Trump is revealing that he has the type of imperialist plans for geographic expansion of the USA that we thought had departed Western thinking long ago, and such desires have never ended well.
This is the audio version:
And this is the transcript:
Are we all Trumped? Are we, in other words, in a state where Donald Trump is going to so upset the world order as we know it, that we literally have to face situations that we have never imagined might arise?
Let's just look at some facts. Donald Trump is now talking about Canada as the 51st state of the USA. He's quite blatantly setting up an agenda of taking over Canada, claiming that it would be better off if it was part of the USA. And he has already, in effect, accounted for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada, who has fallen from office as a consequence of the confusion in that country in how to respond to Trump's aggression before he has even got into office.
And let's also be clear, Canada is not the only country that is subject to Donald Trump's aggression. Panama is being threatened by Donald Trump. He wants to have control of the Panama Canal again. It was built with US money, but for the last 30-plus years, it has been completely under Panamanian control. Now he wants it back. He says it's too important to America to not have it. And he's willing to use military force to get it.
The same is true of Greenland. When, during his first period in office, Donald Trump first mentioned that he wanted Greenland, everyone thought he was slightly mad and dismissed the claim as if it was that of a person who had lost touch with reality. But before he's got into office again this time, he's reviving the claim.
He says America needs it for the sake of its security. He says Greenland is threatened by Russia and China. But the reality is that Greenland does, as he knows, have vast quantities of natural resources which would if the ice receded across its landmass, be available for exploitation. And he wants them. He is undertaking a policy of aggressive expansion, and this is old-fashioned fascist imperialism, in my view. I can't see another explanation for it.
But the reality is that his aggression does not only end there. We have seen Elon Musk acting, apparently, as Donald Trump's agent, threatening the UK.
He's threatened our Prime Minister and said he should be in prison.
He's threatened Jess Phillips, who, whatever you think of her politically, has in no way behaved in the way that he claims and is a champion for the victims of sexual abuse, and most certainly not, as he would claim, the person who has facilitated it.
In addition, Musk has put a poll on Twitter asking whether the USA should in fact liberate the UK from what he thinks to be the tyranny of a Labour government, as if we have some form of socialism in this country, which is a joke to anybody who lives here.
All of this implies that the US government, under Trump, is going to have a totally different approach to foreign policy from anything that we have known throughout, frankly, the whole of US history. We have not seen the USA do what Trump is now doing.
He is now interfering in UK politics.
He is interfering in Danish politics.
He is interfering in German politics by supporting the AFD, the far-right party who wants to win the next German election.
He will, no doubt, interfere in French politics as well in due course, and we know he's already supporting the far right in Italy.
So, this is something unprecedented - one state interfering in the domestic affairs of another within the world power group of the G7 or G20. This disrupts the world as we know it, but there are other disruptions as well.
We've seen Facebook abandon the whole idea that it might edit the comments posted on that site so that they might bear some relationship with the political truth. The far-right are being given free rein to say what they want, and in the USA, the right of companies to defend minorities is being rolled back. Diversity, inclusion and equity have been discredited supposedly because of the woke movement - and there are debates about whether identity politics have gone too far or not. But this is a bad moment to be a woman, to be a migrant, to be LGBTQ+, to be poor, or any other group in society from those who belong to minority religions or who come from minority ethnic groups, all of whom are likely to be prejudiced as a result. This is the time, as Trump sees it, for white male, supposedly Christian evangelical USA to march all over the world.
I'm worried. I'm deeply worried. Trump is trying to trump us all. And he might. Because the world is not ready for this scale of aggression and does not know how to respond to it.
But there are those who do. There are far right parties across Europe, including in the UK, who will support what Trump is doing. Expect Nigel Farage to. Expect Kemi Badenoch to. And when that happens, are we the 54th, 55th or 56th state of the USA, whichever one Trump wants it to be? Could he literally be looking for that type of world domination? Don't rule it out. And don't rule out that there are politicians here who might let him have his way.
