Note to readers: please click the share buttons above
Trump’s direct intervention in the domestic political affairs of the UK is as naked, obnoxious, and unavoidable as the Trump baby balloon that Sadiq Khan allowed to fly over the city to mock him, but unlike that highly publicized stunt, the President himself isn’t full of hot air at all but is as serious as it gets.
Theresa May’s government is in crisis following the surprise resignations of her Brexit and Foreign Secretaries earlier in the week to protest her “soft” Brexit sell-out to the EU last Friday, mirroring the state of affairs in the City of London following the highly publicized crime wave that’s swept the metropolis ever since EuroLiberal mayor Sadiq Khan entered into office. Trump derogatorily opined on both of these prior to his arrival to the UK for his first-ever official visit, but his latest interview to The Sun reads more like a direct intervention in the domestic political affairs of the a foreign country than his usual off-the-cuff commentary.
According to his exclusive remarks to the news outlet, Trump:
- warned May against pulling a “soft” Brexit;
- believes that last week’s deal destroys the prospects for a US-UK post-Brexit trade pact;
- think that Boris Johnson would “make a great Prime Minister”;
- fears that the UK and the rest of Europe are “losing their culture” because of mass migration;
- and condemned Sadiq Khan for his “very bad job on (fighting) terrorism”.
There’s no other way to interpret his words other than that of the unipolar hegemon’s leader blowing dog whistle after dog whistle to his ideologically allied “hard” Brexit supporters to encourage them to democratically overthrow May, sideline Sadiq, and save the real spirit of Brexit that millions of Brits voted for in summer 2016. Trump wants them and their voters to know that they aren’t alone and that the US will provide full support for them if they succeed in their struggle, which contradicts the weaponized Mainstream Media narrative that’s been incessantly spreading fear about the country’s supposedly impending “isolation” and “demise” if it goes through with a “hard” Brexit.
The so-called “Trump Effect” is real, and it’s led to the rise of populist visionaries in its wake and the strengthening of support that existing ones who predate his electoral victory have received from their people. “The Kraken” himself understands this very well, and he’s consciously seeking to use his immense soft power appeal to continue influencing events all across the world in order to guide them in the direction of his anti-globalist vision that he hopes will spark a sovereignty-supporting renaissance for nation-states, especially those in Europe. Granted, the US still intends to dominate its vassals, but they’ll have comparatively more domestic decision-making freedom under Trump’s tutelage than the EU’s.
Perceiving May’s moves last week to be a “counter-revolutionary coup” aimed at derailing the dreams that millions of Brits have for the “hard” (true, pure) Brexit that they voted for, Trump believes that he’s actually fighting for democracy and doing the UK a favor by politically intervening in its domestic affairs in the manner that he is, envisioning himself to be a beacon of liberty for inspiring a “deep state” coup against May that restores the democratic will of the people. Brexit is on the rocks, and the only thing that can save it is an intra-party regime change by the “hard” Brexiteers backed up with the support of the people, which they evidently have.
Trump’s sending the most obvious of hints that he’d like his kindred spirits in the UK to initiate proceedings for replacing May with Johnson, who he implies would implement the true spirit of Brexit, which isn’t all that far-fetched of an expectation given that “BoJo” described the Prime Minister’s “soft” deal last week as a colonial sell-out in his resignation letter to her. Unlike Farage, who despite still being symbolic is nowadays less politically influential than before following his 2016 resignation from UKIP, Johnson is “mainstream” and literally part of the British “deep state” (the permanent military, intelligence, and diplomatic bureaucracies) after having recently served as the Foreign Secretary, so he has the inside experience that’s crucially needed for managing this task if he becomes Prime Minister.
The stage is therefore set for “The Kraken” to remove May, thus making Trump’s visit to the UK much more impactful than anyone could have imagined because of the unexpected Brexit context in which it’s occurring and the President’s willingness to openly flirt with inciting regime change against his nominal ally. The future of the UK is presently uncertain given the current chaos surrounding Brexit, but the US is rushing to its former colonizer’s rescue for both ideological and self-interested reasons. Brexit preceded Trump and the British voters who supported it showed their American cultural cousins that populism can also prevail in their country as well, and now Trump’s paying back the favor by doing the same to them by trying to save Brexit through his own soft power influence.
*
This article was originally published on Eurasia Future.
Andrew Korybko is an American Moscow-based political analyst specializing in the relationship between the US strategy in Afro-Eurasia, China’s One Belt One Road global vision of New Silk Road connectivity, and Hybrid Warfare. He is a frequent contributor to Global Research.
Featured image is from Sky News.
