Trump in motion, as disruptor-in-chief, as Euro leaders mope
March 12, 2025 in News by RBN Staff
source: gatewaypundithispanic
Across Western Europe, anxiety-ridden governments are scrambling to come up with a credible strategy to “defend” Ukraine, to increase defense spending to determine what they predict will be an expected Russian onslaught if Zelensky is forced by Trump to submit to the terms for peace dictated by Russia. This, despite no evidence of a Russian attempt to attack its European neighbors.
The deeper concern of “leaders” such as the hypocrites Macron and Starmer, who is left unsaid, is not about defending Ukraine, but how to adapt to the end of an era of 500 years of global domination by European colonizers. They fear that a “multipolar” alliance centered around the US and Russia spells the end of Transatlantic dominance, the globalist’s Unipolar Order, in strategic and economic affairs.
For the British, this is especially difficult, as their ability to assert financial control depends on maintaining the “Special Relationship” with the US The other half of this is featured in headlines, such as one in the formerly pro-American Guardian —or more accurately, of the “pro-Biden war hawk” press—which announced, “The US may no longer be considered an ally,” and in editorials, such as one that asked, “How long do Ukraine and Europe have to respond to the US betrayal?”
This angst was reflected in an article in the Daily Mail , citing diplomatic sources in Washington who said that Trump has “gone cool” on the UK due to King Charles’ public welcoming of Ukraine’s acting president, Zelensky. The Mail reports that allies of Trump said that “pictures of the King with the Ukrainian leader made him feel ‘less special’ about the monarch’s invitation for a state visit to Britain.”
The derangement demonstrated by Starmer and Macron has been matched by the incoming German Chancellor Merz, who has broken his promise to voters that he would sustain the debt brake, a constitutional measure to control deficits. Merz is trying to rush a measure through the Bundestag to allow for a 400 billion euro increase in defense spending before the newly elected members are seated.
Lacking the votes in the new parliament to reach the two-thirds majority needed to change the law to increase spending—which would be difficult given the opposition to the Ukraine war by Alternativ für Deutschland members, which represents the second-largest bloc of voters in the new parliament—he is hoping to get the votes from the old coalition members from the SPD, the Greens, and the FDP, many of whom were voted out in the February 23 election. The AfD is opposing this plan by Merz, as it represents an anti-democratic trick to reverse the will of the voters.
The efforts of a chastened Zelensky, bolstered by his European Union and NATO allies, to return to Trump’s good graces will be tested this week at meetings of US and Ukrainian officials in Saudi Arabia. Trump has turned up the heat on Zelensky since their Oval Office showdown, suspending arms and monetary aid, along with intelligence sharing.
A spokesperson for the President said before the meeting that Zelensky can’t say, “I want peace,” and yet insist on the right to refuse to compromise on anything. Trump also provoked a reaction from the US press when he truthfully stated that NATO expansion provoked Russia’s Special Military Operation and that Ukraine rejected a peace deal its negotiators had worked out with the Russians in March 2022. The Washington Post cited these comments as examples of Trump’s dishonesty!
While moving ahead to get a peace “deal” in Ukraine, there are signs that the peace offensive may spread to Southwest Asia. With the future of Palestinian lives in Gaza still unresolved, Trump’s special representative Steve Witkoff referred positively to the Egyptian reconstruction plan for Gaza, which was presented last week to Arab leaders in Cairo.
Though one administration spoke out sounding unenthusiastic, Witkoff said the plan has “a lot of compelling features to it,” calling it a “good faith first step.” This puts the administration at odds with Prime Minister Netanyahu, who denounced it as unacceptable.
As for the threat of an Israeli attack on Iran, which would likely require US backup, Trump said he had drafted a letter to Ayatollah Khamenei, suggesting a new nuclear deal as an alternative to war. Although it is not clear if he sent the letter, by raising it publicly he has introduced the possibility of a peaceful resolution to what Netanyahu has called an existential threat to Israel. It is likely to provoke a decidedly hostile response from the neocons in the US, such as John Bolton, Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, and Hillary Clinton, who have demanded regime change in Iran.
Article by Harley Schlanger, Director of the Schiller Institute.
