So many think that Trump has a grand plan and that all of his bluster and threats are calculated. Is it possible that he's just undisciplined in his speech? Does he really want to dismantle the warfare state? Why hasn't he started to remove troops from Syria and close bases elsewhere? It's early into his term I suppose, and maybe those are his plans.
No proof, but my gut is Netanyahu influenced Trump giving the green light on Gaza and the Yemen bombing. The Yemen bombing is very un Trump, but perhaps U.S. bombing under Trump is more effective than Biden’s. May be Biden’s military deliberately sandbagged the operation, so as to not upset the Iranians. Or Trumps bombings are more show than substance.
All sides in the Middle East exaggerate damage and casualties vastly, for political purposes. Trump shares the middle eastern culture of exaggeration.
My gut instinct is that Macgreggor sees Trump rightly; the President's chaos-speak modus operandi presents confusion at first; but the president is still being held accountable by all the world for what he says and does. When the Oval Office meeting with Zelensky became the public occasion for Trump's reprimand of Zelensky's stubborn refusal to accept reality of his country already having lost the war "on the ground", Trump said that the US has the only "hand of cards" to negotiate with Russia's hand of cards---that Ukraine has nothing anymore without the US charge over what becomes the workable Peace Plan. To me, Trump presented himself as a strategic thinker. However, he won't succeed in his dream for a "great reset" with Russia with poker game tactics; and that's how I view his interviews/press gaggle bragging-in-anticipation of this second telephone conversation with Putin, as well as what analysts (like yourself) are reporting about what Trump & Team offered to the real victors of the Ukrainian war. Trump's "play" was weak---and was insulting to the Russian sobriety of existential resolve to come to a satisfactory final end of conflict equal to Russia's long term security interests. So then, when Trump gives the OK for US military bombing of Yemen citizens, and simultaneously gives Israel the OK for its bombing of Palestinian Gaza citizens as some signal warning to the Russian alliance with Iran, well, President Trump looks like a "distracted negotiating partner" who is not on par with his counter part in all seriousness. And as others have said, it's terrible that the killing continues, knowing as much as we know now.
"Trump's play was weak." Well, his position is weak. Still, he needs to present to the American public and pols the notion that progress is being made toward peace in Ukraine (which is the role he has publicly promoted for himself). Putin threw him a couple of bones in that regard. I would leave it up to Putin to determine what is or is not insulting toward Russia about Trump's actions. After all, Putin has his own issues managing Russian public opinion. And I can believe Putin is well aware of the American political realities governing Trump's actions.
All that said, I do not like what Trump has done in Gaza or Yemen and I do not like his threats toward Iran. Then again, who am I? And who am I to think I have more information than Trump and know better than him what his strategic and tactical plans should be?
Good reminder, diss that while Mark’s posts are terrific and they arm us with information condensed into a format that keeps us informed. The reality is we and many of the very podcasts we seek out for daily updates are not tied to internal, real time info. It’s opinion, often highly credited opinion, but still guess based on experience, gut feel and hope. But hope is not a strategy.
It is distressing to see our country fund the exploits of terrorists and rogue nations while they pursue riches for the elites and only promises to us of better times. We, the people harbor a sense of doubt and helplessness that is hard to discern what’s real and what’s righteous to lift our spirits. I really appreciate all those who express the views here and so many are well thought and expressed. For every negative a positive thought brings us back to state. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks Cosmo. I agree with you 100% and I find what you have written here poignant.
My apologies for the long (10 day) lag in responding to this. My computer died on 3/20 and it was only yesterday I was able to have the data from it moved to a new PC I purchased this last week. Let me tell you it was not fun to be almost totally reliant on TV news rather than alternative media for 9 days. It made me appreciate all the more the wonderful "alternative media" we have such as Mark and those he cites (even it is partially opinion and speculation). I felt like I was wearing a blindfold when it came to world events. Everything was about the Signal leak for three days solid. Nothing else in foreign policy or international.
