This is a screenshot of U.S. President Donald Trump, with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskii (and the U.S. Vice President JD Vance, out of frame), reaming out Mr Zelenskii for failing to bring a deferential tone to negotiations to acquire American support in their war against Russian aggression.
Mr Trump got one thing almost right: This makes for incredible YouTube. We neither get, nor are particularly interested in, U.S. television here in the Asia-Pacific, in Manila, the Philippines, except when the richest nation in the West puts on it’s leader online, to tell the world where he and, presumably, their citizens stand. And, of course, Netflix, Facebook, and – for me, from the US maker space – Abom79 and Blondihacks.
Now that the U.S. has a real estate dealer brokering the terms and order of world power, on behalf of their deeply conflicted Republican party, I expect one outcome after the ramifications of Mr Trump’s actions have played out: A world in a state similar to where states and civilizations were in 1946, but with one significant difference for those of us in the Asia-Pacific. America gone from the world stage, replaced by the economic superpower with the wherewithal to set terms in my region – China.
Apparently, America is able to pivot to the side of aggressors against other nations’ sovereignty. There is no “iron-clad” anything to expect from this ally of democracies worldwide, except where those aggrieved will do a deal to make Mr Trump look good to his voters. I get it, already. But don’t expect me to prefer ClearPath AC servos over tools I can get from South Korean, Japanese, or Malaysian manufacturers. This is now definitely out of my own plans.
Your country’s goods, your support, your vanity costs too much, Mr Trump. Watching you and Mr Vance try to browbeat another nation’s wartime leader into signing a “raw earth” deal is not just too crass to watch. Watching you demand Ukrainians do a trade deal and waive their freedom in exchange for putting in a good word with Vladimir Putin is just despicable.