Attempting to find logic in the proclamations of Donald Trump (a.k.a. the Don) is like punching fog.
His lackey with the paper thin résumé, U.S, Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, announced that Ukraine will not see the return of land stolen by the Don's accomplice Vladimir Putin. The little man in Russia dreams of restoring Russia’s borders to those of czarist Russia or the Soviet Union which included now independent Ukraine and other sovereign states.
Hegseth went on to say that Ukraine will not be permitted to join NATO. That’s curious as the Don has hinted at a U.S. exit from the alliance of (mostly) democratic nations. The notable exception here is Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban. This tin pot authoritarian has described the Don’s dismantling of USAID, the U.S. Agency that delivered humanitarian assistance overseas, as a "cleansing wind."
Displaying abominable ignorance of Nazi history and English appeasement, Hegseth said that any peace deal must come with “robust security guarantees” of American-negotiated borders between Russia and Ukraine. Where did Trump get the sole right to define borders and negotiate them with the evil doer? The expanded Russian border into Ukraine, favoured by the Don, invites the likelihood of a follow-up Russian invasion deeper into its neighbour’s land. Equally appalling is the Don’s negotiating with only aggressor in the current war. That’s tantamount to a victim of a robbery being ordered to eave open the door to the thief who has already stolen some of the property.
For his efforts in all this, the Don wants a number of things besides respect. In return for $70 billion in U.S. military aid already given by earlier American governments, he demands $500 billion in minerals from Ukrainian soil. Given the Don’s unquenchable thirst for adulation, he believes his obstructive efforts deserve the Nobel Peace Prize and his likeness carved into Mount Rushmore.
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The Don has indulged in further mischief at his southern border. Without neighbourly consultation with Mexico, Cuba or other interested parties, he changed Gulf of Mexico into Gulf of America. In the misleading map published with the purported name change, the waters in question are shown as extending from Texas to Florida, less than half the gulf's actual dimensions. Does he deem this an extension of U.S. territory? Will he rename Greenland, Panama or Gaza and claim ownership?
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Following a telephone conversation between the Don and Russian President Vladimir Putin, a Kremlin spokesperson said that his boss "emphasized the need to remove the root causes of the conflict and agreed with Trump that a settlement could be achieved through peace talks." It was Putin's dream of restored czarist borders that was the root cause to motivate the little man to invade his neighbour. What's in it for the Don? A Moscow hotel site or a resort next to Putin's $1.4 billion palace on the Black Sea? The reason he wants to exclude Ukraine and the rest of Europe from the negotiations is his fear that their presence might muddle his quest for the Peace prize.
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I do not believe the U.S. military would obey an order from the Don to invade Canada. The military has a history of respect for the Constitution and rule of law. It would be illegal to invade Canada or Greenland or Panama. The Don may disagree.
