... but others do.

Anne Applebaum:

European leaders remember how Donald Trump insulted them. They remember his tariffs, his boorish treatment of the Ukrainian president, his insults to their soldiers. Everyone remembers these things and has drawn conclusions, except, apparently, Donald Trump.

From The Atlantic (click here for a gift link):

Donald Trump does not think strategically. Nor does he think historically, geographically, or even rationally. He does not connect actions he takes on one day to events that occur weeks later. He does not think about how his behavior in one place will change the behavior of other people in other places.

He does not consider the wider implications of his decisions. He does not take responsibility when these decisions go wrong. Instead, he acts on whim and impulse, and when he changes his mind—when he feels new whims and new impulses—he simply lies about whatever he said or did before.

For the past 14 months, few foreign leaders have been able to acknowledge that someone without any strategy can actually be president of the United States. Surely, the foreign-policy analysts murmured, Trump thinks beyond the current moment. Surely, foreign statesmen whispered, he adheres to some ideology, some pattern, some plan. Words were thrown around—isolationism, imperialism—in an attempt to place Trump’s actions into a historical context. Solemn articles were written about the supposed significance of Greenland, for example, as if Trump’s interest in the Arctic island were not entirely derived from the fact that it looks very large on a Mercator projection.

This week, something broke. Maybe Trump does not understand the link between the past and the present, but other people do. They can see that, as a result of decisions that Trump made but cannot explain, the Strait of Hormuz is blocked by Iranian mines and drones. They can see oil prices rising around the world and they understand that it is difficult and dangerous for the U.S. Navy to solve this problem. They can also hear the president lashing out, as he has done so many times before, trying to get other people to take responsibility, threatening them if they don’t.

Europeans, like America’s other allies, also remember the events of the past year, even if Trump has forgotten them.

Specifically, they remember that for 14 months, the American president has tariffed them, mocked their security concerns, and repeatedly insulted them. As long ago as January 2020, Trump told several European officials that “if Europe is under attack, we will never come to help you and to support you.” In February 2025, he told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky that he had no right to expect support either, because “you don’t have any cards.” Trump ridiculed Canada as the “51st state” and referred to both the present and previous Canadian prime ministers as “governor.” He claimed, incorrectly, that allied troops in Afghanistan “stayed a little back, a little off the front lines,” causing huge offense to the families of soldiers who died fighting after NATO invoked Article 5 of the organization’s treaty, on behalf of the United States, the only time it has done so. He called the British “our once-great ally,” after they refused to participate in the initial assault on Iran; when they discussed sending some aircraft carriers to the Persian Gulf conflict earlier this month, he ridiculed the idea on social media: “We don’t need people that join Wars after ​we’ve already won!”

At times, the ugly talk changed into something worse. Before his second inauguration, Trump began hinting that he wouldn’t rule out using force to annex Greenland, a territory of Denmark, a close NATO ally. At first this seemed like a troll or a joke; by January 2026, his public and private comments persuaded the Danes to prepare for an American invasion. Danish leaders had to think about whether their military would shoot down American planes, kill American soldiers, and be killed by them, an exercise so wrenching that some still haven’t recovered. In Copenhagen a few weeks ago, I was shown a Danish app that tells users which products are American, so that they know not to buy them. At the time it was the most popular app in the country.

The economic damage is no troll either. Over the course of 2025, Trump placed tariffs on Europe, the United Kingdom, Japan, and South Korea, often randomly—or again, whimsically—and with no thought to the impact. He raised tariffs on Switzerland because he didn’t like the Swiss president, then lowered them after a Swiss business delegation brought him presents, including a gold bar and a Rolex watch. He threatened to place 100 percent tariffs on Canada should Canada dare to make a trading agreement with China. Unbothered by possible conflicts of interest, he conducted trade negotiations with Vietnam, even as his son Eric Trump was breaking ground on a $1.5 billion golf-course deal in that country.

Most American allies are democracies, and that means that public opinion matters to their leaders too. And public opinion in all of them has swung against the United States. Politico has published polls showing that the Canadians, French, British and Germans now believe that China is a more reliable partner than the US under Trump.
....

