Whose side is Trump on anyway? Worldwide or at home: it is not pro democracy

 While the Trump regime dismantles cybersecurity agencies responsible for protecting the US from foreign intervention in our elections,  it is busy supporting anti-democratic movements and pro-Russian cohorts abroad. From Germany to Bosnia lately, Trump and his close supporters get credit for wins by anti-democratic forces.  The success of the AfD political party winning an election in a German state, Saxony, shook many with the fear that a neo-Nazi-tinged party like AfD (described as a far right party) signaled a resurgence of fascism in Germany. Who did the AfD thank for their win? Elon Musk..  Money in politics in Europe is carefully regulated, and there is no evidence Musk contributed that, but what he did was offer verbal political and moral support, for which the AfD gave thanks.  

Trump continues to play footsie with Putin:   

In a country I follow closely, Bosnia, a pro-Russia party won in the Serbian ethnic-friendly semi-autonomous Republika Srpska, and gave credit for their win to Trump. and Putin. Trump sent his advisors to help this Putin ally win. https://www.nytimes.com/2026/10/06/us/politics/trump-advisers-republika-srpska.html

Update: 10/10/2026 Not only did Trump send his advisors to aid a Putin ally in Srpska Republika, but he allegedly made a deal with Putin to import diesel from Russia, and blew up the sanctions against Russia in doing. Ukraine responded by blowing up the terminal that would export diesel to the US, pr google AI this am: Ukrainian long-range drones struck and set ablaze the Yug Rusi oil-loading terminal at the Novoshakhtinsk Oil Refinery in Russia's Rostov region.  Trump now tries to blame Zelenskyy for the high diesel prices and says "Ukraine needs a new president". He is nuts. The US needs a new president. Ukraine knows who the enemy is . Trump does not. Iran’s closest ally is Putin. Iran supplied Russia with the drone technology they are using to kill Ukraine’s civilians. Tump is out of control and a danger to his own war on Iran he started that, which caused the diesel price spike in the first place

.Key Details

• Timing: The overnight drone attack occurred on October 9–10, 2026.

• Context: The strike happened just hours after US President Donald Trump announced a deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin allowing Russia to supply over 300,000 tons of diesel fuel to the US

What the heck is going on here?  The view by a centrist publication, Der Spiegel in Germany, of the US was not only expressing fear of fascism (currently a similarly approved term as the far-right) rising again there, but  it has a brutal view that it has already risen in the US.. From their recent English-language Substack: ""Compared to the situation in the United States, the far right has not made significant inroads in Germany. .... In the US, by contrast, Trump holds the most powerful office in the world – for a second time. He is surrounded by a nationalist circle of advisers, backed by majorities in both chambers of Congress, supported by paramilitary police units, and secure in the knowledge that three of the nine justices on the Supreme Court were chosen by him." 

It is bad enough that Trump has spent the past two years subverting and purging the federal government, the "deep state" of capable civil servants and military, and replacing them only with those who pledge loyalty to him.   His foreign policy has clearly favored the bad actors of the world, the dictators, mostly communists or former communists, whom Trump so openly admires, making it clear he also supports anti-democratic forces elsewhere.  A red carpet for XI and his failure to give Ukraine help are glaring examples. At home,  he is threatening regularly to use the military or ICE to "police" voting in the midterms and to grab as much federal (Trump) control of who and how gets to vote..He has spent the past two years subverting our election system by supporting political gerrymandering and constantly attempting to wrest control of elections from the states he fears lean purple or blue.

Whose side is he on, anyway?  It certainly is not pro-democracy at home or abroad.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

https://www.ajc.org/news/what-is-germanys-afd-and-what-does-its-rise-mean-for-jews

per Google AI: The Alternative for Germany (AfD) is not officially classified as a neo-Nazi party, though German domestic intelligence and courts have formally categorized parts of it—and at times the party as a whole—as right-wing extremist or anti-constitutional. [1, 2, 3]https://www.google.com/search?q=recent+rise+of+neo+fascist+parties+in+europe&oq=recent+rise+of+neo+fascist+parties+in+europe&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUyBggAEEUYOTIHCAEQIRigATIHCAIQIRigATIHCAMQIRigATIHCAQQIRigATIHCAUQIRigATIHCAYQIRifBdIBCjI0MzUwajBqMTWoAgiwAgHxBYt3eWoP5eg08QWLd3lqD-XoNA&sourceid=chrome&source=chrome.rb&ie=UTF-8

https://mufticforumblog.blogspot.com/2026/09/once-us-was-model-to-world-of-how.html