Doc says Trump is dealing with many serious matters including "the fundamentals of American foreign policy of the last 80 years." This 80 year time frame runs concurrent with Truman's "post WWII architecture" which permanently enslaved US taxpayers to the job of policing "freedom" globally. Larry Wilkerson recently observed that US has to provide $58 billion yearly to weapons makers. As such, he said it's not AIPAC and Israel running the US, it's the other way around. US must constantly create reasons that more weapons are needed. Israel has been an easy sell for US weapons but US needs more than Israel to keep a running tab of $58 billion/yr.
The more I learn about U.S. politics, the more I wonder how much I don’t know.
Israeli influence in the U.S. with an aipac minder assigned to each congressman, plus blackmail, wiretapping, corporate espionage, wet work, anti Semitism accusations, holocaust weoponization, social media mobs, bots, and honey traps / blackmail is not to be underestimated.
Hat tip mark and Steve unz, I’m amazed at how much my view has changed since reading this blog on Israel.
The U.S. defense industry levers of influence are more economic influence, think tank jobs, including jobs for voters in congressional districts and political donations. Plus the revolving door between the military and civilian leadership, and the defense industry.
Money wise I believe the defense industry has more power. From a pure power with an ability to destroy most politicians who don’t get with the program, the Israelis have more power.
Includes 750 overseas military bases in over 80 countries - post WW II architecture enslaved taxpayers to weapons and systems development to "maintain the global peace".
Very much aligns with Thomas Massie's statement recently about our MIC-driven succession of recent entanglements...Afghanistan closes out, ramp up Ukraine...Ukraine fizzles out, fire up Iran. Merchants of death have got to get their annual $50B somehow.
Afghanistan is a great example, 20 years shipping weapons for no reason. No matter how US "officially" exited, a fortune in weapons was going to be left behind. Thomas Massie is an oasis in the desert.
Let's also remember that the US government is $36 trillion in debt. The largest owner by far of US equities is the combo of Britain and the Cayman Islands. As the great Ronald Reagan said, "He who has the gold rules."
That's true enough in times of peace. But I don't think the UK and all the West Indies together have much of a military. Imagine what would happen if the US announced its intention to default on all that.
Agreed. Was surprised to find a similar 25-30% figure for foreign ownership of U.S. debt over the past ten years or so. A sizeable chunk, to be sure, but I thought we were far more screwed than that. As of today, Japan is the largest foreign holder of U.S. debt, with over $1 trillion, followed by China ($759 billion) and the United Kingdom ($723 billion).
I feel Doctorow is on the right track..the prime objective of the US MUST be to prise Russia away from China, which is seen as the overarching threat. (IMHO, they have it backwards, in that China is content to rise peacefully so long as USA minds it's own business in the internal matter of it's wayward province. Israel, on the other hand, poses an existential threat to the US from both within, and without.)
That said, with the dismantling of CIA departments and the release of files such as those on JFK, it's not too much of a stretch to imagine that when the time is right there could suddenly appear a batch of files implicating Israel in a great many misdeeds at the expense of US interests..JFK, USS Liberty, Pollard, Epstein, and so on, sufficient to turn the tide of US opinion and allow the political room to dismantle the lobby and sever ties with Israel.
One wonders, though, how Trump would explain his own involvement with Epstein should that card be played, that Mossad was surely using Epstein to run a honey trap for world leaders, financiers and influencers!
Your use of the past tense is optimistic. We're already told that the Epstein files will be redacted for "national security". I don't see any reason to believe that between AIPAC and Mossad and some deep-pocket donors, the Israeli Deep State doesn't still control Congress at least, and sure looks like Trump as well.
While those who hero-worship him will protest mightily that he's squeaky clean, we have no idea what they have on him. Public opinion counts for something, but it should be clear by now that we live in a captive and hollow republic.
Mac made an important point about Trump that applies to all the Western leaders opposing Russia. They compartmentalise while the Russians (and Chinese) use nexus thinking and see the bigger picture. I'm pretty sure that Trump et al believe that an attack on Iran will just involve the US and Iran and not drag in Russia and China. They aren't taking seriously Russia and China's strategic decision to back Iran.
Actually I disagree with Mac on that point and agree with Doc. As I've been saying for days, and as Doc says, it's all linked. Trump isn't compartmentalizing at all. He's taking actions in the Middle East that he hopes will influence Putin by threatening Russian interests. It's not working.
BUT ...
The America public perceives these things as being in separate compartments.
