President Donald Trump has announced cutbacks in troops, jets and submarines, sparking panic across NATO.
Europe is going to have to carry more of its own weight and the NATO leaders aren’t happy.
Is Trump justified? Is he inviting belligerence from Russia? Here’s more from Trish Regan.
President Donald Trump has repeatedly warned the nations of Europe to get their act together and raise their spending on defense to at least 5 percent. The Europeans have consistently ignored Trump, and just dawdled without addressing their delinquent defense.
Now, Russia is testing them — sending a drone that detonated on top of an apartment complex in Romania. This comes as America has been downsizing its troops sent to support NATO.
Frankly, Trump grew weary of spending so much to protect nations that refused to look after themselves or tend to their defensive needs. Here’s more from Trish Regan.
Susan Kokinda argues that a Trump-Putin phone call signaled alignment in blaming Zelenskyy and European governments for prolonging the Ukraine war, followed by the Kremlin confirming a Victory Day ceasefire.
She says the media focused instead on King Charles’ Washington visit, which she portrays as an effort to preserve the UK-led “Special Relationship,” while Chatham House speakers acknowledged that the post-1949 order and US underwriting of European security is ending.
Kokinda then frames the UAE’s exit from OPEC as a major crack in the post-1971 petrodollar system built around dollar-floating, OPEC price control, and Gulf instability, noting new regional security ties such as Israeli Iron Dome support in the UAE.
Finally, she highlights the Pentagon’s Office of Strategic Capital, described as an internal investment bank with about $210B in lending authority to finance industrial capacity and “de-risk” critical production. Here’s more from Promethean Updates.
President Donald Trump just raised the possibility of pulling troops 13,000 and all NATO funding from Italy — and it’s already sending shockwaves with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni rightfully worried.
This comes after Trump already hinted he would close NATO’s basses in Spain and withdraw 5,000 or more troops from Germany, meaning a total of close to 20,000 troops gone.
That’s roughly a quarter of all American troops stationed in NATO countries. Here’s more from Trish Regan.
King Charles and Queen Camilla visit the White House and get treated to a display of the American beekeepers. What comms are we seeing here? Have we arrived at the [end] of the line? Has the King been checkmated?
Do you remember the final act in Godfather III? There’s an assassination attempt on Michael Corleone (Al Pacino). He escapes harm, but his daughter Mary (Sophia Coppola) tragically gets killed. Michael is left despondent, experiencing profound sorrow and isolation as he rues the consequences of his violent years and his pursuit of power.
Freedom is again coming. We will be able to celebrate as America no longer will be under a distant royal network. Pray! Here’s more from And We Know.
In the last several years, the fighting strength of Britain’s Royal Navy has not just eroded — it has collapsed.
What was once a thousand-ship fleet and the envy of the world can now barely put a handful of vessels to sea. And one will never understand the soul of Great Britain without fully grasping the mythological power of the Royal Navy in that island nation’s national consciousness.
Here’s a new edition of The Right Angle, with Bill Whittle moderating Steve Gren and Scott Ott in a discussion of Britain’s now rusty legacy.
President Donald Trump is preparing to pull 13,000 American troops out of Italy. This comes after he had already closed down the two remaining American bases in Spain.
So it appears Trump has, in effect, begun to withdraw American support for NATO. Italy and Spain will be the first closures, but others likely will follow over the months, or years, ahead.
Spain, in particular, outraged Trump by refusing to allow American planes and ships headed toward Iran to transit through Spanish territory. Spain’s Socialists made a lot of political hay over the issue, but now, they are sucking sand and having to underwrite the full costs of their military bases. Here’s more from Trish Regan.
