John Chuckman
COMMENT POSTED TO A COLUMN BY TOM LUONGO IN RUSSIA INSIDER
Trump Doesn’t Want Peace With the EU, A Deeper Schism Fits His Plans Perfectly
"So, Trump doesn’t want a solution to this trade spat. He wants to inflict maximum pain on them to force a radical realignment...At the same time this gives Macron and Merkel all the breathing room they need to patch things up with Russia"
Well, I'll give the author credit for imagination.
But anything which links the two things, a "plan" and Trump, cannot be taken too seriously.
A man who slurps down McDonald's hamburgers in bed while watching three television sets and tweeting whatever outrageous thoughts happen to come into his head is not a planner.
Further, the American President is just not ever completely in the driver's seat, either in domestic affairs or foreign policy.
The Constitution is designed that way, and the power-sharing arrangements which have evolved in modern America also work against it.
There very much is a power establishment in Washington, and the consensus of its members is what really drives American foreign policy.
Trump is not even in good standing with parts of that establishment, but where he does have any standing, it derives from his almost going overboard in supporting what they want - eg., all of his moves on Israel and the UN or his lavishing money on the Pentagon.
It is hard to believe that the same establishment which today drives to dominate every corner of the globe supports the idea of arrangements in Europe crumbling. NATO serves many American establishment needs, including the de facto occupation of potential rival, the EU.
Washington's power establishment consists of the Pentagon and CIA (plus 16 other security agencies) supporting an empire that benefits American plutocrats abroad. It includes most of the Senate and Congress who are beholden to the plutocrats for their very election, and it includes powerful lobbies like the Neocons.
I am not saying the existing situation in Europe couldn't change, but if it does, it will be the result of Trump's many blunders and having offended almost everyone.
And the threat of impeachment is now starting to look like a serious possibility to end Trump's rampage. The establishment is very much working away on this.
At any rate, November's Congressional elections are almost certain to turn him into a lame-duck for the second half of his term even if he keeps his job.
Related to these matters, readers may enjoy:
https://chuckmanwordsincomments.wordpress.com/2018/09/01/john-chuckman-comment-trump-and-foreign-policy-heres-a-man-making-lots-of-noise-and-pretending-to-be-in-charge-but-on-all-really-important-matters-he-is-not-in-charge-any-more-than-obama-was/
https://chuckmanwordsincomments.wordpress.com/2018/07/22/john-chuckman-comment-how-american-politics-really-work-why-there-are-terrible-candidates-and-constant-wars-and-peoples-problems-are-ignored-why-heroes-like-julian-assange-are-persecuted-and-r/
