Moving forward without us

 

Left Behind

 

Zelensky in DC

Trump was caught on a hot mic telling European leaders today after his meeting with Zelensky that Putin might agree to a peace deal with Ukraine just to help him out and do him a personal favor so he can look good: "I think he wants to make a deal for me. Do you understand? As crazy as it sounds."

  

It IS crazy. Batshit.

Present at the meeting today at WH: UK PM Keir Starmer, Italian PM Giorgia Meloni, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Finnish President Alexander Stubb, French President Emmanuel Macron, NATO Sec-Gen Mark Rutte, EU President Ursula von der Leyen.

And, Zelensky.

When Trump met face-to-face with Zelensky before the cameras, he was very low energy and accommodating, trying to save face after his disaster in Alaska with Putin by claiming that he just wants peace and the war to end and he will do everything possible to help Ukraine. No specifics were announced, no deals or agreements, just more of the same nonsensical whining about how unfair it is that he doesn’t get any credit from the world or the press for his skills as a negotiator.

But, he's already added this war to his imaginary deals ending wars. Today, it jumped from six to seven.

Rep. Marge Greene’s boyfriend Brian Glenn, who went after Zelensky at the last meeting because he wasn’t wearing a suit, complimented Zelensky for wearing a suit jacket this time (but no tie). Zelensky replied: “And you’re still wearing the same suit as last time. I changed, you didn’t.”

[...]

Foreign affairs journalist Olga Nesterova: “Both Trump and Zelensky were on their best behavior. If you listen carefully, Trump delivered all Russian standpoints. Fox confirms WH message that ‘Trump will make a case for land swap, but it’s up to Ukrainian people to accept it. Plus no NATO.’ So Ukraine will be blamed (if there is no deal). NOTHING IS NEW.”

After the meeting with Zelensky when Trump met with the rest of the European leaders, he seemed much less enthused about this meeting, which he clearly didn’t want. He led off by commenting that Putin should be included in the next meeting.

… German Chancellor Merz suggested that there should be a precondition to Putin’s involvement : "I can't imagine that the next meeting would take place without a ceasefire. So let's work on that and let's try to put pressure on Russia because the credibility of these efforts we are undertaking today depends on at least a ceasefire from the beginning of the serious negotiations."

Trump then said he disagreed and a ceasefire was not necessary before the next meeting with Putin.

Perhaps because he knows there won't be one.

French President Macron: “When we speak about security guarantees, we speak about the whole security of the European continent and this is why we are all united here with Ukraine on this matter. You can be sure that Europeans are very lucid about the fact that they have their fair share in the security guarantees for Ukraine, but their own security is clearly at stake in this situation.”

Will there be a future where Europe trusts the US again?  Not in my lifetime, I'm sure.

UPDATE 01:31 pm:

Alternative facts.

Everything he does is a fundraising scheme.

Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt was asked about Trump’s comment: Q - “If the point is to get everybody on the same page, why wouldn't Trump just take the call from Putin when the other leaders were in the room? Leavitt: Only a reporter from the New York Times would ask a question like that.”

Every time she gets confronted with a question she can’t answer, that is her exact response with only the name of the media company being changed.

  Meidas Touch

Exactly what Trump does.

Trump then said Ukraine started the war: "It's not a war that should've been started. You don't do that. You don't take on a nation that's 10 times your size."

Ukrainian journalist Kateryna Zubkova reacted to Trump’s comment: “We are basically getting blamed for existing next to Russia. This is getting ridiculous.”

America, your president is delusional

 

Like night follows day

Ooops

And, from The New Republic:

“In the last few days, we have had many conversations with macro fund managers,” wrote Tom Lee, the head of research at the financial analysis firm FSInsights.

“And their concern is that the White House is not acting rationally, but rather on ideology. And some even fear that this may not even be ideology,” Lee continued. “A few have quietly wondered if the President might be insane.”

Lee placed the blame for any economic fallout squarely in Trump’s lap, arguing that Trump’s decisions behind the Resolute Desk lead to a “binary outcome,” though they don’t always make sense.

[...]

"[T]the longer this volatility lasts, the greater the risk the US and the world are getting pushed into a needless recession,” he warned.

Other financial experts, including JP Morgan Chase CEO Jamie Diamond, have similarly assessed that Trump’s plan has pushed the U.S. to the brink of a recession.