On brief reflection I agree with you, Mark. Trump isn't stupid and if he was Putin would be sure to bring the linkages between Ukraine, Iran, and the ME in general to his attention.
It is sickening for the U.S. to cause the loss of civilian lives in Gaza and Yemen. At the same time this has been our "foreign policy" pattern now for how many decades? And according to Doctorow, Trump now wants to break this pattern but is constrained in how he does it because "leverage." He can't do it at all at once - it must be incremental because of "bias" of the foreign policy establishment in the U.S. I can buy that to a point pending what actually happens down the road.
Mac is taking the moral perspective on things. Yes Trump could take a big step in stopping the war in Ukraine by simply withholding military aid and intelligence from Ukraine. Why isn't he doing that? Could it be because he would have to deal with blowback from the Neocons and Russia hawks in Congress? Might it be better if he appear to be working in their favor? The same argument applies vis-a-vis Iran. This is where Doctorow scores points with his argument. Another point in his favor is that Trump does not like or trust Netanyahu (and he has stated this publicly). I suspect that if there is ever a chance for Trump to dump him to the curb he will take it.
Good point, Cass. Especially in the age of the Internet we all seem to expect our problems to be addressed instantly once they are identified. As a society we lack patience and thus the perspective that time provides. Even our foreign policy seems to lack overarching goals and objectives and any associated strategic planning.
P.S. - My apologies for the long (10 day) lag in responding to this. My computer died on 3/20 and it was only yesterday I was able to have the data from it moved to a new PC I purchased this last week. Let me tell you it was not fun to be almost totally reliant on TV news rather than alternative media for 9 days. It made me appreciate all the more the wonderful "alternative media" we have such as Mark and those he cites. I felt like I was wearing a blindfold when it came to world events. Everything was about the Signal leak for three days solid. Nothing else in foreign policy or international. Is it any wonder 1/2 the people in the U.S. could probably not find Ukraine on a map? How can the public hold the government responsible for things of which it is not even aware?
Maybe he sees some of the bigger picture but I have the impression that he isn't catching the nuances and underlying currents. He's hamstrung by his inability to listen to what his adversaries are saying. Hence the phone call. As we all knew would happen, Putin didn't bunch a millimetre and a more "big picture" thinker than Trump would have known that he wouldn't.
I agree: Doc’s analysis of Trump’s deft political moves is very insightful: “This is a war of of great proportions going on between Trump, his domestic opponents, and his foreign opponents in Europe. He has to find points of leverage. He cannot fight on all fronts.” And, as far as leverage goes, he has to get some now with Aipac breathing down his neck. Later, he’ll have a Herculean task taking on Keir, Manu and Ursula…”buzz like a butterfly and sting like a bee…”
We'll have to agree to disagree on that one, dear ML. What you call "deft", I call bumbling. I get that he has to give his Zionist backers what they want, at least for the time being, but there was nothing to stop him from walking away from Ukraine and dropping it in the Euroweenies' laps. That's actually what he did at first - then he walked right back in.
Trump has been impeached over Ukraine twice basically, and Trump by engaging the Russians and actually talking to them, is neutering the Euro elites and Ukrainian leadership.
Trump by not walking away is avoiding blame for Ukraine’s failure / fall. I wish he could just withdraw aid to Ukraine, but my gut feeling is it’s just not politically feasible. Trump has managed a lot more than I thought possible on engaging with Russia.
And if there is any type of audit, it may further neuter support for Ukraine. Plus the closing of USAID may have a huge impact, negative, on Ukraine.
Skimmed the first half of this. Yes AM is very perceptive as to the meeting and especially on the point that Putin gave up nothing real in concessions. One would need to follow events very closely as he and Alex say they do, to realize that Russia mass bombs infrastructure only once a month anyway!
So many think that Trump has a grand plan and that all of his bluster and threats are calculated. Is it possible that he's just undisciplined in his speech? Does he really want to dismantle the warfare state? Why hasn't he started to remove troops from Syria and close bases elsewhere? It's early into his term I suppose, and maybe those are his plans.
No proof, but my gut is Netanyahu influenced Trump giving the green light on Gaza and the Yemen bombing. The Yemen bombing is very un Trump, but perhaps U.S. bombing under Trump is more effective than Biden’s. May be Biden’s military deliberately sandbagged the operation, so as to not upset the Iranians. Or Trumps bombings are more show than substance.