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Nobody likes invaders. Especially when there’s a population already there that doesn’t want them, and the invaders say ‘this is ours now’.
The USA has been interfering across the world for the last 60 odd years. All Trump is doing, is being public with what the CIA and MI5 have been doing in the shadows. This is nothing new.
US has interfered in Columbia, Nicaragua, Chile, Venezuela, Korea, Taiwan, Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, Syria, Sudan to name but a few. It is currently trying to destabilise Georgia, Moldova, and Romania; has brought about the war in Ukraine, and is also desperate to get Scandinavia involved in its war with Russia.
Trump is supported by his puppets in Western Europe, like Von der Leyen, Scholtz, Starmer, Farage, Macron, not forgetting the Israelis, who are his front line troops.
This is nothing new, it is just that it is overt and in your face – no longer hidden, because the MSM will provide cover for it.
It is time to be honest and realise that USA/UK Governments are the real problems in this world, and have been for some time.
I don’t often comment but I was about to make the point that you have made so much better than I could. The only thing ‘unprecedented’ about it is that it is so blatant.
The American oligarchs are extremely worried about China which has been more effective than the US in ensuring supplies of raw materials for it’s rapid economic expansion. https://chatgpt.com/share/677f9401-6e04-8002-877e-48fa9572530d
They own Trump who has the personality to do their bidding.
If you asked people in Georgia, Ukraine, Moldova, Romania, the Baltic states and Finland who they are most afraid of interfering in their affairs, it wouldn’t be the USA.
We need to be realistic.
Who people think is interfering, and who is actually interfering, are 2 different. things. This difference is brought about by MSM.
Certainly, recent elections in Georgia, Moldova and Romania, have shown that the populations there are becoming more aware of this.
I note that one of Richard’s later posts, considers the sale of Scotland. Whilst some may suggest this to be ridiculous, and of course, MSM would scoff at it, Trump is simply shedding light on US policies that were meant to stay hidden.
The reality is that US/UK interferes all over the place, and that Trump is not an isolated madman, but a member of the club. That should scare the living daylights out of everyone!
No come on: this is different. I know what has been hapopening, but let’s not be silly and pretend Trump is not wildly different, because he is.
Sean
Russia’s hybrid warfare is widely documented. Tim Snyder gives a good account. Trump ignored it when in office.
The US does have a wide influence and often not a good one. But the fact is many states-not all big ones- try to ‘interfere’ e.g. Pakistan in Kashmir or Afghanistan, Iran in Syria, Russia in the central Asian republics, Morocco in Western Sahara.
Sometimes USA involvement, as in Kuwait in 1990 or their support of Ukraine is something we support.
Trump is something different but we need to keep the bog picture in mind.
It, ironically, also reveals one of the contradictions of this new right ‘coalition’.
“He says Greenland is threatened by Russia and China. But the reality is that Greenland does, as he knows, have vast quantities of natural resources which would if the ice receded across its landmass, be available for exploitation.”
So, his supporters seem to believe, and Mrs Musk’s rhetoric seem to encourage that belief -that global heating is not a thing (it’s just weather). If that were true then Greenland will not be a guardian of an open northwest passage nor a strategic place in a newly ‘open’ arctic ocean, nor more easily give ice-free access to mineral goodies. However, it seems that Mrs Musk’s geostrategic calculations (or rather those of his puppeteers -boiled down to soundbites he can articulate) actually base themselves on taking global heating as a fact.
It’d be funny if it wasn’t so worrying.
May I just point out that the USA has 12,000 heavily armed military personnel already based in the UK. Who needs to invade? They’re already here!
The biggest base is very near me.
Are you sure it is only 12,000 personnel?
It fluctuates. Latest figures make it about 10,500. I think the closure of Bentwaters Woodbridge) reduced the numbers.
Bentwaters closed a very long time agao
Of course its the daily trump video to shamelessly generate clicks..
