The US will take Canada and Greenland, continue to undermine Central and S. America, and head into increased global warming alone.

So full on MAGA, I’m not seeing it. But I’m not in America.
I can give arguments for why that isn’t going to happen, but it might do all the same and you sound convinced anyway. Or maybe you are just saying these things, so you don’t get singled out and pushed up against the wall when it happens.

So full on MAGA, — Punshhh

Not me. I think I'm just tuned into abiding elements of American culture.

Yes, I realise that, your just telling the way you see it playing out. I hope you’re wrong.
I won’t be coming to visit any time soon, now that they are saying they require all your social media account details when filling out the U.K. citizen visa waver form.

What is truth? — frank

True and false are properties of statements.
If you're looking for truth, then you go for the true ones.

I'd imagine they'd prefer to look toward Germany and maybe BRICS countries for regional community. — frank

Europeans prefer Germany and BRICS?
That's doubtful (to put it mildly).
How have you come to that conclusion?

The Clown has much weight to throw around, yet something rings true here:

Trump Broke America — Canada, Japan & EU Are Building the Future Without It | George Will
^{— George Will Insights · Dec 16, 2025 · 20m:34s}

Japanese and other interests are broader, but the talk could easily get longer than 20 minutes.

An odd observation is that American voters appear to have chosen this path deliberately and obliviously; it doesn't help them in the longer term, especially those who are not well-off.

An odd observation is that American voters appear to have chosen this path deliberately and obliviously; it doesn't help them in the longer term, especially those who are not well-off. — jorndoe

Many Americans don't understand that their present prosperity exists because of the vast alliance networks the US has been able to create, which has made the country into a Superpower. And many believe the total opposite, which Trump promotes, that the alliance structure is a burden to them. Which is nuts, but anyway, when people are ignorant, they can believe anything.

The US is an oddity in that most countries in its position would demand tribute.

?

You don't notice that the real tribute is the dollar being the reserve currency and your government having this "perpetual" credit of taking on enormous amounts of debt? That is the tribute system that has made you so wealthy and capable of spending so much on the military!

But notice the important aspect of this: this arrangement has been fruitful and reasonable for the allies of the US and they have been OK with this.

Other Great Powers countries, like Russia/Soviet Union, don't have and never had such alliances like the US has. Russia has now basically North Korea and a lukewarm yet difficult China. And China? Basically Pakistan, because of India. (Which shows just how warm the relations are between BRIC-countries.)

Bullying just goes so far, you know. And this is one of those issues that people don't get: sovereign European countries chose voluntarily to be in the US lead security structure. Once the Soviet empire collapsed, those former "allies" rushed away from Russia. And for a reason, as it should be obvious to everybody!

And what Trump and other American politicians never will say that it's the US itself that has wanted Europe to be dependent on the US. Because there's always "Strategic Autonomy", which you should note when European leaders talk. It's something that the US has been against.

Hence you can look at it from this angle: Why are European countries really trying to get to that 5% defense expenditure so eagerly? Because the US has transformed to be a very untrustworthy ally. That 5% defense expenditure will establish deterrence if the pro-Kremlin stooge in White House wants to shatter the Atlantic alliance.

But then comes the real question: without the US being the defender of Western institutions and the primary member and leader in it's alliances, why would dollar be the reserve currency anymore? Remember that we didn't get Bancor, we got the Bretton Woods system and after the default by Nixon, the petro-dollar system was too based on defense pact with Saudi-Arabia also. Not based on economics. There's absolutely no other real reason for other countries somehow deciding that the US dollar should be a reserve currency. The logical solution would have a basket of currencies, where the US dollar is the biggest currency (but not the sole currency).

Why are European countries really trying to get to that 5% defense expenditure so eagerly? Because the US has transformed to be a very untrustworthy ally. — ssu

One of these days you're going to finally get that this a concern for you, not Americans.

There's absolutely no other real reason for other countries somehow deciding that the US dollar should be a reserve currency. The logical solution would have a basket of currencies, where the US dollar is the biggest currency (but not the sole currency). — ssu

There's nothing stopping the world from doing this. The trick will be to do it without causing a run on the dollar. :grin:

One of these days you're going to finally get that this a concern for you, not Americans. — frank

Not at all worried about losing your Superpower -status? Lol. Heck, the whole Trump revolution says in writing that this clearly isn't so: Make America Great again. So I guess that a lot of Americans, including future generations, will ask why it happened, if you lose the status.

There's nothing stopping the world from doing this. — frank

The "world" typically doesn't want dramatic changes. Change just is forced upon "the World" when a crisis hits and the effects are unavoidable. Sticking to the present status quo is usually the policy that the vast number of countries prefer. Hence changes don't happen in an instant.

And here it should be noted that there's a quite cacophony of different signals coming from the US.