All sides in the Middle East exaggerate damage and casualties vastly, for political purposes. Trump shares the middle eastern culture of exaggeration.
My gut instinct is that Macgreggor sees Trump rightly; the President's chaos-speak modus operandi presents confusion at first; but the president is still being held accountable by all the world for what he says and does. When the Oval Office meeting with Zelensky became the public occasion for Trump's reprimand of Zelensky's stubborn refusal to accept reality of his country already having lost the war "on the ground", Trump said that the US has the only "hand of cards" to negotiate with Russia's hand of cards---that Ukraine has nothing anymore without the US charge over what becomes the workable Peace Plan. To me, Trump presented himself as a strategic thinker. However, he won't succeed in his dream for a "great reset" with Russia with poker game tactics; and that's how I view his interviews/press gaggle bragging-in-anticipation of this second telephone conversation with Putin, as well as what analysts (like yourself) are reporting about what Trump & Team offered to the real victors of the Ukrainian war. Trump's "play" was weak---and was insulting to the Russian sobriety of existential resolve to come to a satisfactory final end of conflict equal to Russia's long term security interests. So then, when Trump gives the OK for US military bombing of Yemen citizens, and simultaneously gives Israel the OK for its bombing of Palestinian Gaza citizens as some signal warning to the Russian alliance with Iran, well, President Trump looks like a "distracted negotiating partner" who is not on par with his counter part in all seriousness. And as others have said, it's terrible that the killing continues, knowing as much as we know now.
"Trump's play was weak." Well, his position is weak. Still, he needs to present to the American public and pols the notion that progress is being made toward peace in Ukraine (which is the role he has publicly promoted for himself). Putin threw him a couple of bones in that regard. I would leave it up to Putin to determine what is or is not insulting toward Russia about Trump's actions. After all, Putin has his own issues managing Russian public opinion. And I can believe Putin is well aware of the American political realities governing Trump's actions.
All that said, I do not like what Trump has done in Gaza or Yemen and I do not like his threats toward Iran. Then again, who am I? And who am I to think I have more information than Trump and know better than him what his strategic and tactical plans should be?
Good reminder, diss that while Mark’s posts are terrific and they arm us with information condensed into a format that keeps us informed. The reality is we and many of the very podcasts we seek out for daily updates are not tied to internal, real time info. It’s opinion, often highly credited opinion, but still guess based on experience, gut feel and hope. But hope is not a strategy.
It is distressing to see our country fund the exploits of terrorists and rogue nations while they pursue riches for the elites and only promises to us of better times. We, the people harbor a sense of doubt and helplessness that is hard to discern what’s real and what’s righteous to lift our spirits. I really appreciate all those who express the views here and so many are well thought and expressed. For every negative a positive thought brings us back to state. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks Cosmo. I agree with you 100% and I find what you have written here poignant.
My apologies for the long (10 day) lag in responding to this. My computer died on 3/20 and it was only yesterday I was able to have the data from it moved to a new PC I purchased this last week. Let me tell you it was not fun to be almost totally reliant on TV news rather than alternative media for 9 days. It made me appreciate all the more the wonderful "alternative media" we have such as Mark and those he cites (even it is partially opinion and speculation). I felt like I was wearing a blindfold when it came to world events. Everything was about the Signal leak for three days solid. Nothing else in foreign policy or international.
Thanks, diss. Good to have you back with us.
Doc says Trump is dealing with many serious matters including "the fundamentals of American foreign policy of the last 80 years." This 80 year time frame runs concurrent with Truman's "post WWII architecture" which permanently enslaved US taxpayers to the job of policing "freedom" globally. Larry Wilkerson recently observed that US has to provide $58 billion yearly to weapons makers. As such, he said it's not AIPAC and Israel running the US, it's the other way around. US must constantly create reasons that more weapons are needed. Israel has been an easy sell for US weapons but US needs more than Israel to keep a running tab of $58 billion/yr.
https://www.racket.news/p/subsidized-europe-cries-in-despair
Perhaps a debt riddled shift in the EU. Germany appears on its way. https://www.euronews.com/my-europe/2025/03/18/germanys-parliament-passes-historic-package-boosting-defence-spending
The more I learn about U.S. politics, the more I wonder how much I don’t know.
