The odious JDV's world view, as perceived by the Beeb.  Never heard the ghastly expression, "red-pilled", before, but then, I barely remember the first Matrix film & don't frequent internet sites on which it is likely to be used.

And James Marriott in today's Times on the yawning gap these days between the Brits & the Yanks.

Bob in Spain wrote:

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This would be hysterical, if you didn't have to add in the fact that Marco Rubio is currently trying to negotiate a ceasefire in Ukraine.

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I agree, Bob.  Up there with Dubya's famous quote:   "The problem with the French is that they don't have a word for "entrepreneur"", but arguably less "innocent".  I half-heard (the programme didn't have my full attention) a commentator on the BBC News channel this afternoon say that Rubio wasn't a Secretary of State &, in response to a question from the reporter about how much longer he might might last, add that Trump never shied away from sacking people...     

You cant make it up 

Donald Trump took to social media to whine about who negotiated a deal allowing Canada to supply energy to the U.S. but, it turns out, he made the deal. 

https://www.yahoo.com/news/trump-whines-signed-deal-allow-164124551.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAIzWWRUqhR1e7c-HFRbVxdgZqXrnnMxwq9hgoLxZym4-p5OYSD6pRSIkPBPcDb5KLYKr8CXaxsOZNgvmnM-KwMLS3oM5drMHKnQE4mLBBalOnx1vwmSXju1Yw5XVU0Csh7ebQ5F0LrjdQ05LPloIvTdb7aEGsxzlPSPvRrQu00ei

The concern for me is whether Trump would go further than economic war with Canada and take it to a military level. Id like to think it would be impossible as people around him would stand up and be counted and the US military would refuse; and in both the cases of Canada and Greenland, attacking the sovereignty of an ally would surely cause a lot of push back from NATO countries. I hope Britain would have the balls to call him out and stand up against him.

But the whole thing is incredibly concerning that this rhetoric is being pursued by him and makes one wonder if the USA can be trusted as an ally going forwards or just the play ground bully that your glad isnt bullying you at the moment and is picking on your friends.

I wonder if Americans generally are embarrassed - I have a work contact (ex work contact given my situation) who is American and lives in Atlanta. Also ex military. And he is distraught at the behaviour of Trump towards Zelensky. Havent spoken to him re Canada or Greenland or Panama for that matter.

Stranger Things.

There is a suggestion that under the Trump 2.0 administration, the United States has exhibited  a shift in foreign policy and domestic rhetoric that draws parallels to the governance styles of Russia and China, diverging from traditional European norms.

Trump's emphasis on nationalism, skepticism towards international alliances, and prioritisation of unilateral action resonates with the authoritarian tendencies seen in both Moscow and Beijing. His approach to governance, marked by a disdain for traditional media narratives and a penchant for direct communication via social media, mirror the information control strategies employed by authoritarian regimes.

Moreover, Trump's transactional view of international relations, where alliances were often evaluated through the lens of immediate national interests rather than shared democratic values, further align U.S. policy with the more pragmatic, power-centric perspectives of Russia and China. This shift highlights a departure from Europe's multilateralism and commitment to democratic principles, underscoring a growing ideological rift in the global order.

On a lighter note - Elon Musk explaining Tesla cars to Trump: It's literally like a golf cart that goes really fast. ...