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/16/us/politics/trump-election-security-cisa.html

https://thehill.com/policy/international/6074993-afd-wins-german-election-elon-musk/

From Google AI 

Milorad Dodik's pro-Russia Alliance of Independent Social Democrats claimed a decisive victory in Bosnia's October 4, 2026 local and entity elections, publicly crediting U.S. President Donald Trump's return to power and Russian President Vladimir Putin's support for the win. [1, 2]

Key Details of the Election and Speech

The Leader & Party: Bosnian Serb nationalist Milorad Dodik—who was previously banned from holding political office and was not on the ballot—led the victory celebration for his party, the Alliance of Independent Social Democrats (SNSD). [1, 2]
The Trump and Putin Credit: In his victory speech in Banja Luka, Dodik stated that thanks to the "new environment" and U.S. leadership under Donald Trump alongside Russian President Vladimir Putin, his political movement survived rather than becoming "political corpses".

How No Kings, affordability anger, DSA's rise, ,AI- data centers flap, federalized elections,are all connected

 Watching the medterms shape up, I get the impression that Democrats are on two separate tracks, yet the two are joined at the hip.  One was the fear that Trump was destroying democracy to be replaced by something more akin to fascism, and the other was affordability and other related pocketbook issues. They are just separate sides of the same coin: Trump the authoritarian believes he can ignore the economic pain of the masses to stay in power because he is so powerful. Tyrants and dictators have always believed they can ignore the unrest of the masses they govern because they gain the power, not from the voters, but from control of the reins of force.  In mid-August in Michigan, rumbles of complaint about the cost of gas were met by Trump with "suck it up" .Trump has called "affordability" a "hoax", a "con job".  

JD Vance was reported to tell a Florida political candidate with affiliation with Democratic Socialism that she did not belong in America. Aside from his insult to the First Amendment, it was an obvious appeal to Cuban-Americans in that state, and reminded them that they fled to America because of socialism. I am no Democratic Socialist, and I object to replacing capitalism with that failed economic system. However, Socialism as practiced in Scandinavian countries is also firmly grounded in democracy. It works for them, and polls show them among the happiest in the world, and it works well for their traditions and sociology.  What is different about those from Cuba, Latin America,  and others that sparked the surge to the US in the past recent history is socialism and /or capitalism combined with dictatorship forms of government wth disdain for human rights, punishment of dissenters,  rule of a strong man instead of the rule of law, and control of courts and police powers. Leaders were stuffing their pockets, or so devoted to retaining power that they failed to deal with poverty. That created the exit from their country of those seeking "freedom", freedom from poverty and freedom from oppression of their human rights.  Desperate people with no hope for the future take desperate measures. 

When dictatorships are combined with the captains of private industry and the military elsewhere, we have called that fascism, but the instruments and methods of governing by a dictator are similar even if the ideology is communism or a form of socialism. Elections are for show; the strong hand of the leader dictates who, where ,and how the elections happen. When the agenda is set, and government chosen that is responsive to the people, directly or through their elected representatives, in free and fair elections,  we call that one a democracy.  

 https://www.cbsnews.com/miami/news/angie-nixon-jd-vance-ashley-moody-florida-senate-october-2026/

(My preferred economic system favors "capitalism with a social safety net, in case you wonder. No one goes bankrupt being sick or giving birth; everybody can have an education; no one is left on the streets. Basic human rights" as expressed so well in  a recent post I saw.)

Others abroad are watching us closely, and how they view us may come as a shock.  They are seeing how this midterm is unfolding and are disturbed. How some in the German press see it, MAGA is on the fascist track, offset or challenged by a revolt against Trump's economy that favors the rich at the expense of a struggling middle class. They see the connection between the two tracks, too.  

From my prior post: https://mufticforumblog.blogspot.com/2026/09/once-us-was-model-to-world-of-how.html

Until recently, and since my junior year abroad in Berlin in the late 1950's, a unified Germany had sought to construct a liberal democracy using the US as a model (though the parliamentary system differs).  Der Spiegel's editorial expressed fear that the rest of Germany was just hand-wringing, with no idea what to do when the far-right political party, the AfD,  won a state election in Saxony.  Were the neo Nazis reviving? AfD has sometimes been accused of promoting fascist governance. (Der Spiegel is the German magazine version of Time or Newsweek, centrist)  The new model of how to stop this AfD march to more power was: brace yourself- the resistance to Trump in the USA, and in particular, the immediate reaction of his banning reporters from CNN, MSNBC, and Politico, followed by the boycott of other media in solidarity to even cover the White House.   (Update: the judge reviewing the suit filed against Trump by the banned networks temporarily restored their press passes.)