First and foremost, Trump isn't the kind of politician able to be in control of the whole apparatus (for which actual leadership would be needed). He is more in control of his surroundings in the White House as in the first term (where he unintentionally chose "adults" to be in the room).

Usually Trump's "policies" are just aimless reactions with no clear objectives. Tariffs were surely the thing in his mind (for a long time), but he had to do his TACO. And now? Just look at what a quarter of the US Navy is doing in Venezuela: what on Earth is the objective? Likely the objective is just to throw spaghetti at the wall and see what would stick. Trump and the MAGA crowd (what's left of it) might want to do away with EU and NATO to the great satisfaction of Russia, but it's not so simple. Hence in this environment the Congress and actually the US Military are sending quite different signals as the Pro-Kremlin White House.

NATO and Denmark got through the first Trump administration with Trump not invading Greenland and the US breaching article 1. of the Washington treaty. So the question here is: why wouldn't we get through the next three years too? Then have the democrats regain the White House and it's likely back to something similar as earlier...

These changes take time.

These changes take time. — ssu

The world typically doesn't want and resists change. That is until it can't any longer, and then things can change rather quickly.

If you look at human history 'gradualism' doesn't really seem like the norm, but rather periods of relative stability interspersed with rapid revolutions... punctuated equilibria.

Not at all worried about losing your Superpower -status? — ssu

The US is widely considered by political scientists to be in decline. That's not a result of Trump. It's just that the world changes.

The world typically doesn't want and resists change. That is until it can't any longer, and then things can change rather quickly.

If you look at human history 'gradualism' doesn't really seem like the norm, but rather periods of relative stability interspersed with rapid revolutions... punctuated equilibria. — ChatteringMonkey

This is so true. Everything stays rather the same, until there's a war or people somewhere simply get fed up with their bad situation and revolt or when the markets panic and we have a crisis that gives us an economic depression.

The US is widely considered by political scientists to be in decline. That's not a result of Trump. It's just that the world changes. — frank

Well, I would still remark that a lot that has happened has been self inflicted. Yet, think about it for a while from another perspective:

If the US is decline, where does that leave:

a) Europe?
b) China?
c) Russia?
d) the rest of the World?

When you actually look at all the places now a) - d), they don't actually look so great.

Heck, it's said that I live in the country where the people are the most happy. If that would be true, the World really, really sucks. In many ways, my little countries growth projections are similar to Japan, even if our population hasn't yet declined. Yet Japan shows that this doesn't mean that there will be an economic collapse, just low growth.



One of the interesting questions is how much of this decline and low economic growth is simply due to the demographic transition of countries. Decreasing populations don't create a reason for economic growth.

One of the interesting questions is how much of this decline and low economic growth is simply due to the demographic transition of countries. Decreasing populations don't create a reason for economic growth. — ssu

Yes. Declining population is a looming problem for China, South Korea, and Japan. Europe and the US attract immigrants to offset the decline, but that ignites racial turmoil as those countries become darker in complexion. :)

A significant report: CHOKEHOLD: Donald Trump's War on Free Speech & the Need for Systemic Resistance (.pdf flle).

This Free Press report examines the Trump administration’s hostile relationship with dissent and free expression in 2025. It analyzes how President Trump and his political enablers have worked to undermine and chill the most basic freedoms protected under the First Amendment. While the U.S. government has made efforts throughout this nation’s history to censor people’s expression and association2 — be it the exercise of freedom of speech, religion, press, assembly, or the right to petition the government for redress — the Trump administration’s incessant attacks on even the most tentatively oppositional speech are uniquely aggressive, pervasive and escalating. — Introduction

And also a blistering NY Times editorial leading up to the fifth anniversary of the Day of Infamy, Jan 6th 2021 (gift link.)

It looks like some people won’t be getting their drugs this week!

Nicolas Maduro's heavy-handed rule in Venezuela is finally ended by Trump

If only that comment would be sarcasm. With you, I'm not so sure:

Trump Has Dropped the Price of One Thing: Cocaine

Trump has now his own "special military operation", attempting a regime change and trying to "run Venezuela" and get the oil in Venezuela into US hands. Trump was extremely clear about this when addressing the nation after the strike.

Yet nation building was what you wanted and why you voted for Trump, right? :blush:

Perhaps indeed he will now go annex Greenland.

Drug smuggling is a pretext for striking Venezuela, as it is a minority player in that business. And besides Trump pardoned a genuine large-scale cocaine trafficker only a couple of weeks ago.

The interesting question is whether and how the US is going to put Venezuela under colonial administration which is presumably what ‘running the place’ will require.

Next stop, Greenland. Trump wants it.

Trump is just “defending our institutions”. I thought that would be right up your alley.

Remember this?

Just look at what a quarter of the US Navy is doing in Venezuela: what on Earth is the objective? Likely the objective is just to throw spaghetti at the wall and see what would stick.

