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The West has shown that it is united in Donald Trump's return to Europe


The last NATO summit went perfectly for the United States because the remaining allies agreed to increase defense spending to 5%. Donald Trump's demands were met, but the future of the alliance may remain compromised.


The meeting held in The Hague had a similar atmosphere to the others, despite the political change in the White House in January. Dissenting voices, such as Spain and Germany, ended up giving in to the power of American influence. Europe continues to be seen as a historic ally of Washington, but the current US President may be waiting for political changes that allow for easier dialogue.


At a time when there are numerous international conflicts, the two blocs that make up the West promise to walk side by side, despite some differences regarding the war in Ukraine and what is happening in the Middle East. However, Trump is increasingly sensitive to the Ukrainian issue and his lack of patience with the decisions taken by Vladimir Putin is noticeable.


The demonstration of unity signed by all members of the alliance could be broken by the US desire to reorganize the military structure due to the possible conflict with China, but also by what is happening in the Middle East. European countries will never contribute to the US decision to use military force to screw over Beijing or try to change the current regime in Iran.

1 comentário:

Burt Likko disse...

From where I sit, Mueller's testimony changes nothing. As matters stand now, each side claims victory on the merits. The only "contradiction" from the Mueller report is its holding back from announcing that Trump did obstruct justice and would have been indicted for it were he not a sitting President. This was imposed upon Mueller by Trump's minion, Attorney General Barr.

Trump personally welcomed and invited Russian interference in the election, and was glad of it. Then he lied about it and instructed people to lie about it for him.

Q: Trump and his campaign welcomed & encouraged Russian interference?
A: Yes.
Q: And then Trump and his campaign lied about it to cover it up?
A: Yes.

I don't see much of a contradiction there. It contradicts Trump's insistence that there was "no collusion," but "collusion" isn't the standard. Soliciting or accepting something of value from a non-U.S. source is the standard.

More important is the efforts of Trump and his minions to cover up the truth, both before and after Trump took office. Firing James Comey was only the most glaring of the many incidents of Trump's direction and control of efforts to prevent and obstruct investigation.

Nevertheless, impeachment was always unlikely to happen, as Pelosi has made it clear that she prefers to see Trump defeated at the ballot box in the 2020 elections. Perhaps she is right -- those who like Trump ignore the evidence that Trump has broken the law and enjoy that he defies expectations for mature behavior from the President; meanwhile, those who dislike Trump do not need to hear the evidence again. Both groups are relatively small compared to the voting population as a whole, which does not follow politics with any real care or attention and tend to vote for their own party regardless of who the candidate is.

Will Trump be re-elected in 2020? That remains to be see. The election is still fifteen months away, and much can happen between then and now. The opening of a war with Iran would be immensely unpopular; the U.S. has been at war since 2001 and is weary of it. The economy has been expanding non-stop since 2009 and it is in the nature of economics that expansions cycle inevitably with recessions. Democrats have reason to hope that Trump will simply lose in 2020. They also have reason to fear that Trump will win, simply because being the incumbent gives him many advantages and he seems to have a core of support based strictly on his cult of personality.

Right now it appears the outcome of the election will come down to five states: Arizona, Florida, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. What will make the difference there is a combination of the on-the-ground competency of both parties in the areas of registration and turnout; whether economic trends are improving or declining in late October and early November 2020; and whatever new issues face the U.S. a year from now.

The end result is: it's far too early to tell, and based on what we can know right now, it's too close to call.

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