Israeli influence in the U.S. with an aipac minder assigned to each congressman, plus blackmail, wiretapping, corporate espionage, wet work, anti Semitism accusations, holocaust weoponization, social media mobs, bots, and honey traps / blackmail is not to be underestimated.
Hat tip mark and Steve unz, I’m amazed at how much my view has changed since reading this blog on Israel.
The U.S. defense industry levers of influence are more economic influence, think tank jobs, including jobs for voters in congressional districts and political donations. Plus the revolving door between the military and civilian leadership, and the defense industry.
Money wise I believe the defense industry has more power. From a pure power with an ability to destroy most politicians who don’t get with the program, the Israelis have more power.
Includes 750 overseas military bases in over 80 countries - post WW II architecture enslaved taxpayers to weapons and systems development to "maintain the global peace".
Very much aligns with Thomas Massie's statement recently about our MIC-driven succession of recent entanglements...Afghanistan closes out, ramp up Ukraine...Ukraine fizzles out, fire up Iran. Merchants of death have got to get their annual $50B somehow.
Afghanistan is a great example, 20 years shipping weapons for no reason. No matter how US "officially" exited, a fortune in weapons was going to be left behind. Thomas Massie is an oasis in the desert.
Interesting perspective and one that makes some sense to me. Thanks for bringing this view in to the discussion, Susan.
Thanks for the update. Let's remember that the real HQ of the globalist financial elite is in London, including "euthanasia central," the WHO.
Let's also remember that the US government is $36 trillion in debt. The largest owner by far of US equities is the combo of Britain and the Cayman Islands. As the great Ronald Reagan said, "He who has the gold rules."
That's true enough in times of peace. But I don't think the UK and all the West Indies together have much of a military. Imagine what would happen if the US announced its intention to default on all that.
Agreed. Was surprised to find a similar 25-30% figure for foreign ownership of U.S. debt over the past ten years or so. A sizeable chunk, to be sure, but I thought we were far more screwed than that. As of today, Japan is the largest foreign holder of U.S. debt, with over $1 trillion, followed by China ($759 billion) and the United Kingdom ($723 billion).
And the W.H.O. is based in Geneva, not London. Richard C. Cook's comments aren't always reliable. I think he has a one track mind or an obsession.
I feel Doctorow is on the right track..the prime objective of the US MUST be to prise Russia away from China, which is seen as the overarching threat. (IMHO, they have it backwards, in that China is content to rise peacefully so long as USA minds it's own business in the internal matter of it's wayward province. Israel, on the other hand, poses an existential threat to the US from both within, and without.)
That said, with the dismantling of CIA departments and the release of files such as those on JFK, it's not too much of a stretch to imagine that when the time is right there could suddenly appear a batch of files implicating Israel in a great many misdeeds at the expense of US interests..JFK, USS Liberty, Pollard, Epstein, and so on, sufficient to turn the tide of US opinion and allow the political room to dismantle the lobby and sever ties with Israel.
One wonders, though, how Trump would explain his own involvement with Epstein should that card be played, that Mossad was surely using Epstein to run a honey trap for world leaders, financiers and influencers!
Epstein was a New Yorker as is Trump, and ran in elite circles, with Trumps street smarts, I doubt there is any kompromat.
Your use of the past tense is optimistic. We're already told that the Epstein files will be redacted for "national security". I don't see any reason to believe that between AIPAC and Mossad and some deep-pocket donors, the Israeli Deep State doesn't still control Congress at least, and sure looks like Trump as well.
While those who hero-worship him will protest mightily that he's squeaky clean, we have no idea what they have on him. Public opinion counts for something, but it should be clear by now that we live in a captive and hollow republic.
Mac made an important point about Trump that applies to all the Western leaders opposing Russia. They compartmentalise while the Russians (and Chinese) use nexus thinking and see the bigger picture. I'm pretty sure that Trump et al believe that an attack on Iran will just involve the US and Iran and not drag in Russia and China. They aren't taking seriously Russia and China's strategic decision to back Iran.