It’s weird, isn’t it? If I produce what people want you accuse me of hypocrisy. If the market does it you think it’s wonderful. Why are you so hypocritical?
This is the age of exploitation, led by outrageous opportunists.
Of course the American public will back Trump because they have had so much taken away that the promise of expansion – and thereby adding more to have – is very attractive. The American public – misinformed at scale – do not realise however that this means more for their own royal families – the rich – not for them.
But no matter, we will all it seems, have to suffer.
We should take these outrageous propositions seriously. America is a bully. It has always been America First – read Michael Hudson’s work on U.S. trade attitudes.
But also, we lived with outrageousness for so long – look at the levels of inequality – that think that we have lost our bearings and now only the worst things are possible, not the better things.
I heard David Lammy speaking to Nick Ferrari on LBC this morning.
He said something like – whatever Trump says need not be what he means and, that having eaten chicken with him, Lammy can reassure us that all is well.
Ferrari, whose job is to listen to what people say and react to it, accepted this without demur.
If we dont know what “the leader of the free world” will do until he does it
then of what use is speech? Democracy s based upon consent and consent cannot be given to policies that are not explained.
At least that’s what I have always thought, but our politicians and media appear to think otherwise.
We cannot pretend that the King’s new clothes are resplendent when he is self evidently naked. He says “I have words, I have the best words” when it is clear that he is semi literate.
What does this say of Lammy and Starmer?
That they are poodles?
Came across this article. https://theconversation.com/canada-as-a-51st-state-republicans-would-never-win-another-general-election-246616
That is a ridiculously naive article. To imagine that Trump would not gerrymander the system to emasculate the Canadian vote shows a very bizarre selectivity in exploring the facts.
“All of this implies that the US government, under Trump, is going to have a totally different approach to foreign policy from anything that we have known throughout, frankly, the whole of US history. We have not seen the USA do what Trump is now doing.”
They have been interfering in Mexico, Central America, South America and the Caribbean since 1823 (Monroe Doctrine). This is about par for the course.
So, in other words, this is entirely different, as I said.
The difference is that it is blatant as opposed to the covert interfering in Europe after the Second World War, e.g. Italian elections.
Again, might we get real? This is totally different. Blatant and covert are nothing like the same.
The US has been occupying Western Europe since 1944 or 1945 but in the background with the gloves on. Now “… it makes perfect sense for the US to increase pressure on its vassals. I am not using the term in a pejorative sense. The US does not have “allies” in the traditional meaning of the word. It has vassals with different levels of feudal obligations and elite integration, and different tasks” RWA
Britain’s ‘special relationship’ has been more like a school fag for the bully such as Johnson’s nay saying to a peace agreement between Russia and Ukraine in 2022 and joining the invasion of Iraq. The financial schemes of the City of London is also another way to weaken Britain.
Politely, stop being stupid.
I have many criticisms of US policy, but to pretend it has occupied Western Europe is absurd. Look at French relationships with it on defence if you want proof.
Don’t call again.
People being ‘clever’ by observing that America has been meddling in other county’s politics covertly for decades are missing an important point. What you can achieve covertly is vastly more limited than what you can achieve if you don’t mind people seeing what you’re doing. Chalk and cheese!
(That’s not in any way to be taken as my approval of covert meddling, by US, Russia or anyone else, of course.)
Thinking of the Richard Wolff video you shared a couple of days ago, about the decline of the American Empire in favour of BRICS- is Trump trying to (vainly) combat this by expanding the USA? Including his support for an expanded Israel in the Middle East, effectively a (genocidal) part of the USA empire?
Maybe…
Who knows?
The UK is already part of the US Empire and has been for many decades since the Cold War; it’s known as the “special relationship”. The US Empire has about 800 military bases around the world, including a number in the UK, which is why the UK is known as the US Empire’s unsinkable aircraft carrier. We need to end the special relationship and distance ourselves from the crumbling empire before it’s too late