Trump was right, Merkel was wrong.

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Voices: Trump was right, Merkel was wrong – and it’s made it harder to save Ukraine (msn.com)

Looked at from where we are now (and this is hardly the most important facet of the global crisis), and all things considered, it’s probably time to admit that Donald Trump was right. Right, that is about one thing, if only one thing, which is that Germany completely has totally and completely (to use a Trumpism) messed up its energy and security policy – and that has made it much harder to save Ukraine.

Make no mistake, Trump was a monster; a national security risk; a friend to Putin; inhumane; he threatened Volodymyr Zelensky that he’d delay military aid to Ukraine unless he dished dirt on Hunter Biden. He did plenty wrong. Trump was generally bad for America and the rest of the world; but when he came to the Nato meeting in Brussels in 2018 and was rude to the German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, you have to admit the-then president was prescient.

Chillingly so, actually. He said that the Germans (and other Europeans) were getting over-reliant on Russia for energy; and that they weren’t spending enough on their own defence. Goodness, how we mocked his boorish ways, his undiplomatic language and crude analysis; yet Germany and the EU ought to have heeded his warnings. For now we can’t slap an embargo on Russian oil and gas – and stop funding Putin’s war machine – because we’d crash the European economy.

This is what President Trump said: “We’re protecting Germany, we’re protecting France, we’re protecting all of these countries. And then numerous of the countries go out and make a pipeline deal with Russia where they’re paying billions of dollars into the coffers of Russia.

“So we’re supposed to protect you against Russia and you pay billions of dollars to Russia and I think that’s very inappropriate…I think these countries have to step it up, not over a 10 year period, they have to step it up immediately. Germany is a rich country, they talk about increasing it a tiny bit by 2030. Well they could increase it immediately, tomorrow, and have no problem.

“If you look at it, Germany is a captive of Russia. They got rid of their coal plants, they got rid of their nuclear, they’re getting so much of their oil and gas from Russia. I think it is something Nato has to look at. It is very inappropriate.”

Which brings us to what we in Europe can do now about energy security – and the importance of drawing the right conclusions. Such is the price of hydrocarbons that Shell is reportedly considering re-booting a plan to pump more oil out of the North Sea, off Shetland. There’s talk of fracking Lancashire. Some might like to re-open the coal pits closed by the Conservatives in the 1980s and 1990s.

 
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I watched a (very) few episodes of the US version of The Apprentice. He came across as a more extreme edition of Alan Sugar, good at clearly seeing the wood for the trees. Psycopathic tendencies on show, which can be very useful. At times. No "well, yes,.... but" with him.
Pity about all his other characteristics.
 
Putins Brexit was wrong

Boris Johnson and his cronies were wrong taking loads of Putins money.

Remainers and Johnson haters were right.
 
Biased because it's CNN, but a short history of Trump, Putin, Zelensky.
I don't think CNN are as bad as Fox on the other side - ie not blatant liars but some interpretations may be iffy.

https://edition.cnn.com/2022/03/06/politics/trump-putin-ukraine/index.html

Trump has been advocating pushing of US subs towards the area:
https://news.yahoo.com/trump-says-s...VB5oZBhVnam-Adayu3MIZIAx_xy9tl7DcTtdtYtw1ho4b

Putin of course has almost as many nuclear subs.

And there's a strategic US observation plane flying about causing some interest.

It's getting to the stage where, if Zelesny were blasted by a mass of Russian bombs, I suspect the rest of the country would fall quite fast. Then everyone would be shaking fists and posturing, but it might stop it getting any worse.
 
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Actually Merkel argued against using Russian gas rather early on but the argument didn't go down well so was ignored. They have been reckoned to have dropped nuke power too soon - their green party probably has something to do with that. Beware the same may happen here..

It's getting to the stage where, if Zelesny were blasted by a mass of Russian bombs, I suspect the rest of the country would fall quite fast. Then everyone would be shaking fists and posturing, but it might stop it getting any worse.

Not so sure about that. The same political ideas go right down the political chain even to the people who run towns. Not all though as at least one didn't fight. Demo's against russia but not that large compared with the population. I'm also not so sure about Ukraine reporting. We get a war map but why does trouble crop up in areas where there doesn't seem to be any Russian fighters.

Interesting, there are Chechens fighting for Ukraine. So at it again on both sides. It wouldn't surprise me if the Ukraine ones are less controllable.
 
Actually Merkel argued against using Russian gas rather early on but the argument didn't go down well so was ignored.

It was Gerhard Schroder who agreed to it, that's right, the same Gerhardt to has financial interests in Rosneft, Gazprom and Nordstream. That was long before Merkel came on the scene, she just simply rubber stamped it with her approval, without argument I might add.
 
It was Gerhard Schroder who agreed to it, that's right, the same Gerhardt to has financial interests in Rosneft, Gazprom and Nordstream. That was long before Merkel came on the scene, she just simply rubber stamped it with her approval, without argument I might add.

