The Trump Presidency Timeline
Documenting the chaos since day one. 191 entries and counting.
Category: imperialism
imperialism
trump discovers colombia exists, immediately wants to bomb it
Gustavo Petro, seen here shortly before flying to Washington to discuss how many US bombs it takes to qualify as a ‘strategic partnership’.
Colombian President Gustavo Petro is heading to the White House to meet Donald Trump, the man who recently said a military operation in Colombia "sounds good" like he’s ordering the sampler platter at Applebee’s. This follows months of Trump-approved US strikes on "alleged" drug boats, ICE behaving so brutally Petro compared them to "Nazi brigades", and Washington treating half the hemisphere as its personal backyard empire.
Now that the US has seized Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela and cleared the way for American oil firms, suddenly there’s a very serious conversation about "stabilising" the Venezuelan-Colombian border — which, shockingly, turns out to mean protecting corporate assets from ELN guerrillas. Petro has already deployed 30,000 Colombian troops to the border, while Trump threatens to expand US strikes to land targets across the region, because nothing says "partnership" like your "ally" reserving the right to bomb your territory.
Enter Rand Paul, who apparently moonlights as the Empire’s marriage counselor, brokering a "cordial" phone call that did a supposed 180 for both sides. Washington calls it diplomacy; everyone else calls it what it is: the US dangling security cooperation and intelligence sharing while Trump keeps the option of regional airstrikes on the table to safeguard oil flows and reenact the Monroe Doctrine in 4K. But sure, we’re told this will be a "constructive conversation" — just ignore the drones, the navy, and the part where Colombia’s sovereignty is treated as a negotiable line item on an ExxonMobil spreadsheet.
Now that the US has seized Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela and cleared the way for American oil firms, suddenly there’s a very serious conversation about "stabilising" the Venezuelan-Colombian border — which, shockingly, turns out to mean protecting corporate assets from ELN guerrillas. Petro has already deployed 30,000 Colombian troops to the border, while Trump threatens to expand US strikes to land targets across the region, because nothing says "partnership" like your "ally" reserving the right to bomb your territory.
Enter Rand Paul, who apparently moonlights as the Empire’s marriage counselor, brokering a "cordial" phone call that did a supposed 180 for both sides. Washington calls it diplomacy; everyone else calls it what it is: the US dangling security cooperation and intelligence sharing while Trump keeps the option of regional airstrikes on the table to safeguard oil flows and reenact the Monroe Doctrine in 4K. But sure, we’re told this will be a "constructive conversation" — just ignore the drones, the navy, and the part where Colombia’s sovereignty is treated as a negotiable line item on an ExxonMobil spreadsheet.
Source: bbc.com
#imperialism#national-security
imperialism
kushner launches genocide chic real estate startup: ‘new gaza’
Jared Kushner, freshly promoted from failed peace envoy to genocide-era real estate pitchman, explains to Davos billionaires how you, too, can turn a flattened enclave into a waterfront investment opportunity.
Jared Kushner has emerged from whatever hedge-fund-scented cave he lives in to unveil “New Gaza”, a Trump administration blueprint that turns a devastated, densely packed strip of land into a glossy brochure for lofts, offshore rigs, and “advanced industrial zones.” Two years of war, a UN commission finding that Israel committed genocide, $18 billion in destroyed infrastructure, and 2.2 million displaced Palestinians are recast as a ground-floor investment opportunity. Kushner assures Davos that they’ve already started “removing the rubble and doing some of the demolition,” which is a poetic way of saying: the bombs were phase one of the development plan.
This miracle vision of peace-through-property-flipping rests entirely on Trump’s ceasefire deal: Hamas must fully disarm, Israel withdraws in phases, and reconstruction only happens in areas where Palestinians are either disarmed into submission or already cleared out and under Israeli military control. The plan is almost impressively vague on who actually gets housing, how land deeds work, or what happens to families currently living in the buildings Kushner wants to bulldoze in central and western Gaza City. But it’s crystal clear on one thing: Israeli real estate investor Yakir Gabay helped craft the scheme and sits with Kushner on the White House–appointed Gaza Executive Board, which will report to Trump’s Orwellian Board of Peace. So Palestinians may not get property rights, but at least the investor class gets a board seat.
Critics, including people NPR spoke to in Gaza, say the plan effectively erases Gaza and replaces it with a privatized “destination” layered over the ruins of a massacred population. The administration’s answer to a genocide finding isn’t accountability or self-determination; it’s park-lined neighborhoods, floor-to-ceiling windows, and an offshore oil and gas rig slapped on top of a mass grave. Call it the Trump Doctrine: turn every catastrophe into a branding opportunity, outsource justice to developers, and let the people whose lives were destroyed fight over whatever’s left in the footnotes—assuming they were ever consulted at all.
