Trump 2.0 official thread

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enroger

Senior Member
Registered Member
solarz said:
This isn't insanity. On the contrary, this is compellingly rational. DT is pulling America out of the global hegemony game and reinforcing its status as the dominant power of the American hemisphere. More specifically, he is pulling out of Europe and fortifying the American position at home (hence Venezuela and Greenland). He is NOT, however, pulling out of the Middle East and the Western Pacific, indicating that those are far more vital interests to the US than Europe.
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Agreed. Just securing western hemisphere already gives him a lot of leverage in terms of oil/minerals producing region that China depends on. Add that with US's grasp on Middle East. I'd say he intend to be able to choke off China's industry when the time come. We shouldn't underestimate him or his backers.
 
S

SCE2Aux

New Member
Registered Member
solarz said:
This isn't insanity. On the contrary, this is compellingly rational. DT is pulling America out of the global hegemony game and reinforcing its status as the dominant power of the American hemisphere. More specifically, he is pulling out of Europe and fortifying the American position at home (hence Venezuela and Greenland). He is NOT, however, pulling out of the Middle East and the Western Pacific, indicating that those are far more vital interests to the US than Europe.
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I would agree that consolidation would make sense as a purely pragmatic strategy... if the US had the capacity and will to make the most out of either place. There's no stomach to do anything protracted regarding Venezuela - private industry has already said they're not tempted to invest there unless there are guarantees that their investments will be protected, ie a prolonged and costly occupation. There's no will to do another Iraq or Afghanistan again. Granted, there are differences so one can't draw a direct parallel, but it would still be messy. The history of the US in Venezuela reinforces that.
As for Greenland, I think we can dismiss the military aspect for annexation - they could've done a lot of that within the NATO framework and lost zero political capital with countries they'd still like to do business with. So, it's either shallow imperialism, or the mineral wealth. Regarding the rare earths, it's a big question whether the substances are even viable for mining and refining. So why is Trump jumping the gun? It's not like Greenlanders are wholesale opposed to resource prospecting and mining.
 
solarz

solarz

Brigadier
SCE2Aux said:
I would agree that consolidation would make sense as a purely pragmatic strategy... if the US had the capacity and will to make the most out of either place. There's no stomach to do anything protracted regarding Venezuela - private industry has already said they're not tempted to invest there unless there are guarantees that their investments will be protected, ie a prolonged and costly occupation. There's no will to do another Iraq or Afghanistan again. Granted, there are differences so one can't draw a direct parallel, but it would still be messy. The history of the US in Venezuela reinforces that.
As for Greenland, I think we can dismiss the military aspect for annexation - they could've done a lot of that within the NATO framework and lost zero political capital with countries they'd still like to do business with. So, it's either shallow imperialism, or the mineral wealth. Regarding the rare earths, it's a big question whether the substances are even viable for mining and refining. So why is Trump jumping the gun? It's not like Greenlanders are wholesale opposed to resource prospecting and mining.
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The purpose of Venezuela was to intimidate other South and Latin American nations to fall into line. Most specifically it is targeted at the leaders of those nations, basically like a mafia don saying: you better fall in line or I can take your head whenever I want.

The thing with Greenland is, Trump's emphasis on the security issues reveals his true purpose. If it was just security he wanted, he can operate under the NATO framework. The fact that he doesn't shows that he no longer wants to keep NATO around. Remember that NATO is not just a military alliance, it is a symbol that underpins the entire US-EU dynamic, where the US is currently the underwriter for EU security, both military and financial. Pulling out of NATO isn't just pulling out of a military alliance, it means pulling out of that entire structure. Trump most likely sees Europe as poor ROI, and arguably he's quite correct.
 
siegecrossbow

siegecrossbow

Field Marshall
Staff member
Super Moderator
S

SCE2Aux

New Member
Registered Member
solarz said:
The purpose of Venezuela was to intimidate other South and Latin American nations to fall into line. Most specifically it is targeted at the leaders of those nations, basically like a mafia don saying: you better fall in line or I can take your head whenever I want.

The thing with Greenland is, Trump's emphasis on the security issues reveals his true purpose. If it was just security he wanted, he can operate under the NATO framework. The fact that he doesn't shows that he no longer wants to keep NATO around. Remember that NATO is not just a military alliance, it is a symbol that underpins the entire US-EU dynamic, where the US is currently the underwriter for EU security, both military and financial. Pulling out of NATO isn't just pulling out of a military alliance, it means pulling out of that entire structure. Trump most likely sees Europe as poor ROI, and arguably he's quite correct.
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Yeah makes sense, I buy that logic.
 
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