The president speaks as if the United States were not the founder and leader of NATO, and NATO’s other members, as if his allies’ interests were alien to his own. So no wonder they don’t want to send ships and troops to help him out: This isn’t cowardice. It’s a calculation.

Most of them have stopped trying to find the hidden logic behind Trump’s actions, and they understand that any contribution they make will count for nothing. A few days or weeks later, Trump will not even remember that it happened.

https://anneapplebaum.substack.com/p/tru...t-hes-done

--------

Anne Applebaum, international affairs author, has been an opponent of communist autocracy since it held sway in Poland. She has continued to monitor autocratic trends in the world since the fall of the Berlin Wall.

Hey Anne one for you and one for your limp wrist pals in Europe.
We’re done with Europe. We’re done with the WEF.

I bet someone else pays for Gitindahole’s internet.

dammit, boy - isn't it nice having a president with a spine...

Trump doesn’t understand relationships and has no skills.

Lol, these fools think this will make his supporters abandon him. I think maybe she has Joe Biden and Donald Trump mixed up in her head.

(03-25-2026 06:39 AM)TigerBlue4Ever Wrote:  Lol, these fools think this will make his supporters abandon him. I think maybe she has Joe Biden and Donald Trump mixed up in her head.

No one expects his diehard supporters to do anything but cheer every swing of the wrecking ball.

lol @ the irony.......

Writers like Anne Applebaum, and outlets like The Atlantic, are main reasons why Donald Trump became 45 and 47. I wonder if they will ever admit that, even to themselves.

(03-25-2026 06:34 AM)Gitanole Wrote:  Trump doesn’t understand relationships and has no skills.

Yet... You claim other leaders laugh, but when he says you'll pay, they pay vs Biden/Obama who other leaders loved, but they loved them because they were limp wristed effeminate wuss bags.. Much like yourself.

(03-25-2026 04:49 AM)stinkfist Wrote:  dammit, boy - isn't it nice having a president with a spine...

If it’s Ukrainians you’re asking, yes.

(03-25-2026 07:09 AM)Gitanole Wrote:  

(03-25-2026 04:49 AM)stinkfist Wrote:  dammit, boy - isn't it nice having a president with a spine...

If it’s Ukrainians you’re asking, yes.

bwahahahahahaha ... I still remember the pubs that thought #groverII would continue to subsidize the piano dick player...

I can't figgle out why he gave 'em the drone finga bang in return ... if that fagoo was serious, he'd have offered w/o compensation...

keep bein' ewe, sheepster...

ewes only understand scoliosis...

That is the stupidest pile of crap in the OP that I have read anywhere in a long damn time. The only thing broken is Anne Applebaum's objectivity.

(03-25-2026 07:18 AM)TripleA Wrote:  That is the stupidest pile of crap in the OP that I have read anywhere in a long damn time. The only thing broken is Anne Applebaum's objectivity.

And Gitindahole buys all of it.

(03-25-2026 04:00 AM)Gitanole Wrote:  ... but others do.

Anne Applebaum:

European leaders remember how Donald Trump insulted them. They remember his tariffs, his boorish treatment of the Ukrainian president, his insults to their soldiers. Everyone remembers these things and has drawn conclusions, except, apparently, Donald Trump.

From The Atlantic (click here for a gift link):

Donald Trump does not think strategically. Nor does he think historically, geographically, or even rationally. He does not connect actions he takes on one day to events that occur weeks later. He does not think about how his behavior in one place will change the behavior of other people in other places.

He does not consider the wider implications of his decisions. He does not take responsibility when these decisions go wrong. Instead, he acts on whim and impulse, and when he changes his mind—when he feels new whims and new impulses—he simply lies about whatever he said or did before.

For the past 14 months, few foreign leaders have been able to acknowledge that someone without any strategy can actually be president of the United States. Surely, the foreign-policy analysts murmured, Trump thinks beyond the current moment. Surely, foreign statesmen whispered, he adheres to some ideology, some pattern, some plan. Words were thrown around—isolationism, imperialism—in an attempt to place Trump’s actions into a historical context. Solemn articles were written about the supposed significance of Greenland, for example, as if Trump’s interest in the Arctic island were not entirely derived from the fact that it looks very large on a Mercator projection.