Source: npr.org
#imperialism#forever-grifting
imperialism
fifa hands trump a peace prize for not bombing the stadium (yet)
Gianni Infantino and Arsène Wenger, calmly workshopping new ways to redefine 'peace' until it covers kidnapping presidents and threatening to seize Greenland.
Fifa president Gianni Infantino has finally found a line even Fifa’s corruption-hardened audience thinks is a bit much: he handed Donald Trump the inaugural Fifa peace prize, then went on TV to explain that, no really, the guy who had the Venezuelan president snatched and floated using military force to grab Greenland is actually a great humanitarian. According to Infantino, Trump was "instrumental" in saving "thousands of lives" in an Israel–Hamas ceasefire, so obviously the next step is a trophy from the organization that once made Qatar a feel‑good branding exercise.
After tossing out a lazy crack about British fans and arrests, Infantino mumbled an apology, then moved briskly back to the serious work of reputational laundering for a US administration facing unrest in cities like Minneapolis over its immigration crackdowns and openly musing about annexing chunks of the Arctic. Awarding a peace prize to the guy escalating global tensions is a bold choice; next up, Fifa’s ethics award to a hedge fund.
Because the farce needed a sequel, Infantino also floated that Fifa and Uefa "have to" look at letting Russia back into international football, explaining that banning the country after its invasion of Ukraine "has not achieved anything" except frustration. But don’t worry, he insists there’s no reason for anyone to boycott Trump’s World Cup, since businesses don’t boycott countries over human rights and democracy, so why should football? When your moral compass is pegged to corporate sponsorships and autocrats’ whims, Trump’s America looks like just another lucrative venue, not a warning sign.
Source: theguardian.com
#imperialism#killing-democracy
imperialism
trump celebrates freedom 250 by trying out a real blockade
Drivers in Havana wait in a fuel line so long it might qualify as a new form of US foreign policy: slow-motion regime change by empty gas tank.
Trump signed a shiny new executive order slapping extra tariffs on any country that dares sell oil to Cuba, because nothing says “protecting American citizens” like deliberately collapsing another country’s electricity, hospitals, food supply and transportation system. The White House tossed in some boilerplate about Cuba being a “safe haven” for Hezbollah and Hamas, and then, in a bold move, forgot to provide literally any proof. In other words: we’re doing regime change sanctions again, but this time with even less subtlety.
On the ground, Cubans are queuing for hours at gas stations that only take dollars most people don’t have, watching the clock tick down to the moment the island just runs out of fuel in a few weeks. Mexico backed off a planned oil shipment after US pressure, Venezuela’s oil is gone now that Washington helped boot Maduro, and other allies have gone quiet. Meanwhile, at the US embassy’s Freedom 250 party, chargé d’affaires Mike Hammer helpfully clarified the policy: Cubans have complained about “the blockade” for decades, but now there is going to be a real blockade. Because nothing says “land of the free” like bragging about economically strangling 11 million people.
Washington officials are reportedly shopping around for Cuban insiders “who would cut a deal,” just like they did before toppling Maduro, while floating the idea of a full naval blockade to Politico. A European diplomat points out they don’t even need warships—fear of US punishment is enough to stop tankers on its own. Cuba calls it a “brutal assault against a nation that doesn’t threaten the US,” releases videos of soldiers training for invasion, and prepares for more blackouts. Trump, for his part, says “Cuba will be failing pretty soon,” treating the slow-motion humanitarian disaster as a campaign talking point. But sure, tell us again how this is all about democracy and not 1960s-style imperial cosplay.
Source: theguardian.com
#imperialism#killing-democracy
imperialism
armadas, deadlines, and vibes-based foreign policy
Trump in the Oval Office, confidently explaining that the Navy is basically just really expensive driftwood that he’s decided to park next to Iran.
Donald Trump announced that Iran "wants to make a deal" while simultaneously floating a large US naval "Armada" off its coast, because nothing says good faith diplomacy like parking a war fleet in someone's front yard and then refusing to say when you'll leave. Asked if there was a deadline for Tehran, Trump replied that "only they know for sure" — a strong statement from a man whose entire Iran strategy appears to be vibes, bluster, and whatever Fox was running in the chyron that morning.