  New Republic

The S&P 500 was down 2.3% early Thursday, a day after surging 9.5% following President Donald Trump ’s decision to pause many of his tariffs worldwide. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 685 points, and the Nasdaq composite was down 2.9%.

  Independent UK

China increased its tariffs on US imports to 125 per cent, vowing to ‘fight to the end’ in a trade war that threatens to up-end global supply chains.

The hike, hitting back against Donald Trump's decision to hike duties on Chinese goods to 145 per cent, will come into effect on Saturday.

Reacting to the news, the US dollar index fell 1.2 per cent to 99.50, marking its lowest level since April 2022.

[...]

Chinese President Xi Jinping made his first public comments on the tariff war on Friday, urging the European Union to join China to “oppose unilateral acts of bullying”.

As quoted by state broadcaster CCTV, he said: “There are no winners in a trade war, and going against the world will only lead to self-isolation.”

  Independent UK

And the European Union is, in fact, working with China.

UPDATE 04/12/2025:

Mark Twain would have his answer

 Mark Twain once wrote: Sometimes I wonder if we're being run by smart people who are putting us on or imbeciles who really mean it.

Wonder no more.

Trump’s massive 104% tariffs on China are set to go into effect at midnight tonight [April 8], a move that will have a major impact on Apple and its supply chain. Ahead of that, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said today that Trump firmly believes that Apple can move iPhone manufacturing to the United States.

[...]

In response to a question from Maggie Haberman of The New York Times, Leavitt said]:

“[Trump] believes we have the labor, we have the workforce, we have the resources to do it. As you know, Apple has invested $500 billion here in the United States. So, if Apple didn’t think the United States could do it, they probably wouldn’t have put up that big chunk of change.”

Leavitt is referencing Apple’s announcement from February, when it said it would “spend more than $500 billion in the U.S. over the next four years.” Apple’s commitment, however, made zero reference to iPhone assembly in the United States. The press release focused on R&D in the U.S., chip production in Arizona, AI server manufacturing in Houston, Apple TV+ production, and an academy in Michigan.

[...]

As reported yesterday, Apple has been stockpiling iPhone inventory in the United States ahead of Trump’s tariffs. This will help the company stave off the impact of the tariffs and avoid price increases for now.

  9to5Mac

We don't have the factories, the specifically skilled workers, or the materials to build iPhones here. So there's that.

By the way, US tariffs on China are now 104%, and Chinese tariffs on the US are at 84%. Nice work, Trump.

And, the rest of the world is moving on without us.

President [of the European Commission Ursula] von der Leyen held today a phone call with Premier Li Qiang to discuss the state of EU-China relations, as 2025 marks the 50th anniversary of diplomatic ties.

[...]

The President underscored the vital importance of stability and predictability for the global economy. In response to the widespread disruption caused by the US tariffs, President von der Leyen stressed the responsibility of Europe and China, as two of world's largest markets, to support a strong reformed trading system, free, fair and founded on a level playing field.

[...]

President von der Leyen emphasised China's critical role in addressing possible trade diversion caused by tariffs, especially in sectors already affected by global overcapacity. The leaders discussed setting up a mechanism for tracking possible trade diversion and ensuring any developments are duly addressed.

[...]

The conversation also covered EU-China cooperation on the international climate agenda and the clean industrial transition.

Finally, President von der Leyen reaffirmed the EU's steadfast support for a just and lasting peace in Ukraine, emphasising that any conditions for peace must be determined by Ukraine. She invited China to intensify its efforts to contribute meaningfully to the peace process.

  official EU website

Sure, hon.  Tell me again, how much of what we're buying at the grocery is produced in this country?

In a nutshell...

Yeah, we saw China kissing your ass.  

Eruope responds to Trump's anti-Ukrainian move

In one jaw-dropping meeting, the once unthinkable fear that Ukraine would be forced to engage in a long war against a stronger opponent without U.S. support appeared to move exponentially closer to reality.

“For Ukraine, it is clarifying, though not in a great way,” Phillips O’Brien, an international relations professor at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland, said in an interview. “Ukraine can now only count on European states for the support it needs to fight.”

The German president, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, said on Saturday that Europe must stand with Ukraine, and prevent the country “from having to accept subjugation.”

“The scene at the White House yesterday took my breath away,” he told the German press agency onboard a plane. “I would never have believed that we would ever have to defend Ukraine from the United States.”