This week, something broke. Maybe Trump does not understand the link between the past and the present, but other people do. They can see that, as a result of decisions that Trump made but cannot explain, the Strait of Hormuz is blocked by Iranian mines and drones. They can see oil prices rising around the world and they understand that it is difficult and dangerous for the U.S. Navy to solve this problem. They can also hear the president lashing out, as he has done so many times before, trying to get other people to take responsibility, threatening them if they don’t.

Europeans, like America’s other allies, also remember the events of the past year, even if Trump has forgotten them.

Specifically, they remember that for 14 months, the American president has tariffed them, mocked their security concerns, and repeatedly insulted them. As long ago as January 2020, Trump told several European officials that “if Europe is under attack, we will never come to help you and to support you.” In February 2025, he told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky that he had no right to expect support either, because “you don’t have any cards.” Trump ridiculed Canada as the “51st state” and referred to both the present and previous Canadian prime ministers as “governor.” He claimed, incorrectly, that allied troops in Afghanistan “stayed a little back, a little off the front lines,” causing huge offense to the families of soldiers who died fighting after NATO invoked Article 5 of the organization’s treaty, on behalf of the United States, the only time it has done so. He called the British “our once-great ally,” after they refused to participate in the initial assault on Iran; when they discussed sending some aircraft carriers to the Persian Gulf conflict earlier this month, he ridiculed the idea on social media: “We don’t need people that join Wars after ​we’ve already won!”

At times, the ugly talk changed into something worse. Before his second inauguration, Trump began hinting that he wouldn’t rule out using force to annex Greenland, a territory of Denmark, a close NATO ally. At first this seemed like a troll or a joke; by January 2026, his public and private comments persuaded the Danes to prepare for an American invasion. Danish leaders had to think about whether their military would shoot down American planes, kill American soldiers, and be killed by them, an exercise so wrenching that some still haven’t recovered. In Copenhagen a few weeks ago, I was shown a Danish app that tells users which products are American, so that they know not to buy them. At the time it was the most popular app in the country.

The economic damage is no troll either. Over the course of 2025, Trump placed tariffs on Europe, the United Kingdom, Japan, and South Korea, often randomly—or again, whimsically—and with no thought to the impact. He raised tariffs on Switzerland because he didn’t like the Swiss president, then lowered them after a Swiss business delegation brought him presents, including a gold bar and a Rolex watch. He threatened to place 100 percent tariffs on Canada should Canada dare to make a trading agreement with China. Unbothered by possible conflicts of interest, he conducted trade negotiations with Vietnam, even as his son Eric Trump was breaking ground on a $1.5 billion golf-course deal in that country.

Most American allies are democracies, and that means that public opinion matters to their leaders too. And public opinion in all of them has swung against the United States. Politico has published polls showing that the Canadians, French, British and Germans now believe that China is a more reliable partner than the US under Trump.
....

The president speaks as if the United States were not the founder and leader of NATO, and NATO’s other members, as if his allies’ interests were alien to his own. So no wonder they don’t want to send ships and troops to help him out: This isn’t cowardice. It’s a calculation.

Most of them have stopped trying to find the hidden logic behind Trump’s actions, and they understand that any contribution they make will count for nothing. A few days or weeks later, Trump will not even remember that it happened.

https://anneapplebaum.substack.com/p/tru...t-hes-done

--------

Anne Applebaum, international affairs author, has been an opponent of communist autocracy since it held sway in Poland. She has continued to monitor autocratic trends in the world since the fall of the Berlin Wall.

That’s a lot of American cred lost in the world.

replying to yourself makes you look like a bigger clueless idiot.

It’s just fun to laugh at now ignorant he libs are

Mr Trump is so emotionally and intellectually deficient, he really does expect to insult friends and alienate allies and still have them run to help him when he needs a favour.

Most adults with such a habit would take a clue from reality when they don’t.

This is an opinion piece, not a news article. You'd think certain people would know the difference.

So red lines and saying Don't and then letting the lines being crossed and allowing them to do is acceptable? Maybe a pallet or two of cash should be sent then...

Wait if all that happened we would hear how ineffective he is...