In between threatening a sovereign state with war, Trump laid out his two conditions to avoid military action: "no nuclear" and "stop killing protesters" — which would sound less cynical if he weren't simultaneously cozying up to other regimes with body counts and zero democracy. Human rights groups estimate more than 6,300 people have already been killed in Iran's crackdown, with the final toll potentially above 25,000, while Trump treats the whole thing like a reality show cliffhanger: "If we do make a deal, that's good. If we don't make a deal, we'll see what happens."
Meanwhile, Iran repeats that its nuclear program is peaceful and says its missile defense systems will "never" be up for negotiation, Russia is quietly meeting with Iran's security chief, and Trump is out here explaining that the warships "have to float someplace, so they might as well float near Iran." In other words, US foreign policy is now officially "we pointed a gun at your head because we needed somewhere to put it" — a totally normal way to run a nuclear-adjacent standoff in a volatile region.
Source: bbc.com
#imperialism#national-security
imperialism
world's dumbest embargo expansion speedruns a trade war
A container ship bravely attempting to deliver oil without triggering the latest episode of Trump’s Sanctions & Tariffs Extended Universe.
Donald Trump has discovered a bold new use for tariffs: punishing any country that dares sell oil to a nation he doesn’t like. In a fresh executive order—because why involve Congress when you have a Sharpie—Trump threatened new levies on countries that supply fuel to Cuba, offering zero details on rates, targets, or how this isn’t just 1962 cosplay with extra brain damage.
Fresh off literally having US forces snatch Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro in a January raid on Caracas—because nothing says "rules-based international order" like abducting foreign leaders—Trump is now tightening the screws on Havana, boasting that Cuba will be "falling pretty soon" as Venezuelan oil dries up. In other words, Washington is openly using the global trading system as a hostage situation: sell fuel to Cuba and we tank your economy too.
Cuba’s foreign minister Bruno Rodríguez had the audacity to point out that the country has "the absolute right to import fuel" from willing exporters "without interference" from the US. Adorable. Meanwhile, the administration is busy rewriting the definition of "free trade" to mean "free to do whatever Washington wants or enjoy your new tariffs." But sure, tell us more about how this isn’t imperialism, just "maximum pressure" with a side of collective punishment.
Fresh off literally having US forces snatch Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro in a January raid on Caracas—because nothing says "rules-based international order" like abducting foreign leaders—Trump is now tightening the screws on Havana, boasting that Cuba will be "falling pretty soon" as Venezuelan oil dries up. In other words, Washington is openly using the global trading system as a hostage situation: sell fuel to Cuba and we tank your economy too.
Cuba’s foreign minister Bruno Rodríguez had the audacity to point out that the country has "the absolute right to import fuel" from willing exporters "without interference" from the US. Adorable. Meanwhile, the administration is busy rewriting the definition of "free trade" to mean "free to do whatever Washington wants or enjoy your new tariffs." But sure, tell us more about how this isn’t imperialism, just "maximum pressure" with a side of collective punishment.
Source: bbc.com
#imperialism#trade-war#killing-democracy
imperialism
trump state department plays empire with alberta
Map of North America, with Alberta circled and a giant price tag reading "$500bn – gently used democracy, must go."
In the latest episode of What If Russia Did This, far-right Alberta separatists have been holding covert meetings with Trump’s state department to ask a foreign power to help break up Canada, because nothing says "grassroots sovereignty" like flying south to beg Donald Trump for a $500bn US Treasury credit facility. British Columbia premier David Eby called it what it is: treason – the old-fashioned kind, not the Fox News kind where voting for a Democrat counts.
The Alberta independence crowd, still a minority in the province, is hustling for 178,000 signatures to trigger a referendum while openly fantasizing about US money and US backing. Conveniently, Alberta premier Danielle Smith recently made it easier to force referendums, but now insists she totally supports a "strong and sovereign Alberta within a united Canada" – in other words, she lit the fuse and is shocked, shocked there are separatist fireworks.
Trump’s treasury secretary Scott Bessent went on Real America’s Voice to praise Alberta’s "independent people" and to muse aloud about them leaving Canada, because when you’re running a barely-functional democracy at home, the obvious next step is destabilizing the neighbor that supplies your oil. Analysts are now openly gaming out a scenario where a separation vote fails, Trump declares it "fake", and the US moves troops up to northern Montana to pressure Canada into letting Alberta become the 51st state. But sure, tell us again how it’s the other countries that run fifth-column ops to fracture democracies.