The  Der Spiegel opinion piece was a shocker to me, too, that  Trump was even viewed in the same category as the AfD, and that instead of the government of the US being the role model for how democracy should be run and act, it was the USA's local grassroots resistance movement to Trump and his policies that was now a model. If anyone understands "far right", or fascism, it is Germany.  There is a great fear among many there of its resurgence.

How does Der Spiegel see Trump and his regime in the US?  "Compared to the situation in the United States, the far right has not made significant inroads in Germany. .... In the US, by contrast, Trump holds the most powerful office in the world – for a second time. He is surrounded by a nationalist circle of advisers, backed by majorities in both chambers of Congress, supported by paramilitary police units, and secure in the knowledge that three of the nine justices on the Supreme Court were chosen by him."

The  Der Spiegel opinion piece was inspired by examples of US resistance, such as the immediate boycott by unbanned White House reporters also refusing to cover the White House media pool when Trump attempted to ban CNN, MSNow, and Politico, because he did not like how they reported his news.  Also cited as examples of resistance in the US were the local nature of the anti-AI data centers, the Minneapolis grassroots action against ICE, and more.  Der Spiegel urged those in Germany who feared the AfD to go and do likewise. 

I might add that NO Kings Day on Oct. 17 is an opportunity for those in Germany to see how peaceful resistance is done, and to add their moral support to the "resistance' in the US."

https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2026/08/17/michigan-gas-prices/91335542007/?gnt-cfr=1&gca-cat=p&gca-uir=true&gca-epti=z1150xxp001050l001050c001050e1150xxv002267d--55--b--55--&gca-ft=170&gca-ds=soph

ihttps://derspiegel.substack.com/

https://www.adl.org/resources/backgrounder/alternative-germany-afd-party-what-you-need-know

(My preferred economic system favors "capitalism with a social safety net, in case you wonder. No one goes bankrupt being sick or giving birth; everybody can have an education; no one is left on the streets. Basic human rights" as expressed so well in  a recent post I saw.)

From Google AI for sources, search Trump and affordability

President Donald Trump dismissed the term "affordability" as a Democrat scam and a "con job", claiming that cost-of-living concerns are a fake narrative pushed by political opponents despite ongoing high prices for housing and groceries. [1, 2, 3]

Dismissal as a Hoax: Trump asserted that affordability is a political construct created by Democrats. [1, 2]

Once the US was a model to the world of how democracies should work;. No more.

Something popped up today on a publication I follow to get a sense of how others see us, and it was jaw-dropping. I follow Germany very closely because I see it as key in upholding democracy and stability in Europe, where much of my family lives. Der Spiegel is a centrist news magazine in the tradition of Time or Newsweek, and it posts selected articles and opinions on an English-language Substack.  The Germans have just had a shock with a far right political party, AfD, winning elections in the state of Saxony. Does that mean in Germany the far-right is rising? What to do, what to do? The US was once the model of how democracies should work, but now it is the resistance to Trump that should be the model for Germany of how to preserve democracy. 

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Until recently, and since my junior year abroad in Berlin in the late 1950's, a unified Germany had sought to construct a liberal democracy using the US as a model (though the parliamentary system differs).  Der Spiegel's editorial today was expressing fear that the rest of Germany was just hand-wringing, with no idea what to do.   The new model of how to stop this AfD march to more power was, brace yourself- the resistance to Trump in the USA, and in particular, the immediate reaction of his banning reporters from CNN, MSNBC, and Politico, followed by the boycott of other media in solidarity to even cover the White House.   (Update: last night the judge reviewing the suit filed against Trump by the banned networks temporarily restored their press passes.)

 The  Der Spiegel opinion piece was a shocker to me, too, that  Trump was even viewed in the same category as the AfD, and that instead of the government of the US being the role model for how democracy should be run and act, it was the USA's local grassroots resistance movement to Trump and his policies that was now a model. If anyone understands "far right" and/or fascism, it is Germany.  There is a great fear among many there of its resurgence..

How does Derr Spiegel see Trump and his regime in the US?  "Compared to the situation in the United States, the far right has not made significant inroads in Germany. .... In the US, by contrast, Trump holds the most powerful office in the world – for a second time. He is surrounded by a nationalist circle of advisers, backed by majorities in both chambers of Congress, supported by paramilitary police units, and secure in the knowledge that three of the nine justices on the Supreme Court were chosen by him."  That is a brutal view, but not incorrect.