  NYT

Then you don't know Trump. He has been keen for revenge since his first term when Zelensky wouldn't investigate Joe Biden for him. When he learned Zelensky could not be subjugated.

Mr. Zelensky signaled on Saturday that he had not completely given up hope of repairing the relationship with Mr. Trump. Posting on social media, he went out of his way to thank the United States, perhaps trying to address Mr. Trump’s complaint on Friday that he was ungrateful.

“I’m thankful to President Trump, Congress for their bipartisan support, and American people,” he wrote. “Ukrainians have always appreciated this support, especially during these three years of full-scale invasion.”

At the same time, Mr. Zelensky began laying the groundwork for moving ahead with the European countries that have stood by Kyiv’s side. Ukraine announced plans on Saturday for a joint weapons venture with France that would be financed by the interest earned from frozen Russian assets.

[...]

In a stark contrast to Friday’s meeting in Washington, [his] visit to 10 Downing Street began with a warm handshake and a short embrace. It included a promise from [Prime Minister Keir] Starmer to the Ukrainian president that “you have full backing across the United Kingdom, and we stand with you and Ukraine for as long as it takes.”

On Sunday, Mr. Zelensky will attend a summit of European leaders hosted by Mr. Starmer.

[...]

Along the front lines, some soldiers said that the realization was sinking in that Mr. Trump would probably not help Ukraine. “Trump chose his side in this war,” said Pvt. Serhiy Hnezdilov in a telephone interview from the front on Saturday.

Private Hnezdilov said that he supported Mr. Zelensky’s stance, adding that he thought the attempt to humiliate the Ukrainian leader was probably the goal of the invitation to the White House.

“The scandal we witnessed was essentially the only purpose of that meeting,” the private said. “It looked utterly absurd, considering that we, Ukrainians, have always regarded America as an example of democracy and, most importantly, of values.”

[...]

Leaders across Europe took to social media to voice support of Ukraine, and Mr. Zelensky offered his personal thanks for every statement while reposting them.

But Mr. Zelensky did acknowledge that losing U.S. military support would be a devastating blow.

“It will be difficult for us,” he told Fox News after the White House meeting. “That’s why I’m here.”

Difficult, but not impossible.

Opposition figures also backed Mr. Zelensky.

“Though I do not fully agree with President Zelensky’s policies, I must say that I am genuinely grateful to him for withstanding this pressure,” Natalia Pipa, a member of Parliament for the Holos party, said in an interview.

“Trump behaved disgustingly and condescendingly,” she added.

[...]

Since Mr. Trump picked up the phone on Feb. 12 for a 90-minute chat with Mr. Putin, he has called Mr. Zelensky “a dictator”; falsely accused Ukraine of starting the war; and pressed the Ukrainian leader to accede to his administration’s demands, posting that he “better move fast or he is not going to have a Country left.”

[...]

He offered Mr. Putin generous concessions on NATO and Ukrainian territory even before the talks started, and repeated the Kremlin’s calls for elections in Ukraine.

How does the American president offer concessions on Ukrainian territory?

American "defense contractors" are going to lose money if the United States quits supporting Ukraine.

And where are the Democrats, FFS?

   
UPDATE 03/02/2025:

Lisa, what have you done to try to stop this?  Ever.  Will you pretend ignorance of the evidence he was always going this way?

UPDATE 03/02/2025:

UPDATE 03/03/2025:

Respected again.

Hungary no longer belongs

What do you do when a country turns dictatorial?

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

UPDATE 12/19/2023:

Sweden and Finland joining NATO

NATO leaders have called Russia the “most significant and direct threat” to the alliance’s peace and security, while officially inviting Sweden and Finland to join bloc.

The leaders of the 30-country bloc, in a joint declaration after meeting in Madrid, Spain on Wednesday, endorsed a new strategic framework and launch the largest revamp of its defence and deterrence capabilities since the end of the Cold War, strengthening its forces on its eastern flank and massively ramping up the number of troops it has at high readiness. The declaration also addressed the growing military and economic reach of China.

[...]

The summit opened with one of the bloc’s problems solved, after Turkey agreed on Tuesday to lift its opposition to Sweden and Finland joining NATO.

  alJazeera

Related:

Dire straits

So, in your own interest, stop buying Russia's oil, or give Ukraine offensive and more defensive weapons and soldiers.