Indigenous leaders, whose treaty rights actually predate Alberta’s existence, are pointing out that you can’t just redraw borders on their land because some oil guys got mad at equalization payments and found a sympathetic ear in Washington. Elections Alberta, they warn, is not remotely equipped to handle foreign interference in a referendum that the Trump administration seems eager to turn into its own little annexation cosplay. Canada, according to one researcher, is "sleepwalking" into this. The Trump crew, on the other hand, is wide awake and making a shopping list.
Source: theguardian.com
#imperialism#killing-democracy
imperialism
little marco discovers gunboat diplomacy
Marco Rubio practices explaining that a naval blockade, extraterritorial kidnapping, and 126 dead people do not, in fact, count as a "war" if you say "law enforcement" three times into a camera.
Marco Rubio, now Trump’s secretary of state and still America’s smallest hawk, is heading to the Senate to calmly explain that the US is "not at war" with Venezuela, it’s just reserving the right to use more military force if the country’s "interim" leaders stop doing what Washington wants. In other words: comply with US demands or we might bomb you again, but don’t worry, this is totally just "law enforcement"—because nothing says due process like cross-border raids and naval blockades.
Rubio is defending Trump’s decision to kidnap Nicolás Maduro, drag him to the US on drug charges, keep a naval blockade in place, continue deadly boat strikes that have killed at least 126 people since September, and seize oil tankers—all while insisting there are "no US troops on the ground" so, technically, no war. Congress, naturally, has mostly rolled over: a war powers resolution to rein in Trump’s Venezuela adventure barely failed, and Republicans are pretending that a massive regional military buildup plus a raid to snatch a sitting leader is just cops and robbers on hard mode.
Meanwhile, the administration is "normalizing" ties with acting president Delcy Rodríguez by making sure she understands that Maduro’s fate is her future if she doesn’t align Venezuela’s "key objectives" with Trump’s wish list: open the energy sector to US companies, give them preferential access, use Venezuelan oil money to buy US goods, and stop subsidized oil exports to Cuba. So it’s not regime change, it’s just a hostile corporate takeover enforced by missiles. But sure, tell us again how this is about democracy and the rule of law, not old-school imperialism in a MAGA hat.
Source: theguardian.com
#imperialism#killing-democracy
imperialism
trump threatens to steal greenland, gets neil young instead
Donald Trump eyes Greenland on a map like a toddler spotting a new toy, while Neil Young frantically tries to smother the fire with free classic rock.
Donald Trump has apparently decided that buying Greenland was too 2019, so now he’s talking about annexing the Danish territory for "national security"—but don’t worry, he says he "won't use force," which is exactly what you say when you’ve been loudly fantasizing about taking someone else’s land. In response to this very normal superpower behavior, Neil Young is giving every Greenlander a year of free access to his music archive to help "ease some of the unwarranted stress and threats" coming from what he politely calls "our unpopular and hopefully temporary government."
Because nothing says 21st century American diplomacy like: the president menacing an autonomous territory while a 79-year-old rock legend steps in as the de facto State Department of Peace and Love. Young—who’s already tried to stop Trump from blasting his songs at rallies—now requires only a Greenland-registered phone number to get free access, effectively turning his back catalog into a humanitarian aid package for people being harassed by a nuclear-armed real estate guy with impulse-control issues.
In other words, the US government is out here LARPing imperial conquest, and the opposition is… classic rock, streaming logins, and a Canadian-American grandpa yelling "wake up people" on his website. But sure, tell us more about how this administration is restoring American greatness, one attempted land grab and celebrity boycott at a time.
Source: bbc.com
#imperialism#killing-democracy
imperialism
trump parks a floating nuke airport off iran ‘just in case’
The USS Abraham Lincoln, bravely defending American freedom by lurking off yet another country we might bomb ‘for stability’.
The US is rolling out a "multi-day readiness exercise" in the Middle East, which is Pentagon-speak for "we moved a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, guided-missile destroyers, and a bunch of strike aircraft right next to Iran and are now doing donuts in the Gulf." Air Forces Central says the drills will "demonstrate the ability to deploy, disperse and sustain combat airpower" across CENTCOM’s turf, because nothing says stability like rehearsing how fast you can light up a region that's already on fire.
This comes as Trump brags to Axios about a "big armada next to Iran. Bigger than Venezuela"—in other words, he's now measuring foreign policy in carrier groups per ego unit. Officially, the USS Abraham Lincoln is there to "promote regional security and stability", which is a very poetic way of describing parking several dozen fighter jets and nearly 5,000 sailors within strike distance while Trump alternates between threatening Iran with attacks and insisting, without evidence, that "the killing has stopped" after a crackdown that activists say may have killed more than 30,000 protesters.