The  Der Spiegel opinion piece was inspired by examples of US resistance, such as the immediate boycott by unbanned White House reporters also refusing to cover the White House media pool when Trump attempted to ban CNN, MSNow, and Politico, because he did not like how they reported his news.  Also cited as examples of resistance in the US were the local nature of the anti-AI data centers, the Minneapolis grassroots action against ICE, and more.  Der Spiegel urged those in Germany who feared the AfD to go and do likewise. 

I might add that NO Kings Day on Oct. 17 is an opportunity for those in Germany to see how peaceful resistance is done, and to add their moral support to the "resistance' in the US

.https://derspiegel.substack.com/

https://www.adl.org/resources/backgrounder/alternative-germany-afd-party-what-you-need-know

https://mufticforumblog.blogspot.com/2026/10/how-no-kings-affordability-anger.html

Does Trump deserve credit for getting NATO members to pay 5%?

 Donald Trump is doing a victory dance.  He had demanded that NATO members pay dues of 2% (I had no problem with demanding NATO members pay their share), and now they agreed to 5% (all but Spain, now threatened by Trump with tariffs). Does Trump deserve credit? Yes, but not exactly for the way you might think. He had cajolled NATO members since his first term, teased them that he would not support them if invaded, and they did get the average up to 2% with significant holdouts..  However, it was not until the Oval Office ambush of Zelensky and where clearly Trump took Putin's side, and Trump failed to persuade Putin to negotiate a ceasefire in Ukraine,  that they agreed to the 5% at the meeting this week. (3.5 for military and 1.5 for related expenses).

 So give Trump credit. Now that he "won," forcing NATO to pay its fair share plus, he still will not firmly commit to Article 5 (the attack on one member is an attack on all) though he hinted at it, and he still has not yet committed to sending Ukraine the needed missile defense and other weapons Congress wants to fund.  Hopefully, now, he will have an excuse to do both. His self-imposed demand of 2% has been met and more than doubled. No more excuses, please. And no more thinking he can charm Putin. Putin only understands power. and NATO just delivered that message to him. As always with Trump, look at what he does, not what he says. He will get blowback from MAGA isolationists, and hope he does not TACO.

The real reason Europe at the NATO summit upped the goal to 5%?  Europe does not trust Trump to support Ukraine, and they are going to try to do it themselves, even if Trump walks. (Tough to do because the US has some strategic weapons they need that they cannot produce themselves)  It had become clear 1)  the US is not a reliable NATO member to provide aid to Ukraine; 2) if Ukraine fell to Russia, they all would be destabilized and may have to go to war.  

Is Europe's aid to Ukraine enough to hold off Russia?Forget America: Ukraine Can Win the War Against Russia   for an optimistic assessment.  This takes into account Trump's freeze on certain important aid to Ukraine.  

Germany is rebuilding its military, but it is still 6 years from its goal. Germany is unlocking billions to supercharge its military at a seismic moment for Europe | CNN

FYI. Trump's BS about the 2 to  5%. That is not dues to NATO.  That is a commitment of member nations to allocate that percent of their GDP (gross domestic product) to their own military defense. The US contributes 4%.   

One holdout had been Germany, and now Germany is gung-ho to rearm with a committed new chancellor, Friedrich Merz. Germany's public opinion against militarism after the shame of WWII,  reversed itself,  having disbanded the old Wehrmacht and had begun rearming, but now in high gear much thanks to the unintended consequences of the Oval Office ambush. This occurred in the midst of the German national elections this spring, contributing to Merz's rise to the chancellorship. 

The isolationists are still at the defense gate, and still have on their agenda the pulling out of Europe US forces stationed there. Careful .. Let us not be as stupid as we once were.  So long as once and now neo cold warrior Putin is driving his goal to reassemble the old Soviet Union satellites into his new Russian empire, these ideologues are as smart as the American Firsters and isolationist of the 1930's...and we know where that got us..  WWII.   Isolationism was perceived by our enemies as a sign of weakness, a favorable time to attack us or our allies.. The Major Trump Question Left Unanswered at NATO Summit - Newsweek

https://www.npr.org/2025/06/26/nx-s1-5445845/trump-nato-summit 

https://mufticforumblog.blogspot.com/2025/03/the-backfire-to-on-camera-trumpvance.html

https://mufticforumblog.blogspot.com/2025/06/germanys-rearmament-is-spurred-on.html

https://mufticforumblog.blogspot.com/2025/03/trumps-epic-miscalculation-on-ukraine.html

Germany's rearmament is spurred on; a fallout from the Oval Office ambush of Zelensky update 6/5/2025

Let's see how the new Chancellor of Germany, Friedrich Merz, handled the Oval Office ambush on June 5, 2025. Merz had the advantage of seeing Trump's ambush of earlier visitors twice. How did Merz do?  Nimble, wise, and no pushover.  This is a report written as the press conference unfolds in real time.(a prelude to more private discussions). My takeaway from the presser: Trump may have met an immovable object besides Zelensky: Friedrich Merz, while Trump's bromance with Putin is back on again for today.(masTACO?).  More: A possible ambush went awry; Merz places the blame on Trump for the war continuing, arguing that he had the power to halt it by pressuring Putin.