And maybe think about where Putin goes after he takes Ukraine, if he does.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

Europe getting serious

The bloc has long resisted a ban on Russian oil because of its enormous costs for Germany and its potential to disrupt politics around the region and increase energy prices.

  NYT

So you KNOW they are taking Putin's aggression seriously. 

Also, if you have investment money, you may want to put some into US liquified natural gas companies. I heard Germany is already building infrastructure to allow them to import LNG from the US.

Speaking of the European Union...

Ushering Ukraine into the European Union

Tha's great, but each member country has the right to veto, and Hungary is a member.

European Union woes

It's not encouraging that the European Union seems to be very shaky since Brexit. I feel it's happening as right-wing nationalists with fascist tendencies gain more control across Europe, as well as here in America.

[Head of the European Commission] Ursula von der Leyen said she was deeply concerned by Thursday’s ruling of the Polish constitutional tribunal, which concluded that basic principles of EU law were incompatible with Poland’s constitution. “I have instructed the commission’s services to analyse it thoroughly and swiftly. On this basis, we will decide on next steps,” she said in her first public statement on the matter.

[...]

While the European Commission is embroiled in a legal dispute with Germany’s constitutional court over EU law, the latest ruling from Poland is seen by Brussels as far more serious. Polish judges have rejected the basic principle of EU legal primacy – a core pillar of the bloc’s legal order that all member states sign up to on joining.

[...]

Politicians and legal scholars have described the move as a “legal Polexit” that jeopardises Poland’s access to EU funds and the rights of its largely pro-EU population and businesses.

France’s Europe minister, Clément Beaune, said the situation was very serious. “There is the risk of a de-facto exit,” of Poland from the EU, he told the BFM-TV broadcaster, adding that he did not want Poland to leave. “This is not a technical or a legal question. This is a highly political topic that adds to a long list of provocations aimed at the EU,” he said.

[...]

The ruling is the latest twist in a conflict between Brussels and Warsaw that began soon after Poland’s nationalist Law and Justice party came to power in 2015. The ruling party swiftly introduced changes to its legal system that increased government control over judges, widely condemned as weakening the rule of law.

  Guardian

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

EU snubbed in AUKUS agreement

And France is not taking it kindly.

France has recalled its ambassadors to the US and Australia for consultations sparked by the “exceptional seriousness” of Canberra’s surprise decision to cancel an order for French-built submarines and its security pact with Washington and London.

  The Guardian

That sounds pretty shitty on Australia's part. Are there some mitigating circumstances?

The French are furious at Australia’s decision to cancel a A$90bn (£48bn) contract it signed with the French company Naval Group in 2016 for a fleet of 12 state-of-the-art attack class submarines. That deal became bogged down in cost over-runs, delays and design changes.

Ah.

It is the first time France has recalled a US ambassador; the two countries have been allies since the American war of independence. France also cancelled a gala due to be held on Friday to commemorate the anniversary of the Battle of Chesapeake Bay, a decisive event in the war, which ended with the French fleet’s victory over the British on 5 September 1781. A White House official told Reuters that the United States regretted the French decision and said Washington had been in close touch with Paris. The official said the United States would be engaged in the coming days to resolve differences between the two countries.

Ninety billion differences.

Peter Ricketts, a former permanent undersecretary at the Foreign Office and former UK ambassador to France, tweeted: “Don’t underestimate reaction in Paris. It’s not just anger but a real sense of betrayal that UK as well as US and Aus negotiated behind their backs for 6 months. I lived the rupture in 2003 over Iraq. This feels as bad or worse.”

OK, that sounds pretty shitty on all of AUKUS.

The Australian foreign affairs minister, Marise Payne, in Washington, said she understood the “disappointment” in Paris and hoped to work with France to ensure it understands “the value we place on the bilateral relationship and the work that we want to continue to do together”.

Fine way to show value, negotiating behind their backs.

[Ricketts added,] "A signal Paris regards Washington and Canberra as ringleaders in plot, with London as accomplice. Expect further French measures targeting interests of all three.”

I don't know what France can do on its own, but nobody trusts the US any more.* 

Perhaps the EU will back France in the matter. And we thought Biden was supposed to be restoring connections with our European allies. 

 *

The chaotic withdrawal and evacuation from Afghanistan, which has already prompted soul-searching among Western partners, is now reviving a decades-old debate within the European Union: Does the 27-nation club need its own military?

