Rubio tried to impose coherence on the unfolding Trumpian chaos. “The big story of the 21st century is going to be US-China relations,” Rubio said. “If Russia becomes a permanent junior partner to China in the long term, now you’re talking about two nuclear powers aligned against the United States.”

US President Donald Trump speaks as Secretary of State Marco Rubio looks on during a cabinet meeting at the White House. Picture: AFP

Rubio implied that Trump might attempt a reverse Nixon – to pull Russia away from China. “We have to have a relationship with both,” Rubio said, because “these are big, powerful countries with nuclear stockpiles” and “they can project power globally”. It would not be a “good outcome for us” if Russia became purely dependent on China.

Trump has big hopes for Russia. In February he held a long phone call with Putin, ending US isolation of the Russian leader followed by more US-Russian official dialogue. The message: Trump is elevating Putin’s status. He wants co-operation, closer economic ties and US-Russia deal-making starting with Ukraine.

Trump lauded “the Great History of our Nations” going back to World War II. This is what Putin craves, being installed as some kind of great power peer that disguises Russia’s real weakness.

Any idea all of this might be good for Australia is a fool’s conclusion. A Trump sellout of Ukraine and retreat from Europe will reverberate around the world. It will encourage America’s enemies, seed distrust among its friends and alarm its allies.

In the Indo-Pacific it is likely Trump and Rubio will talk up the value of alliance partners, but who can be sure?

Leadership is about character and war accentuates the character of leaders. Trump’s character is on display before the world. This is not the character of Dwight Eisenhower, of John Kennedy, of Ronald Reagan. Nations in the Indo-Pacific will recognise what is happening – that Trump has a transactional mentality, that he obsesses about correcting the alleged exploitation of America by all and sundry, that he doesn’t discriminate between friend and foe in imposing his punitive tariffs, that his preferred modus operandi is cutting deals with fellow strongmen, that he speaks with a loud voice but is devoid of the consistency, conviction and temperament to run a stance of credible strategic deterrence.

Trump projects as a leader who is unreliable and untrustworthy. This is the decisive conclusion from his early weeks in office. Are we seeing the authentic Trump or will he change and adapt? Who could know?

Neither Anthony Albanese nor Peter Dutton will retreat from our deep commitment to the US – neither should they. But privately they will be deeply worried. Trump has arrived determined to stamp the world with his America-first brand of economic protection and alliance scepticism. He pledged to Make America Great Again but what’s on display isn’t a tenable domestic political strategy. America is being diminished before our eyes.

​

 

[wayneL]

I would encourage all to watch the entire "state of the union" address to Congress and come to their own conclusions.