The agreement was clear: both wanted peace. How to get there was the profound rub. On sales of American natural gas to Germany, Trump seemed ok, but  (the US has plenty of gas), he  is tying it to tariff talks later between them.: Trump on German rearmament," guess it's a good thing Germany rearms.(up to a point: We'll be watching".(This could be a veiled warning to Germany; Trump may object to German missiles fired by Ukraine deep into Russia, which Merz just approved, as Trump holds onto his love of Putin)

 When asked about support for Ukraine, Trump went off on diversions and deflections that were red meat for the local media and did not answer.  It will be interesting to see how Merz deals with all of this as discussions continue. Merz is fluent in English and conducted this presser without a translator.  Most press questions from the Trump chosen friendly press corps were about national issues, immigration,/deportation budget bill, Musk, showing to me that the domestic press does not have a clue about the context of this meeting or just lobbed softballs to give Trump a chance to comment on domestic issues and to avoid a profound conflict of Trump and Merz over Ukraine policy.  The pertinent questions for Germany were asked by the German press attending, it appears.

 Merz later attempted to press Trump on Ukraine and US support, urging the follow-up discussions to put Ukraine on their agenda, but once again, Trump went off on how well recruitment was going in the US army (wink,wink: Germans are also against DEI) . Trump then continued and went off like a sad third-party analyst. Tsk-tsking the conflict, pinning no blame on Putin as he talked about yesterday's phone call with Putin, again with his refusing to take a side in the conflict, confirming the war will go on, and the West should stop hitting Russia's interior. Stop it, he said. He then made a sorry analogy... both sides (Putin, Ukraine) hate each other so war will go on in spite of his efforts to bring peace.." Just like two kids fighting..they'll get tired of it. Get tired of it. Sadly, the war will go on".  There was no recognition that Russia invaded Ukraine, trying to annex it to Russia, or that Ukraine was fighting as a nation for its very survival.  Or that Putin's latest peace conditions were a complete surrender of Ukraine, no security, give up Russian-occupied territory to Russia, etc.. " It was as if," Trump said, "Let the two kids fight it out; they will get tired of it, and then they will discuss". Trump firmly believes that Russia has more guns and cannon fodder, so Russia will win anyway.. Trump obviously has not counted on the wild card: Germany. 

 Merz, after giving Trump plenty of say, then set the stage for the world to blame Trump for the continuing conflict when he responded:" The only way to get peace is to put pressure on Putin. Germany is backing Ukraine. and building up their strength to do so. However,  the US has that ability to put pressure on Putin now." It looks like Merz pinned the blame on the lack of peace negotiations right on Trump for not putting pressure on Putin, saying the only way to bring about peace was to arm and support Ukraine, which could be done with more German help.

 An ambush gone wrong? Trump once again talked about the body parts of those killed in the conflict as to why he wanted peace now, and Merz countered that the carnage was done with Russian weapons against Ukrainian civilians and that Ukrainians were not targeting civilians like the Russians were doing.. Merz must have gotten an inkling that the pictures Trump was about to show were of military killed in battle, as Trump referenced a video he wanted to show. (and then didn't)  It looks like Merz knew Trump was going to key up pictures of body parts and headed it off.. Trump tried a similar ambush stunt on the visiting South African president that turned out to be a video of the Congo atrocities, not South African black on white farmers as it was purported to show. 

Trump's TACO waffling with Putin and his "throwing up his hands and walking away" signals something else more than just passively benefiting, bro Putin.  It also signals that third-party actions like Germany's have taken control of the situation from his hands. Both Putin and Trump made an epic miscalculation, assuming that Europe would never step up to the plate or not realizing that Ukrainians would be able to change the nature of modern warfare and manufacture their own drones to compensate for the lack of fighting manpower.

