If the schoolyard bully ever needed help, it wasn't given out of appreciation or other good reasons. Trump now must threaten NATO for help with Iran's control of the Straits. I remember the photo in his first term, pushing people out of the way at a G7 conference.
He has done more to alienate our former allies in 15 months than most Trump critics could have feared. His lack of history and diplomacy is stunning, and we're paying the price. The MAGA flags on the pickups will come down as the cost of living rises.
The sycophants in the administration are being marginalized by their spineless compliance to his lunacy. Marco will never step beyond those oversized shoes he wore out of the Oval Office. The mission now isn't to make American great again, but to make America respected again.
Personally, I think it shows how worthless NATO is to the US.
ReplyDeleteWe seem to always be there to bail Europe out, but Britain can’t even send a few of their minesweepers and other NATO allies can’t help escort tankers through the Strait of Hormuz? That’s not even asking them to get directly involved in the fighting.
You will drone on with the Leftist lie about the problem being Trump’s diplomacy, but the reality is that Europe is fearful of offending the large number of Islamists they allowed into their countries. They might be comfortable with separate religious courts, gang rapes of young girls and “no-go” zones in their countries, but that’s a hard pass for me here in the USA.
If Europe is lost, it is by their own doing and not because of Trump. They bring nothing but a drain on America, and are proving by their lack of action that NATO (as some idealize it) no longer exists.
anon@8:28: Last month we decided South America is worthless, now Europe. We're fortunate to have such giants in the White House guiding world policy :)
ReplyDeleteEurope has been begging us to get even MORE involved in the Ukraine against Russia, while continuing to buy the Russian oil and gas that funds Russia’s war efforts. That’s nothing new and was going on during the previous administration as well.
DeleteMaybe that sounds like a good deal to you, but to me it reminds me of an old saying that starts like this: “With friends like that…”
MM, we all miss the strength and depth of the Biden/Harris team.
DeleteOkay, now you can exclude this comment.
When you berate your friends, tariff them, insult and bully them, don't ask them for help later.
ReplyDeleteDiplomacy is not the same as buying New Yawk real estate.
“…tariff them…”
DeleteMaybe you should do a little research on how much our “friends” tariff us!
The whole tariff thing came about to level the playing field because other countries didn’t want to give up their tariffs on us.
I don’t begrudge them for keeping the tariffs they want on us, nor do I begrudge the current administration for trying to even things out.
And, as some countries have found out, tariffs can also be used as a carrot. Or a stick.
@9:37
DeleteTell us about Carters successfully diplomacy in the Middle East or maybe Biden successful initiatives.
How about Obama delivering pallets of hard cold cash to the Iranians.
Or you can just continue to bash the Orange Devil in a historical vacuum.
Trump is no diplomat. Rubio is working overtime. Trump has insulted and tariffed our allies, are we surprised that they don’t respond to his calls for help? I think this is more of a you break it, you bought it situation. Trump’s self-flattering “no one else had the guts to do it” is naive. Everyone else had the brains not to. What happened to ending the Ukraine war on day one? Now Trump is eager to spread his chaos as a distraction to Cuba.
ReplyDeleteThe Abraham Accords were a stroke of diplomatic genius.
DeleteYes, I love the way other countries tariff us but, heaven forbid, we do tic for tac... You stop yours, we stop ours... we charge the exact same tariff as they do, but, apparently, that isn't fair... boo hoo to you...
ReplyDeleteThis is a case of chickens coming home to roost. Trump has not treated our allies as friends and has not exercised diplomacy. Insulting publiclly does not win you good feelings nor influence. The world, as was written above, is not composed of New York real estate deals.
ReplyDeleteLook at the list of nations that Trump has asked for support: The UK, France, Germany, Australia, Japan. The same nations that Trump did not consult with before going to war. You set up alliences BEFORE you start a war. Not afterwards.
I suspect that those nations believe Trump will declare victory and walk away from this mess, leaving them holding the bag afterwards. They don't trust Trump. That's the bottom line.
When you pss away your friendships, this is what you get.
Mr. Moll, are you honestly suggesting, with a straight face, that Trump should have gotten something like a consensus from the Europeans before he launched the intervention against Iran?
DeleteThe idea is utterly absurd on face value, with all due respect.
mj adams
The reality is the straits of Hormuz are a death trap, the U.S. navy is not desiring to go there. Then again, the Straits are open to all who ask permission from Iran. It may be easier to just ask rather than risk ships and seaman.
ReplyDeleteMr. Ray, sir, who precisely would you ask for permission in the Shia, Iranian, government at this moment in time?
DeleteSet up alliances before the war, Moll says. He DID have such an alliance beforehand. It's called NATO.
DeleteHere’s the real story. Because the United States has very little need for oil coming in from the Middle East, as it is estimated that oil only makes up 5-8% of our required product, Trump was only asking those countries who DO depend more heavily on Middle East oil to directly participate in protecting passage of their OWN oil incoming shipping network.
ReplyDeleteMany of those same European nations have now said “Sorry we won’t help in clearing the channel, United States. You, United States do it all while we sit back and watch.
If I were in charge here, I would begin pulling all of our forces out of that Middle East situation and let’s those nations go it alone.
On the face of it, that's a reasonable presumption, as the United States is an oil exporter.
DeleteThe reality is that not all the oil that comes out of United States oil wells is equal. The oil that comes out of the Gulf of Mexico is not the same chemically as what comes out of the Permain Basin in West Texas or the oil out of wells in Oklaholma or western Pennsylvania or off the coast of California.
What we do is send oil out of the country, and we import other oil from other locations to mix it so it has all of the elements in the crude, and then refine the mixed crude to have the gasoline and a thousand other products oil actually produces once it is refined and then sent to industry to manufacture everything from gasoline to jet fuel to medical supplies to fabrics or polymers and many other products..
Oil production is not as straightforward as many think it just comes out of the well and then ships straight to the refinery. That's not how the buisness works.
Joe Kent resigns, claims that Israel controls US foreign policy.
Deletemj adams@7:23&7:26:Trump 45 did have good advise, although their shelf life was very short. Trump 47 has deteriorated, has only sycophants, and throws dissenters under the tank.
ReplyDeleteTrump 45 did have the benefit from sage advice of Anthony Fauci. Where's Tony when you need him?
ReplyDelete