Editor – He has upset the moral expectations of the planet (fixed by Roosevelt et al c. 1945). They lasted 80 years, made possible decent existence after the Nazi problem that resulted in the deaths of millions.
Now, suddenly, it is different. I never heard Trump asked the question: Ukraine was invaded by Russia. Millions have been killed, many cities ruined — who will rebuild them? Pay for the deaths?
If he had been asked, he would have ignored it. His blind spots are the very moral beliefs most of us view as fundamental to our way of life. These matter not at all now: the world has already adjusted to the change.
Very little protest has been made by nations, or premiers, anybody. It is as if we have suddenly transitioned to a new world.
Thus, the status quo of 1945 is abandoned. The rebuke “so-and-so invaded, slew millions and ruined cities”, without a response of any kind, is a sine qua non: the way the world is now.
What matters most to Trump? How he is seen by others; his money; he seeks a Nobel Prize; he seeks acclaim. He would like to be King of the planet. His ego expects no less. Rage is the result of refusal. The world is silent.
Everybody is too afraid to upset the monster. He is a mighty force — but not for good. He takes over Venezuela and his troops kill 55 Venezuelan soldiers — at no cost to himself, it seems. It hardly engages his consciousness. What matter if 55 people, once alive, are now dead?
For years we have opened our newspapers to find Putin smiling at us. No one has complained; no action has been taken. You would think that something would have been done. Not so.
Why was there never a reply to the question above? Because Putin saw how to capture Trump. Offer him extravagant rates to invest his money. Trump has been eating out of Putin’s hand ever since, unwilling to condemn him or fail to act for him. This is why the question never gets asked.
Putin has shown he has the cards; Zelensky lacks them. Thus, Trump approves of Putin despite his career of murdering critics and rivals. No wonder the world is silent. To complain things should be different is an invitation to be bumped off. And Putin’s gangs are just waiting for orders. Trump’s various meetings with Putin stand out like an infected thumb. Why else is the planet silent? Why is every NATO country saying nothing, doing nothing? Why the silence?
Because we are used to Putin’s murdering anyone he wills? Why even are China and Iran silent, or Norway, Estonia, Sweden and Finland? What is so wrong with the world that everyone is afraid to complain? Fear of Putin? Of Trump himself? Is this pair alone enough to cause the silence? Without them, would there be a return to the status quo? Probably.
We have seen how Trump responds to his pact with Putin. He takes charge of Venezuela, takes its oil and intends to put American companies in to cream the place. A carrier battle fleet and hundreds of bombers take care of it. These can be moved anywhere, to strike on a whim. Trump has shown he now controls the hemisphere. Who could challenge that? Having seen the absence of unexpected consequences, Trump knows that he can do as he likes. The world trembles at the prospect and its possibilities.
Would Trump take Greenland? Some think not. What is to prevent Trump just moving his fleet across the sea to do just that? Nothing. No one is ready to defend a solitary island with fewer than a thousand people. Denmark, for sure, will take no action. How could it, without an equivalent force? He will do it because, as he says, Russia and China will take it if he doesn’t. They will learn from what he has done.
Why would Trump, having understood what he has already achieved very easily, fail to continue to act as suits his will? Putin will even be at hand to help him, no matter the outcome. The one aide Trump can count on is Putin, because Putin and he are locked together in a financial arrangement that suits both of them.
Together, no one can stand against them — not even the Chinese. Trump has no moral sense. He is an evolving person; can be expected to use his military forces to extend his hold over the world and become, as he wishes above all, King of the planet. That is the full extent of his arrogance. He will not stop for anyone now. He wants every medal he can imagine. We are, perhaps, too late to prevent him.