Continuing with an earlier posting 6/4/2025

While Spider Web was an ace up Zelensky's sleeve, the media in the US overlooked a long-term, more significant story: Germany's rearmining. Germany's rearmament is helped by a shift in German public opinion to the right, spurred on recently by fallout from the Oval Office meeting with Zelensky. Feb28. It resulted in the election of a new chancellor, May 6, who was committed to keeping Ukraine out of Russian hands. Friedrich Merz's conservative party had won the plurality of parliament Feb. 23, but assembling a coalition to reach a majority took some time. As soon as Merz was confirmed, he seized the Ukraine issue by the horns as a national security issue and vowed to increase Germany's conventional army dramatically. The Meaning of Germany's Dramatic Rearmament | TIME  

Merz then gives Ukraine the ability to use their missiles deep inside Russia.Does Germany's new military deal with Ukraine signal a more muscular stance on Russia? | DW News

Since WW II, Germany had virtually disbanded its military because of their history and internal opposition to Germany living up to its 2% commitment to NATO. Public opinion shifted (enhancing a recent trend to the right) after the Oval Office ambush of Zelensky and a realization that the US was no longer their military umbrella to protect themselves from the threat Russia's control of Ukraine presented to their own national security, and a realization that all of Western Europe would be destabilized.

It was an ace up Zelensky's sleeve that neither Trump nor Putin had counted on. Germany is emerging as both an economic and a military powerhouse, not to be ignored or discounted by Trump. Putin has overplayed his own hand and inspired Germany to rearm. If Trump thought Zelensky had no more cards to play and should accept a virtual surrender to Trump's pal, Putin, he was so wrong. Ukraine still believes it can win and is not ready to agree to Russia's terms, which are a virtual surrender. Putin thinks his superior numbers of fighters will win and outlast Ukraine. Ukraine's use of drones that it manufactures itself is how Ukraine can compensate for the lack of manpower. The success of Operation Spider Web and the damage to Russia's bridge to Crimea suggest that even a short-term peace agreement will not be reached. Both sides still think they can win.

Germany will not be up to full speed and force for a couple of years, but already has the ability to be effective with missiles. Trump's approval of US military aid to Ukraine is still critical in the short term. If he disapproves, and Ukraine collapses to Russia, he will go down in history as the president who lost Ukraine (he had the ability to save Ukrane, and did nothing) which will make Biden's nasty withdrawal from Afghanistan look like some, including Lindsay Graham, see it as a"walk in the park". To walk away will be Trump's blunder that will forever follow him into history.

Another miscalculation by Trump is the impressive bipartisan support still in Congress for Ukraine that is veto-proof.. The Graham-Blumenthal bill to impose more sanctions on Russia may pass despite Trump's reluctance to cross his buddy in the Kremlin.. Trump's waffling is another TACO that the pro-Ukraine backers in Congress are hoping for.

https://mufticforumblog.blogspot.com/2025/05/trump-and-putin-going-at-ukraine-again.html

https://mufticforumblog.blogspot.com/2025/05/time-for-trump-to-put-money-where-his.html

https://mufticforumblog.blogspot.com/2025/03/trumps-epic-miscalculation-on-ukraine.html

MUFTIC FORUM BLOG:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xb9q6w6NGN0

Trump's epic miscalculation on Ukraine: European resolve updated through May/27/2025

Update: 5/27/2025 The significance of Germany allowing Ukraine to use German missiles to strike deep into Russia is to send the only kind of message Putin understands...So far Ukraine has been constrained to shorter-range missile use, so Russia just moved its military bases and infrastructure used to attack Ukraine out of the West's self-imposed limits. Putin's attack using missiles on civilians in Ukraine may have backfired and caused the war to expand. https://mufticforumblog.blogspot.com/2025/05/time-for-trump-to-put-money-where-his.html

Both Putin and Trump miscalculated on Ukraine. Putin did not count on Germany's rearmament as a result of his Ukraine invasion.. This is a nightmare for Russian plans to reassemble the old sphere of Russian influence of the old USSR. Trump thought he could force Ukraine to take the Russian surrender deal, but he, too, did not count on Zelensky having a third party like Germany to provide a counter force to Russian aggression of any heft. The reality is that Trump's influence over western European interests has taken a blow, making America weaker again and causing him to waffle again towards supporting Ukraine...at least for the moment.

Update 5/25/25: Germany steps up to the plate in a big way, with 3billion euros for Ukrainse defense, and an energy policy toward natural gas, making it cheaper and more affordable Germany Recalibrates Climate Policy, Backs Gas Power Shift

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/europe-vows-billions-in-military-support-for-ukraine-as-u-s-meets-putin

Germany Deploys Troops on Russia's Doorstep for First Time Since World War II   Update 4/1/2025

Europe's Double Blow to Putin

MUFTIC FORUM BLOG: How energy independence is key to Europe's surviving Russian land grabs

Update: 5/14/2025 Germany: Merz vows to build Europe's strongest army

Update 3/12/25 

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/ukraine-russia-us-ceasefire-war-invasion-rcna195978   The ball is now in Putin's court.  The short-term nature and acknowledgment by Secretary of State Marco Rubio that Ukraine's security from a Russian takeover of the country were factors that helped get the US and Ukraine on the same page.  That's the US official position today. Tomorrow, who knows if Trump's bromance with Putin raises its head again.