The White House keeps hinting that airstrikes are still on the table "just in case", while CENTCOM runs joint drills and practices shooting down drones in anticipation of the counterattacks their hypothetical humanitarian bombing campaign might provoke. Meanwhile, even usually compliant Gulf partners like the UAE are backing away, publicly declaring their airspace and waters are closed for any Iran attack. But not to worry: the US insists all this will be done with "host-nation approval" and "respect for sovereignty"—as long as that sovereignty doesn’t get in the way of the next photo op with a carrier battle group.
Source: theguardian.com
#imperialism#national-security
imperialism
trump launches board of peace, keeps board of bombs fully funded
Trump unveils his 'Board of Peace' in front of a backdrop of places that need rebuilding from all the peace he’s been delivering.
Trump has spent the past year rattling sabers, dropping bombs, and threatening pretty much anyone with a shoreline, so naturally he’s now rolling out a grand new branding exercise called the global "Board of Peace." Because nothing says committed to nonviolence like treating military force as your first draft and a peace board as the marketing copy.
The shiny new plan is being sold as Trump-the-Peacemaker’s big vision for the world, even as the actual work of rebuilding Gaza remains a brutal slog of shattered infrastructure, displaced civilians, and underfunded relief. In other words, the people picking through the rubble get photo ops and vague promises, while Trump gets another podium to brag about his "historic" peace efforts.
So we now have a president who regularly reaches for the military option, then turns around and demands credit for being a statesman because he stapled the word "Peace" onto a board. Gaza’s reality is concrete dust and humanitarian crisis; Trump’s reality is a press release about his soaring ambitions. But sure, let’s all pretend the Board of Peace is going to fix what the bombs broke.
Source: npr.org
#imperialism#killing-democracy
imperialism
kidnap first, declare war later
When your foreign policy is just a silhouette of a guy’s head filled with explosions, but somehow the Pentagon still calls it ‘measured’.
Donald Trump has apparently decided that the "America First" foreign policy now includes kidnapping heads of state and threatening to bomb a NATO ally’s territory. In this fun new phase of the regime, he’s abducted Venezuela’s president Nicolás Maduro, is menacing Iran with troops, and is fixated on Greenland like a bored Bond villain with early-onset map addiction. Even his own supporters are confused, which is impressive given what they’ve already swallowed.
Peter Beinhart walks through the depressing American tradition that got us here: presidents start cautious after a disaster like Vietnam or Iraq, then a few "easy" wars go well, and suddenly the White House is drunk on "surgical" violence and medals. Trump, who once ran as the guy who hated pointless wars, has now discovered that nothing says "global domination" like a quick kidnapping, some airstrikes, and a total disregard for international law. Hubris plus unchecked executive power plus a president obsessed with domination – history suggests this story doesn’t end with Greenland turning into a timeshare, it ends with catastrophe.
Source: theguardian.com
#imperialism#killing-democracy
imperialism
trump dumps the kurds for his new jihadist bestie
Donald Trump and Ahmed al‑Sharaa, smiling for the cameras as they jointly announce that everything is under control, especially the parts currently on fire.
Donald Trump has decided that the best way to honor the Kurds who fought and died alongside the US against Islamic State is to… hand their territory to a former jihadist strongman and call it peace. President Ahmed al‑Sharaa, once the proud owner of a $10m US bounty on his head, is now "attractive, tough" in Trump-speak, which is MAGA for "we lifted sanctions because he flatters me and promises to do the dirty work." The Kurdish-led SDF, which held a quarter of Syria and the bulk of the actual anti-ISIS fight, is being shoved toward "dissolution" while Damascus moves in. Because nothing says "loyal ally" like letting your proxy forces get steamrolled the second they become politically inconvenient.
US envoy / walking conflict-of-interest Tom Barrack helpfully announced that the "rationale" for partnering with the SDF has "largely expired" now that Assad 2.0 is ready to take over security. Translation: we found a dictator who’ll run the prisons and the counterinsurgency so we don’t have to pretend to care. Meanwhile, tens of thousands of ISIS suspects and families in sprawling camps like al-Hawl are being left to rot or riot, while Washington ships 7,000 "most hardened" fighters off to Iraq and just sort of hopes nobody notices the words torture, forced confessions, or executions. Years of zero investment in deradicalisation have turned these camps into extremism factories, but Western governments are still playing hot potato with their own citizens stripped of nationality, pretending responsibility can just be deported away.