[...]

Many experts say the prospect of rolling out a free-standing E.U. military anytime soon is unrealistic. But the clamoring, which subsided somewhat after President Biden’s election, has intensified once more, after Biden rebuffed calls to keep U.S. troops in Afghanistan past the Aug. 31 deadline. European leaders say that left them no choice but to cut short their evacuations, leaving thousands of their citizens and Afghan allies behind.

  WaPo

Not good.

E.U. foreign policy chief Josep Borrell asserted that a proposed joint rapid-deployment force of 5,000 troops could have helped to secure the Kabul airport and that a coordinated European security strategy would have allowed the bloc more influence over the “timing and nature of the withdrawal.”

“The only way forward is to combine our forces and strengthen not only our capacity, but also our will to act,” Borrell said after a meeting of E.U. defense ministers in Slovenia on Thursday.

[...]

French President Emmanuel Macron is one of the concept’s biggest boosters and has been calling for a “true European army” since he took office — while at one point criticizing NATO as brain dead.

[...]

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who once endorsed Macron’s suggestion for an army, has nonetheless been a staunch supporter of NATO as well as the U.S. military bases in her country. But Armin Laschet, who is vying to succeed her, said recently that Europe must be strengthened “such that we never have to leave it up to Americans.”

[...]

Some critics say European leaders are attempting to distance themselves from the Afghanistan fiasco despite generally supporting the decision to leave. Germany, for instance, declined to send troops back to help stabilize the country last month as the Taliban made sweeping territorial gains.

Things are rarely just black or white, are they?

But the renewed debate among European leaders also reflects a growing frustration with Biden, who told the world that “America is back” but has pursued foreign policies that echo some of his predecessor’s positions.

“What happened in Afghanistan was a defining moment,” said Nathalie Loiseau, who chairs the European Parliament’s subcommittee on security and defense. When the United States decided to pull out of the country, there was scant coordination with allies, she said. Biden dismissed European calls for a “conditions-based withdrawal,” and he refused to extend the deadline for pulling out. [...] “Now, Europeans must stop focusing on what the U.S. does or does not do.”

[...]

“There is not enough oomph behind all this politically to translate it into something practical,” said [Nathalie] Tocci, the director of the Istituto Affari Internazionali, a global affairs think tank. “We are just not prepared to see body bags coming home, and Afghanistan is not going to change that. It’s a political question that Europeans keep on ducking.”

And who can blame them? They still remember WWII.

NATO, now a 30-country alliance, has been the primary military force in Europe since the aftermath of World War II, but the United States has long set its agenda. In the weeks since the Taliban took over Afghanistan, European leaders have called the mission a “failure” and a “debacle,” saying it’s further evidence that the E.U. should be able to act on its own.

[...]

“If you want to go all the way to strategic autonomy, you do have to have a European command — you can’t keep pretending you can follow the NATO command structure,” said Fabrice Pothier, a former NATO policy chief. “That will indeed create some friction with NATO and possibly with the U.S. and the U.K."

[...]

Some steps have already been taken to strengthen cooperation between European militaries. France, Germany and Spain are working together on Europe’s largest defense project, developing a new fighter jet. But four years after the plan’s announcement, the countries have only recently finalized the details.

The E.U. has set lofty targets before. In 1999, member states pledged to build a military force of up to 60,000, but it never materialized. Instead, the bloc has had multinational “battle groups” of about 1,500 troops since 2007, but they’ve never been deployed because of a lack of funding and political will.

Putin must be smiling. 

 ...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

Ouch

At least somebody's taking it seriously

Germany is rolling out bans on the sale of single-use plastic items such as straws, cotton swabs, and food containers to reduce plastic waste and environmental pollution.

[...]

Single-use plastic cutlery, plates, stirring sticks, and polystyrene cups were also included on the list of items to be banned.

Environment Minister Svenja Schulze said the purpose of the ban is part of an effort to divert away from "throw-away culture."

The initiative coincides with a broader European Union directive to limit waste across all of its member nations, the AP noted.

[...]

While there are no [U.S.] federal restrictions on single-use plastics, eight states—California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Maine, New York, Oregon, and Vermont—have banned single-use plastic bags.

  The Hill

Slow down! Baby steps, US. Baby steps.

Meanwhile, Europe is having to go it without US

Fare thee well