 Ukraine also had an American gun pointed at them. It was extortion at the highest level: US withdrawal of military aid and intelligence gave Russia an unstoppable advantage in the last three days. Ukraine also needed a pause to give its troops a breather. Their lack of manpower is their greatest weakness, and Russia's endless store of human cannon fodder is their greatest asset. Ukraine's equalizer has been America's intelligence services, technology, and advanced weaponry. In the short term, Ukraine desperately needed that restored, and they had no choice but to accept the US deal that was to be presented to Russia.

 A wild card was played in this high-stakes game that had longer-term implications.  Europe would not stand for any peace deal that did not include Ukraine's security and independence from Russia. They presented a plan to put their money and policies where their mouths were. It was more than a threat; it was a policy shift that has already begun to be activated.. Trump did not count on European plans to guarantee Ukraine's independence by military force if needed...nor did Putin. While Russia may be reeling from the economic impact of the war effort, knowing that Europe would not stand for the Russian takeover of Ukraine by whatever means, subversion or hot war, must also be playing on Putin's mind. 

 The US has virtually ended the Atlantic alliance so long as Trump is president. The bond of trust has been so damaged by the Oval Office treatment of Zelensky, a last straw in Trump's constantly dissing NATO and Europe, that it may never recover. The European Union plus the UK, with France's leadership, stepped up to the plate and owned it, too, no longer dancing to the Trump tune.  Germany has now cast aside their aversion to becoming a military force separate from the US and has begun resurrecting their own military. 

The sad part about all of this is that the world's trust in the US acting rationally is gone, and the break with Europe by Trump's policy whiplashes and fawning over Russia is a permanent hangover.  Russia has a history of not respecting cease-fires. The fear is Russia will use the pause to consolidate power, rest troops, and resupply to continue the battle.. Putin's word is no better than Trump's; neither can be trusted.

What if Russia rejects the cease-fire now that the US has confirmed its goals were a permanent and lasting peace? (Implying security backup, if not stating it). What Russia did not calculate was the wild card Europe played.  Rubio reveals US response plans if Russia rejects ceasefire

The Impact of Sanctions and Alliances on Russian Military Capabilities | Royal United Services Institute

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/trump-s-new-ukraine-proposal-looks-like-an-offer-it-must-refuse/ar-AA1BSzNM?ocid=msedgdhp&pc=HCTS&cvid=aa5f513abaa84ab38798aa5d036d6144&ei=31

.

Update: 3/8/2025:  In response to Europe planning to assist Ukraine if the US does not, Trump issued this threat, Trump considering pulling 35,000 US troops out of Germany as President becoming 'increasingly frustrated' with Europe   It is his usual bully response. What is so ironic is that since the beginning of his first term until now. Trump threatened to sabotage NATO because he complained Europe was not contributing its fair share. Now that they are planning to do it and defy Trump's new alliance with Russia against Ukraine, he is angry and threatening. Poland has now called up every eligible male to take military training. Major NATO nation puts all its men into military training as Europe fears war escalation  The UK beefs up Ukraine's attack drones in the Black Sea. US ally gives Zelensky huge boost to help target Putin's forces in the Black Sea   All are learning from history that if they had stopped Hitler at Munich as he got their OK to march into Sudetenland, there may not have been WWII.  Capitulation and appeasement, Trump's approach, is a history not to be repeated in the face of a stated aggressive Putin who makes it no secret he wants to reassemble the boundaries of control of the old Soviet Union.

The Trump regime has just tried to knee-cap Ukraine's ability to fight off Russia...first, cutting off aid and second, yanking them off the internet, and third, cutting them off from US intelligence support while the rest of the US sleeps at the wheel. It appears that this is more than blackmail to force Ukraine to agree to simply signing over mineral rights to the US. It appears that the Trump regime is actively and materially helping Russia conquer the rest of Ukraine by force.In direct response, the European Union has just committed $800 billion to shore up Europe's military defenses and to give Ukraine whatever it needs to buy weapons and shore up its finances.That is Trump's epic miscalculation. Neither Trump nor Putin expected that. This means the Trump regime is living in a fantasy world, having not counted on Europe not only stepping up to the plate but owning it; it also means that there will not be any peace in our time, as Trump would like to announce, forcing Ukraine to capitulate to agree to stop fighting without any guarantees protecting the security of the 80% of Ukraine left after handing over the 20% Russian now occupies. If Russia attempts to use the new alliance with the US to conquer the rest of Ukraine by force, they will be taking on the rest of Europe.

theguardian.com

EU chief unveils €800bn plan to ‘rearm’ Europe

‘We are ready to step up’ says Ursula von der Leyen after US suspen"A five-part plan to bolster Europe’s defence industry and increase its military capability could raise nearly €800bn (£660bn) and help provide urgent military support for Ukraine after the US suspended aid to Kyiv, the head of the European Commission has said."