Back in Europe, the same governments that spent a decade clutching pearls about Syrian refugees are now pushing to deport them back to a shattered country that needs an estimated $200bn to rebuild, is still run by a centralized authoritarian regime, and has "inclusive dialogue" in the same way prisons have "open concept." Austria and friends are suddenly very excited about declaring Syria "safe" now that they don’t want to deal with the people who fled. In other words: Trump hugs a rehabilitated jihadist strongman, throws the Kurds under the tank, outsources ISIS detention to the nearest torture-adjacent jurisdiction, and Europe tries to stuff the survivors back into the warzone — but sure, tell us again how this is all about "stability" and "security."
Source: theguardian.com
#imperialism#killing-democracy
imperialism
commander in cosplay sends 'armada' to iran, declares himself savior of 837 people he didn’t actually save
The aftermath of Iran’s economic collapse and protest crackdown, now featuring a bonus U.S. carrier group headed their way because Washington never met a crisis it couldn’t escalate with ships.
Donald Trump, fresh off his Davos ego massage, announced that a U.S. "armada" is steaming toward Iran, because nothing says thoughtful diplomacy like LARPing as a 1940s battleship commander while a brutal regime massacres its own people. With activists saying more than 5,000 protesters have been killed and the U.N. documenting “gross human rights violations,” Trump’s main priority is making sure everyone knows he supposedly stopped "837 hangings" with a single tough-guy line.
Iran, for its part, is busy doing its own authoritarian greatest hits: internet blackouts, mass killings, torture, and forced confessions, while claiming the dead are mostly "terrorists" and blaming the U.S. and Israel. But into this horror show strides Trump, insisting his threats alone halted a wave of executions—claims Iran’s prosecutor general calls "completely false" and "irrational and arrogant." In other words: the guy overseeing a crackdown that’s killed thousands still thinks Trump is too unhinged to take seriously.
Meanwhile, the White House is moving a carrier strike group, extra aircraft, and air defenses into the region, with Trump bragging about a "big force going to Iran" that he just might use if Tehran crosses his ever-shifting red line. So we’ve got a genocidal theocracy on one side and, on the other, a U.S. president treating potential war like a reality show cliffhanger where he’s both the host and the self-declared hero. But sure, tell us again how this is all about "protecting human rights" and not about a flailing authoritarian fantasizing about being the guy who decides when the bombs drop.
Source: nbcnews.com
#imperialism#national-security
imperialism
trump rebrands gaza as beachfront investment opportunity
Marco Rubio watches a slide deck explaining how to turn a bombed-out enclave into a beachfront IPO, while pretending this is foreign policy and not a timeshare presentation over a mass grave.
The Trump administration took a two-year war, 60 million tonnes of rubble, and an 81% destruction rate in Gaza and said: have you considered luxury condos? At Davos, because of course it was Davos, Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio unveiled a "New Gaza" PowerPoint that looks like someone reskinned SimCity over an active crime scene. Skyscrapers, coastal tourism, data centres, and a shiny new seaport are all on the menu—just as long as Israel keeps a nice, empty "security perimeter" wrapped around the whole thing.
Jared Kushner, still LARPing as a Middle East strategist, bragged about "catastrophic success" and explained that they briefly considered a "free zone" and a "Hamas zone" before deciding to just bulldoze their way to utopia. He promised "amazing investment opportunities" for the private sector, because nothing says post-genocidal reconstruction like pitching venture capital on beachfront rubble. Meanwhile, Rafah—once a Palestinian city, now largely leveled and folded into Israeli-controlled territory—is slated to become "New Rafah" with 100,000 housing units and 75 medical facilities, as if you can just slap "New" in front of a name and erase who lived there and how they were removed.
Trump, ever the "real estate person at heart," helpfully clarified that Gaza is actually just a "beautiful piece of property" waiting to be flipped into the "Riviera of the Middle East"—a concept he floated last year alongside the idea of permanently relocating Palestinians to neighboring countries. In other words, the US is openly workshopping ethnic cleansing plus resort development as a peace plan, and calling it the "Board of Peace" because of course they are. But sure, tell us again how this is about security and not about carving up a shattered enclave into a militarized investment park.
Source: bbc.com
#imperialism#killing-democracy#forever-grifting
imperialism
qatar buys trump a jet, trump buys himself a venezuelan president
Trump’s Venezuela policy, illustrated: a $400m foreign jet, a few backchannel chats, and some attack helicopters for when diplomacy gets boring.