It’s odd how Fillyboy doesn’t mention Ben Elliott:

“The luxury business run by the chairman of the Conservative party has deleted a webpage spelling out its Russian “elite” connections.

Ben Elliot, founder of luxury concierge service Quintessentially Group, has co-chaired Boris Johnson the party since 2019.


This week it emerged that Mr Elliot’s company had deleted a web page spelling out how the it had catered to the needs of Russia’s wealthy for more than a decade”



hey Filly, I hear Rishi Sunaks wife’s IT business is still awfully active in Russia.


hey Filly, As you are so outraged by Germany buying Russian Gas, I guess you must be outraged that you were conned into voting for Putins Brexit - you know the vote leave campaign bankrolled by Putin.

Are you still denying Aaron Banks was given a ton of Russian money?


hey Filly. I guess you must be upset voting for the Boris Putin Tory party - you must be wondering why Tory party donor Oligarchs haven’t been sanctioned.
 
One of the most annoying things about the Trump Presidency was the assertion that Trump was just automatically wrong on every single thing he said.

Don’t get me wrong, he was a narcissistic barely literate fool of a man but he wasn’t 100% wrong 100% of the time.

His position on China was largely correct although maybe it would have been smart to not be so publicly vocal about it.
 
One of the most annoying things about the Trump Presidency was the assertion that Trump was just automatically wrong on every single thing he said.

Don’t get me wrong, he was a narcissistic barely literate fool of a man but he wasn’t 100% wrong 100% of the time.

His position on China was largely correct although maybe it would have been smart to not be so publicly vocal about it.

Trump actually didnt do that badly in terms of the economy -although long term he wouldve wrecked it

his position on china was correct, although starting a tariff trade war was not the solution -it cost American pig and soya farmers a packet
 
Trump actually didnt do that badly in terms of the economy -although long term he wouldve wrecked it

his position on china was correct, although starting a tariff trade war was not the solution -it cost American pig and soya farmers a packet

Yeah, exactly… he was like a bull in a China shop (excuse the pun) but behind the scenes he put some things in play which prevented China from buying up US companies that produce semiconductors. The strategy was to buy up majority shares in these companies, strip them of IP and tech and then form a Chinese to do what they did.

They had run this play so many times but the grand prize for the Chinese is semiconductors apparently. If they had been successful it would’ve been a disaster for the US.
 
Yeah, exactly… he was like a bull in a China shop (excuse the pun) but behind the scenes he put some things in play which prevented China from buying up US companies that produce semiconductors. The strategy was to buy up majority shares in these companies, strip them of IP and tech and then form a Chinese to do what they did.

They had run this play so many times but the grand prize for the Chinese is semiconductors apparently. If they had been successful it would’ve been a disaster for the US.

the scary thing is that the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company has a 54% market share

imagine how the world would be cream crackered is China took Taiwan

the West has become too dependent on global supply chains -its a major security risk, as we are discovering with Russian gas
 
the scary thing is that the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company has a 54% market share

imagine how the world would be cream crackered is China took Taiwan

the West has become too dependent on global supply chains -its a major security risk, as we are discovering with Russian gas

Many believe this is Chinas main interest in Taiwan and the US main reason for not wanting Taiwan to fall under Chinese control.

You’re right, we’re sat here poking criticism at Germany for being drunk on Russian energy while at the same time we are all so reliant on Chinese manufacture that we’re completely exposed to them.

The Pandemic should have been the final lesson for us as to why we need to change that.
 
Actually Merkel argued against using Russian gas rather early on but the argument didn't go down well so was ignored. They have been reckoned to have dropped nuke power too soon - their green party probably has something to do with that. Beware the same may happen here..

Exactly. We can't be smug, we have our own idiots. Rushing to rely on solar and windmills at a time of high fuel inflation and instability. Rewilding our countryside when we can't feed ourselves, imports are getting more difficult and expensive, food shortgages exacerbated by war, growing UK population. Yep, the only thing not in short supply is, ironically, short-sightedness.
 
Exactly. We can't be smug, we have our own idiots. Rushing to rely on solar and windmills at a time of high fuel inflation and instability. Rewilding our countryside when we can't feed ourselves, imports are getting more difficult and expensive, food shortgages exacerbated by war, growing UK population. Yep, the only thing not in short supply is, ironically, short-sightedness.
One thing brexit could enable is state aid.

why don’t we give subsidies to build greenhouses to increase our food production or indeed other farming.

but we don’t because Tories and their mates can’t get rich from it
 
Trump tried to get china to cut back on steel production. At some point that would increase prices making USA steel more competitive,. They wouldn't so he applied a tariff on USA steel imports. From all sources.

On semiconductors he banned the export of certain chip production kit and maybe some chips but not sure of that.

;) That's my impression anyway.

The USA isn't the only country that makes the stuff though and I had heard China were buying it off Taiwan in serious numbers. Japan can probably offer stuff as well.
 
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