All I am hearing from Trump in the Oval Office and until this day: Trump calls Zelensky ungrateful and demands he comes crawling back on his knees to tell him how grateful he is that America wanted him to take the deal they handed to him, take it or die. If Zelensky had taken it, he would have lost some mineral rights, but more than that...he would have been left with no security guarantees his country could survive and a cease-fire that had no consequences for Russia breaking it. .

Trump's personal animosity did not start with the Oval Office blowup. It started in Trump's first term, shortly after Zelensky was sworn into office, when Trump tried to extort Zelensky to find dirt on the Bidens or else Ukraine would not get their anti-tank missiles. This Oval Office ambush was an attempt to put him on the spot in public to sign a bad deal cooked up between Trump and Putin. Zelensky expressed how grateful he was every single time he visited he US during the Biden administration. Perhaps gratitude for being extorted is just not very appropriate.

The extortion attempt in the Oval Office shocked the world and convinced Europe that the alliance between Trump and Putin was not temporary or an empty threat or a one-off vote in the United Nations. It was serious, and Europe and the UK have decided to make the divorce between the Trump US and themselves mutual. Trump has lost control of the situation, threatening tariffs and threatening pulling troops from Germany, crippling Ukraine's ability to stave off Russian advances by stopping weapons supplies, intelligence sharing, and even Ukraine's internet. So far, Europe is rearming itself in a way that neither Putin nor Trump anticipated. In addition to the EU announcing a plan to raise $800 billion for rearming Europe and assisting Ukraine to stay secure, individual countries are also increasing their military and assisting Ukraine. Germany, in particular, was so shocked by Trump's Oval Office antics and an alliance with Russia that it has even shed its country's aversion to becoming a military power again and is now willing to revive, restore, and fund the new Wehrmacht.

Intelligence sharing has already begun to degrade as trust between Trump's USA and Europe is already broken. As Trump pivots to Russia, allies weigh sharing less intel with U.S. Trump's bull in the China Shop approach has left many shards of porcelain on the ground. No glue may ever put it together again. Trump owns the pieces.

Those in the US who cheer how Trump showed how powerful he was in that Oval Office fiasco, but the boomerang and backfire it caused is long-term damage to US national security. It is destroying NATO and an 80-year-old alliance that kept peace and provided prosperity for both sides of the Atlantic. With Europe stepping up to the plate and owning it, Ukraine has a chance to survive. If Zelensky had taken the bad deal, Ukraine likely would eventually be taken over by Putin with the help of Putin's new ally, Donald Trump.

I am beginning to see Trump critics calling him a mad king. It is way over the top..but he does seem obsessed with tariffs and Zelensky hatred and getting revenge on any challenger to his power..as he feels he is always being treated unfairly.

This isn't King George the Third or the insane, obsessed king of Neuschwanstein who are the analogies being made of Trump as a mad king, but the characters in the Game of Thrones and Harry Potter books have set the standards of what is good and what is evil. I now see references to them in media posted and spoken by younger generations when discussing Trump. Are these the political science textbooks of the younger generations of our time?

'Discussions are already happening' as U.S. allies ponder intel black-out due to Trump
Germany, Once a Beacon of Frugality, Jolts Europe With Planned Spending Splurge
Trump and Putin have unwittingly given Germany a golden opportunity
This Is How Europe Becomes The Military Power That The World Needs Now
Update 3/20/2025 Putin aggression and WW3 fears sees number of European nations move toward conscription - full list
UK announces new drone deal to help Ukraine tackle Russian threat in Black Sea
 https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/donald-trump-set-to-lift-ban-on-sharing-aid-and-intelligence-with-ukraine-after-last-minute-plea-by-keir-starmer/ar-AA1AEqrR
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/macron-warns-of-russian-threat-to-europe-as-nato-nations-mobilize-to-defend-ukraine/ar-AA1AnMWX?ocid=msedgdhp&pc=HCTS&cvid=e8157dd25db4434aa55a62e87c0179df&ei=17
'We are not alone': Zelensky thanks Europe at crisis summit