The Guardian reports that before US attack helicopters literally flew into Caracas to grab Nicolás Maduro like he was an overdue library book, Venezuela’s Delcy Rodríguez and her brother Jorge were quietly telling Trump world: don’t worry, we’ll totally cooperate after he’s gone. In other words, not a coup, just a prearranged regime-change handover with better PR. Marco Rubio, now playing Secretary of State and national security adviser in the world’s worst one-man show, apparently decided this was the best way to avoid “chaos” — because nothing says stability like a US snatch operation in a foreign capital.
While Delcy was publicly denouncing transition plots, privately she was signaling “Maduro needs to go” and promising to work with US oil interests, which, shockingly, made her much more interesting to Washington. Meanwhile, Qatar — described as a key ally and, more importantly, the proud donor of a $400m luxury jet for Trump’s personal use in an “unprecedented” foreign gift — helpfully opened doors in the White House for her backchannel negotiations. But sure, tell us again how this was all about democracy and preventing a failed state, and not about foreign governments buying access, oil ties, and a president who can be swayed with a flying golden bribe.
Ric Grenell pops up early to cut prisoner deals, deportation flights are carefully coordinated with the same regime we’re about to hit with helicopters, and everyone swears this definitely wasn’t a coup, just a collaborative, multinational kidnap-and-transition experience. Delcy, who apparently loves champagne and private ping-pong coaching, is recast from loyal Maduro apparatchik to acceptable transitional partner the second she promises to play nice with American oil. Because in Trump’s foreign policy, there are no permanent allies or enemies, only permanent business opportunities.
Source: theguardian.com
#imperialism#forever-grifting#killing-democracy
imperialism
trump tries imperialism speedrun, yells at allies when they read the patch notes
Donald Trump studies a Risk board, mistakes it for the State Department briefing, and demands tariffs until someone hands him Greenland.
Donald Trump is now speed‑running the collapse of the postwar order by threatening to annex Canada, menacing Denmark over Greenland, and slapping punitive tariffs on allies for the crime of respecting each other’s sovereignty. Because nothing says "leader of the free world" like shouting "gimme your island" at NATO members and then throwing a tariff tantrum when they decline.
Mark Carney, now Canadian prime minister thanks in part to Trump’s helpful "maybe we’ll just annex you" campaign ad, is in Davos calmly explaining that the US is vandalizing the rules‑based order and that "middle powers" need to build new coalitions from the rubble Trump leaves behind. In other words: while Washington is busy live‑streaming its own credibility bonfire, everyone else has to figure out how not to get burned.
Over in London, Keir Starmer is trying the "quiet diplomacy" thing — praising "calm discussion" after Trump threatens tariffs for backing Danish sovereignty over Greenland, then getting called "stupid" for returning the Chagos Islands to Mauritius in line with, you know, international law and prior US approval. Starmer mildly pushes back; Trump responds with more public bullying, because the whole point is to show that treaties, allies, and prior commitments mean nothing next to the vibes of the moment.
The Guardian’s gentle conclusion: this mid‑Atlantic tightrope act is dead. You can’t simultaneously hug the guy who’s wrecking NATO, menacing allies with trade guns, and treating other countries like collectible map DLC, and still pretend we’re in the old rules‑based world. Someone has to "name reality" — that the US president is running an openly transactional, low‑rent imperialism cosplay — or Britain and the rest of the "middle powers" will keep discovering the hard way that quiet diplomacy doesn’t work on a man who only hears tariffs and flattery.
Source: theguardian.com
#imperialism#killing-democracy
imperialism
trump threatens to annex greenland, reinvent un as paywall
President Trump, JD Vance, and Marco Rubio audition for a reboot of manifest destiny, now with more nukes and fewer brain cells.
Donald Trump is landing in Davos to explain to rattled European allies why the new American foreign policy is basically: "Nice continent you’ve got there, shame if someone annexed parts of it." He’s demanding Denmark hand over Greenland "willingly or not," floating military action against a NATO ally, and slapping 10% tariffs on Denmark and seven other European countries unless they cough up the world’s largest island like it’s a timeshare he got upsold at Mar-a-Lago.
Because nothing says "defending Western democracy" like forcing fellow democracies to choose between economic blackmail and the threat of invasion, Trump is also eyeing Canada as a potential 51st state. Canada, normally content to worry about moose and housing prices, is now reportedly drawing up plans for how to respond to a hypothetical U.S. attack. Meanwhile, Greenland’s prime minister says an invasion "can’t be ruled out"—a sentence that used to belong in alternate history novels, not NBC News.