Now you know. And the Venezuelan diaspora are elated.

Maduro isn’t the legitimate leader of that country, and your high-horse leaders just sat around and let him repress his citizens, as they’ve done all over the world. So much for “defending our institutions”. And it probably hurts knowing that the exiled opposition leader in Venezuela dedicated her Nobel peace prize to your favorite president last year, isn’t that so?

Trump is just “defending our institutions”. — NOS4A2

Just what institutions I ask? In his press conference, Trump mentioned oil 20 times while he didn't mention drugs, war on drugs or democracy at all. That's quite telling just what "institutions" the sick fuck is values.

And it probably hurts knowing that the exiled opposition leader in Venezuela dedicated her Nobel peace prize to your favorite president last year, isn’t that so? — NOS4A2

Lol, Trump threw Maria Machado immediately under the bus, didn't even bother to mention Edmundo Gonzales, but was eager to tell that they were in contact with Maduro's vice president Delcy Rodriguez.

Trump idiocy as ever. Then claim that he's going to run Venezuela without any troops on the ground and the Chavista-regime quite in control of the country still.

Now you know. — NOS4A2

Actually, I don't. And neither do you.

Just how is this going to work out? What if the Chavistas don't simply surrender?

and your high-horse leaders just sat around and let him repress his citizens, as they’ve done all over the world. So much for “defending our institutions”. — NOS4A2

You are just contradicting yourself. So now you are in favor of nation building?

How well it went in Iraq? That country too had oil.
How well it went in Afghanistan?

A quick trip down memory lane

Now that Obama’s poll numbers are in tailspin – watch for him to launch a strike in Libya or Iran. He is desperate. — Donald J. Trump · Oct 9, 2012

Soo... should there be an "US annexation of Greenland" thread too? Really thinking of it.




Europe: time for Strategic Autonomy!

I really hope that Denmark invokes article 5 if they try to annex Greenland. And seriously push back against the US with military force. It would cause such a turmoil in the US that I don’t think Trump would survive it.

The entire Venezuelan diaspora is cheering, while anti-Trumpism, in cahoots with China, Russia, North Korea, and Iran, wag their crooked fingers. That good moral crowd is fine with narcoterrorism and the theft of the Venezuelan people so long as it and the mass migration that came from it didn’t affect them. It’s glorious to watch.

It did affect the United States, however. Her enemies used Venezuela as an oil depot, robbing the Venezuelan people from that precious commodity, and to no surprise anti-Trumpism raised no suspicions when these enemies were taking Venezuela’s oil. Venezuelan criminals were entering into the US illegally under the cover of the diaspora. The regime there used the drug-trade to profit and sent them directly to the US. Hezbollah helped to turn Venezuela into a hub for the convergence of transnational organized crime and international terrorism. All this should serve as a good reminder of what kinds of goods Trump’s enemies are left to defend.

What nobody even mentions is Article 1:

The Parties undertake, as set forth in the Charter of the United Nations, to settle any international dispute in which they may be involved by peaceful means in such a manner that international peace and security and justice are not endangered, and to refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force in any manner inconsistent with the purposes of the United Nations.

NATO is dead if the US uses violence of the threat of violence to take Greenland. Not just maimed as the UN is, but seriously dead.

Likely what the Trump lunatics want is that Greenland declares independence of Denmark and then they can rape the island. Because what is so peculiar in Trump's deranged mind is that he genuinely wants to increase the physical territory of the United States. It's not the mining rights, iwhat Trump wants is territory. He made it clear in his inaugral speech. With Canada and Greenland, the US would be far larger than Russia. (Let's remember that Greenland is larger than Mexico)

But again, the European allies of Denmark are holding drills in Greenland...



And Macron has visited Greenland with the Danish PM being the host:

The big irony would be if the Swedish sub that took out a US carrier during Baltic exercises… in the end took it down for real during an invasion.

With that said, the US military does have the right to reject illegal orders. Maybe there’s some intelligent brain cells within the US navy who simply will reject orders from that orange pig until people had enough and remove him from office.

I still don’t understand how far he can go before those with the power to remove him, do so. How many illegal things has he done by now? What does it take for the US to remove a president? Impeachment doesn’t work if the people who decide on it are part of his cult.

Good to see your neocon side, NOS4A2. I didn't remember you being such a great fan of nation building.

I still don’t understand how far he can go before those with the power to remove him, do so. How many illegal things has he done by now? What does it take for the US to remove a president? Impeachment doesn’t work if the people who decide on it are part of his cult. — Christoffer

The political opposition to Trump hasn't woken up to the fact that this isn't a normal President playing by the rules. Many are just dumbstruck. And then there's the vast majority who don't follow politics and get only mad when the US economy tanks... or more precisely their own economy tanks.

The entire Venezuelan diaspora is cheering — NOS4A2

:rofl:

And Trump’s approval rating is at 99%.