The pandering to Trump must end — it only encourages his tyranny

Authored by thetimes.com and submitted by TimesandSundayTimes
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Wake up, Keir. Smell the coffee, Emmanuel. Pay attention, Friedrich. Watch the press conference in the Oval Office again and again until you grasp what is unfolding before your eyes. America is trashing its most precious values (not to mention its allies) under the cultlike leadership of its president, and the Republican Party, tech bros and other useful idiots are slavishly enabling it.

I hate to sound apocalyptic, but if that ten-minute exchange wasn’t a moment of clarity, I don’t know what is. As Donald Trump and his bearded lackey JD Vance bullied Volodymyr Zelensky — speaking in a foreign language and trying desperately to advocate for a nation under pitiless assault — I felt sick to the stomach. I wondered how the kidnapped children,

SweetSweetAtaraxia on March 4th, 2025 at 13:30 UTC »

The White House straight up sounds like North Korea now when they praise Trump.

iKill_eu on March 4th, 2025 at 13:00 UTC »

I actually think most of Europe is playing it smart rn.

Publicly they are saying they want to cooperate with the US. Privately they are preparing to go their own way. Instead of telling the US that they are untouchable, Europe is treating the US as expendable and unreliable.

They're not openly cutting off the US, because doing so would be escalating. Instead they are letting Trump do the escalating while simply distancing themselves and preparing for him to leave the table.

Make no mistake, the international community is not appeasing him - they are resisting calmly while trying their best to not rock the boat to the point where he decides to make an example of someone. Appeasement would be letting him do what he wants with the world. This is not that.

_HGCenty on March 4th, 2025 at 12:56 UTC »

Dan Caine, the new military leader, has said (according to Trump): “I love you sir. I think you’re great sir. I’ll kill for you sir.” Last week the judge advocate-generals for the three branches of the armed forces — the people who tell military leaders what is and is not legal — were all sacked. “The only thing that matters is power,” Dan Bongino, newly installed deputy head of the FBI, has said. “We have a system of checks and balances? Haha! That’s a good one.”

Eek.