Actually I disagree with Mac on that point and agree with Doc. As I've been saying for days, and as Doc says, it's all linked. Trump isn't compartmentalizing at all. He's taking actions in the Middle East that he hopes will influence Putin by threatening Russian interests. It's not working.
BUT ...
The America public perceives these things as being in separate compartments.
On brief reflection I agree with you, Mark. Trump isn't stupid and if he was Putin would be sure to bring the linkages between Ukraine, Iran, and the ME in general to his attention.
It is sickening for the U.S. to cause the loss of civilian lives in Gaza and Yemen. At the same time this has been our "foreign policy" pattern now for how many decades? And according to Doctorow, Trump now wants to break this pattern but is constrained in how he does it because "leverage." He can't do it at all at once - it must be incremental because of "bias" of the foreign policy establishment in the U.S. I can buy that to a point pending what actually happens down the road.
Mac is taking the moral perspective on things. Yes Trump could take a big step in stopping the war in Ukraine by simply withholding military aid and intelligence from Ukraine. Why isn't he doing that? Could it be because he would have to deal with blowback from the Neocons and Russia hawks in Congress? Might it be better if he appear to be working in their favor? The same argument applies vis-a-vis Iran. This is where Doctorow scores points with his argument. Another point in his favor is that Trump does not like or trust Netanyahu (and he has stated this publicly). I suspect that if there is ever a chance for Trump to dump him to the curb he will take it.
Good point, Cass. Especially in the age of the Internet we all seem to expect our problems to be addressed instantly once they are identified. As a society we lack patience and thus the perspective that time provides. Even our foreign policy seems to lack overarching goals and objectives and any associated strategic planning.
P.S. - My apologies for the long (10 day) lag in responding to this. My computer died on 3/20 and it was only yesterday I was able to have the data from it moved to a new PC I purchased this last week. Let me tell you it was not fun to be almost totally reliant on TV news rather than alternative media for 9 days. It made me appreciate all the more the wonderful "alternative media" we have such as Mark and those he cites. I felt like I was wearing a blindfold when it came to world events. Everything was about the Signal leak for three days solid. Nothing else in foreign policy or international. Is it any wonder 1/2 the people in the U.S. could probably not find Ukraine on a map? How can the public hold the government responsible for things of which it is not even aware?
Maybe he sees some of the bigger picture but I have the impression that he isn't catching the nuances and underlying currents. He's hamstrung by his inability to listen to what his adversaries are saying. Hence the phone call. As we all knew would happen, Putin didn't bunch a millimetre and a more "big picture" thinker than Trump would have known that he wouldn't.
I agree: Doc’s analysis of Trump’s deft political moves is very insightful: “This is a war of of great proportions going on between Trump, his domestic opponents, and his foreign opponents in Europe. He has to find points of leverage. He cannot fight on all fronts.” And, as far as leverage goes, he has to get some now with Aipac breathing down his neck. Later, he’ll have a Herculean task taking on Keir, Manu and Ursula…”buzz like a butterfly and sting like a bee…”
We'll have to agree to disagree on that one, dear ML. What you call "deft", I call bumbling. I get that he has to give his Zionist backers what they want, at least for the time being, but there was nothing to stop him from walking away from Ukraine and dropping it in the Euroweenies' laps. That's actually what he did at first - then he walked right back in.
In any case, lots of head-scratching going on!
Trump has been impeached over Ukraine twice basically, and Trump by engaging the Russians and actually talking to them, is neutering the Euro elites and Ukrainian leadership.
Trump by not walking away is avoiding blame for Ukraine’s failure / fall. I wish he could just withdraw aid to Ukraine, but my gut feeling is it’s just not politically feasible. Trump has managed a lot more than I thought possible on engaging with Russia.
And if there is any type of audit, it may further neuter support for Ukraine. Plus the closing of USAID may have a huge impact, negative, on Ukraine.
Trump-Putin call; US-Russia on track towards deal
https://youtu.be/rxep3_YpoGo
Skimmed the first half of this. Yes AM is very perceptive as to the meeting and especially on the point that Putin gave up nothing real in concessions. One would need to follow events very closely as he and Alex say they do, to realize that Russia mass bombs infrastructure only once a month anyway!