A Trumpian Order

In an act that warmed the hearts of his ultra-rich backers, on his first day in office, Trump withdrew the US from the Paris climate agreement, freeing the US and its oligarchs from all obligations to mitigate climate change. Also, the Trump administration fired thousands of employees from the Environmental Protection Agency, withdrew support for any research that mentioned climate change, purged government websites hosting climate data, and barred federal scientists and diplomats from attending a key global climate event in China

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A week is a long time in politics, and five weeks have been sufficient for President Trump to upend the world order. Trump has no friends or enemies, only supplicants or targets; one has to become the former if one does not want to turn into the latter – as President Zelenskky discovered to his great cost. Of course, with video recordings of the Trump-Zelenskky meeting easily available on the internet, a theory is gaining ground that Zelenskky was deliberately set up, to serve as an object lesson for Heads of State who showed a modicum of self-respect in the Trump Darbar.

For the record, animosity between Trump and Zelenskky goes back to the first Trump Presidency, when Trump phoned Zelenskky, asking him to investigate his arch-enemy Joe Biden, and his son Hunter Biden, who had worked for a Ukrainian energy company. On Zelenskky’s refusal, Trump withheld military aid to Ukraine and for this misdemeanour, the House of Representatives tried to impeach Trump.

Later on, Zelenskky became a Biden favourite, and consequently, a Trump bête-noir. During his election campaign, Trump had promised that he would end the Russia-Ukraine war immediately after coming into office – indicating clearly that he would allow Russia to have its way with Ukraine.

On the other hand, Trump developed warm feelings for Putin in his first term. After the Zelenskky meeting fiasco, Trump freely talked about how Putin had supported him during the long federal investigation into Russian interference in the US Presidential elections of 2016. Trump also referred to links between his associates and Russian intelligence agencies.

Be that as it may, Trump has ended the complacency of world leaders; even seasoned political analysts do not know what Trump would say or do next. With Russia knocking at its doors, and Trump apparently siding with Putin, European leaders are openly speculating if Nato is dead.