To sell this, Trump posted an image of himself planting an American flag in the tundra next to a sign reading "Greenland, US Territory, Est. 2026," with JD Vance and Marco Rubio standing behind him like the world’s saddest cosplay of manifest destiny. Former EU ambassador Gordon Sondland helpfully explains that Trump’s goals are "laudable"—militarize the Arctic, hoard rare-earth minerals, and "box out" Russia and China—he’s just "rough around the edges" and bad at explaining it. In other words: the plan is imperialism, but the branding is sloppy.
And because the grift is never optional, Trump is also rolling out his "Board of Peace"—a $1 billion buy-in club that looks suspiciously like a paywalled replacement for the U.N., complete with invitations to Vladimir Putin and assorted authoritarians. Democratic leaders like Macron are politely declining, preferring that conflict resolution not require a cover charge. But sure, threaten to annex Greenland, destabilize NATO, start a trade war with Europe, and build a billionaire peace club with Putin on the guest list—what could possibly go wrong.
Source: nbcnews.com
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#imperialism#killing-democracy#forever-grifting
imperialism
treasury genius declares entire nato ally ‘irrelevant’ to defend greenland land‑grab
Scott Bessent explains that Denmark is irrelevant, NATO is optional, and Greenland is basically a Black Friday doorbuster for empires.
Trump’s treasury secretary Scott Bessent has discovered a bold new diplomatic doctrine: if a NATO ally objects to your plan to annex part of their kingdom, just declare them irrelevant and threaten their neighbors with tariffs. At Davos, Bessent brushed off Denmark’s role in the US debt market as trivial, then used that as an excuse to wave away Danish objections to Trump’s Greenland takeover fantasy. Because nothing says respect for the rules-based order like trying to bully a small democracy out of its territory while calling them economically meaningless.
As Europe talks about the rule of law over brutality and promises an “unflinching response” to Trump’s tariff threats on eight countries opposing his Arctic land seizure, Bessent calls their statements “inflammatory” and scolds Emmanuel Macron for not minding his own collapsing budget. In other words: Washington is openly mulling economic punishment of allies for not backing an imperial land grab, then accusing them of overreacting.
Bessent also begged Davos elites not to show “reflexive anger” and instead wait patiently for Trump to arrive three hours late and explain why the US should own Greenland, confidently predicting everyone will be “persuaded.” Meanwhile, he saved his pettiest bile for California governor Gavin Newsom, calling him “Patrick Bateman meets Sparkle Beach Ken” and ranting that Newsom is too “smug” and “economically illiterate” to understand anything. The guy fronting a 21st-century annexation scheme at a billionaire ski conference accusing others of hobnobbing with the global elite is… a choice.
So to recap: the US is trying to strong-arm Europe into accepting a territorial grab, dismissing a key NATO ally as disposable, dangling tariffs as punishment for disobedience, and screeching about “fake news” when banks point out this might have consequences. But sure, tell us more about how everyone else is the bully.
Source: theguardian.com
#imperialism#killing-democracy
imperialism
trump’s caribbean oil pirate adventure enters sequel territory
US warship enforces Trump’s new foreign policy doctrine: if it floats and carries oil, it’s now under new management.
The Trump administration has now seized its seventh Venezuela-linked oil tanker in the Caribbean, because nothing says "rules-based international order" like parking a mini-fleet off someone else’s coastline and jacking their ships. U.S. Southern Command bragged about apprehending the Motor Vessel Sagitta "without incident," as if the incident isn’t the part where the president unilaterally declares a "quarantine" on other countries’ oil and the Navy plays hall monitor for Exxon’s vision board.
This all comes in the middle of Trump’s month-long campaign to "control" Venezuela’s oil flows, which, in normal English, translates to: we’re taking your stuff and calling it freedom. After Trump’s attempt at diplomacy failed (shocking), he just ordered U.S. forces to fly into a sovereign country, kidnap its president and his wife in an overnight raid, and drag them to New York. Because if there’s one thing this administration hates, it’s other people violating borders.
Now Trump is openly promising that the U.S. will control Venezuela’s oil resources indefinitely, while pitching a $100bn "rebuild" plan that has environmentalists and even U.S. oil giants side-eyeing it like a three-card monte table. In other words, it’s Iraq-but-dumber: a half-baked occupation-lite, dressed up as humanitarian reconstruction, enforced by warships, and justified by saying only "properly and lawfully coordinated" oil gets to leave Venezuela — which conveniently means "approved by Trump and his donors." But sure, tell us again how this is all about democracy and not just a smash-and-grab resource heist in broad daylight.
Source: theguardian.com
#imperialism#killing-democracy