The New York Post reports that Russians are floating the idea of a “reset” with the US made possible by Trump’s election as President. Kirill Dmitriev, CEO of Russia’s sovereign wealth fund said that Trump’s “convincing victory shows that ordinary Americans are tired of the unprecedented lies, incompetence, and malice of the Biden administration. This opens up new opportunities for resetting relations between Russia and the United States.”
Trump and Putin are in favor of this, and so is the Russian media which is asking these kind of questions:
“What does the Trump administration mean for the conflicts in Gaza and Ukraine? Do you think he will be able to broker a peace, or at least a ceasefire, in at least one of those conflicts?
“Do you expect the US to scale back its defense commitments in Europe under Trump? If so, will this create an opportunity for European countries to move ahead with some sort of of vision of collective security that does not rely on the US? Perhaps something in line with Macron’s proposals?
“Do you expect any changes in the US-NATO relations? Will the alliance’s new secretary general, Mark Rutte, be able to effectively deal with the Trump White House?”
My response is that these are relevant questions. Trump has these intentions. Does he have the means?
Trump has confidence, but he also has ego and blusters, two traits unsuitable to dealing with Putin, Xi, and the Iranian “Supreme Ruler”.
Also, Trump is a strong personality. Some strong men are comfortable with strong subordinates, but others prefer yes-men. Trump’s first term was littered with people of weak character and low integrity and they were traitorous. Did he learn his lesson as he claims, and can he find strong men who will put their reputation in the line of fire? If so, will he fight for their confirmation by the Senate, or will his advisors convince him that he risks bad publicity and defeats at the beginning of his administration?
There is some indication of that already in a report that a businessman on Trump’s transition team said that Bobby Kennedy is not to have a position except as an advisor who collects information on harmful food and vaccines. Little doubt, nominating Bobby as FDA chief or Health and Human Services Secretary would have Big Pharma in every Senator’s office threatening the cut-off of all campaign contributions and their redirection to challengers. Maneuvering Trump into non-confrontation erodes his image as a fighter for America and will disappoint his supporters. It is unlikely that Trump’s advisors realize that the Senate’s refusal to confirm Bobby in office would enhance Trump’s power. He could present the people with the names of the Senators who are actively blocking the restoration of Americans’ health and ask why voters elected obstacles to making America great again. Trump has the people. He could bring the power of the people to bear on the Big Pharma stooges.
Another problem is that many, probably most, of Trump’s supporters believe America loses its wars because leaders are too weak to “stand up for America” and properly fight wars. It is important to Trump to stand up strong for America. Being tough for America also protects him against media lies that he is a Russian agent or some such accusation, whereas a reasonable deal with Putin opens him to these charges. Unfortunately, this plays into the hands of the warmonger neoconservatives who have controlled US foreign policy since the Soviet collapse. Their hawkishness makes them attractive associates for Trump, because together they present a tough front which Trump’s supporters want to see. Even Trump supporters have been indoctrinated with the belief that Russia, China, and Iran are America’s enemies.
A big problem for Trump in the trouble in the Middle East is that he is so heavily aligned with Israel, as are the US Congress and US media. There is so much he has to go against, including the powerful Israel Lobby, in order to bring Israel to heel. Moreover, some analysts are convinced that it is the US that uses Israel in behalf of US hegemony over oil in the Middle East. If they are correct, to change this policy is an enormous undertaking.
I believe Trump would like to withdraw from NATO. Like Putin, Trump wants to focus on domestic problems and issues. Whether Trump can put together a government that would support a NATO withdrawal is not easy to believe. Many American economic interests benefit from Washington’s rule over Europe and Ukraine. (According to reports US agri-business now owns one-third of Ukraine’s farmland.) Moreover, the threat to Europe is not Russia. European ethnic nations are being turned into Towers of Babel by their own governments who allow the countries to be over-run by immigrant-invaders while they warn of Russian invasion. It is unclear that such a nonsensical situation as this can be dealt with politically.
Ukraine, of course, will be played as another American defeat if Putin stays true to his goals of de-militarizing Ukraine and prohibiting NATO membership. If Trump accepts Putin’s terms, Trump’s opponents will try to play it not as a victory of peace over war but as an American defeat on Trump’s watch. If Putin accepts a Trump face-saving solution, it likely will play as a Putin defeat, which after three years of sacrifice will be difficult perhaps for Russians to accept.
NATO is Washington’s creation, and the General Secretary is Washington’s Puppet. Absent the US, NATO is meaningless and cannot possibly take a hostile position toward Russia. In place of mutual defense, European countries would have to develop civilized relations with Russia.
To sum up, the questions being asked cannot be answered until we see the government that Trump is able to form. Moreover, for the next two and one-half months the US government remains in the hands of Democrats and the ruling elite. This gives them plenty of time to commit the US in directions contrary to Trump’s agendas. It also gives them time for another assassination attempt. Trump has no executive power until he is inaugurated in mid-January. It is important to understand that, unless the ruling elite can tame Trump or box him in, the ruling elite regard Trump’s presidency as an existential threat to themselves. They will not fold up their tents and fade away.
The world’s population supports a reset. People everywhere are tired of wondering if some fool in Washington is going to commit them to nuclear Armageddon. Let’s pray that Trump can break the hold that the corrupt American ruling elite has on the United States and the world. It will require strong men and women, such as Tulsi Gabbard, in strong positions. A compromised administration will fail. It is past time to end war for US armaments industry profits and the unrealism of the neoconservatives’ ideology of US hegemony.
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Paul Craig Roberts is a renowned author and academic, chairman of The Institute for Political Economy where this article was originally published. Dr. Roberts was previously associate editor and columnist for The Wall Street Journal. He was Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Economic Policy during the Reagan Administration. He is a regular contributor to Global Research.
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