European officials fear Donald Trump’s latest rhetoric on Ukraine aims to set them an impossible mission that will allow the US president to shift blame away from Washington if Kyiv falters in the war or runs short of cash.
After months of pressing Ukraine to settle with Moscow and give up Russian-occupied territory, the US president stunned European capitals on Tuesday by declaring on social media that Kyiv could “fight and win” all its land “with the help of the EU”.
While Trump’s new stance was welcomed in some quarters, several European officials concluded he was handing them responsibility for Ukraine’s defence with expectations that Europe would find hard to meet.
“This is the start of a blame game,” one official said of Trump’s abrupt change of heart. “The US knew that the China and India tariffs would be impossible” for the EU to accept.
Trump “is building the off ramp” so he can blame Europe when and if he needs to, a European government aide said. The shift was “spectacular” and “generally good”, but Trump was “setting a very high bar,” a German official noted.
BelmontIncident on
Why are we speculating on the plans of someone who clearly lacks the stability and awareness of facts necessary for planning?
Would anyone be surprised if Tariffs McDumbass announced that he was surrendering to Mikhail Gorbachev tomorrow? Or Nikita Khrushchev? Or possibly Sauron, Lord of Mordor?
James_NY on
Is there anything European officials don’t fear? Other than becoming dangerously reliant on their primary geopolitical rival or incapable of defending themselves without help from others?
Whether Trump is acting crazy in opposition to them, or alongside them, the only common theme is that European officials are afraid of something.
stav_and_nick on
Frankly, the EU has ~200 stealth fighters and hundreds of other 4th gens. They have combined 1,200,000 million active duty personel, they have two nuclear weapon states with significant arsenals. And even more, they’re rich!
If Ukraine falls, it is Europe’s fault for simply not wanting it as much as they claim they do
That doesn’t mean that the US is blameless; they could also have ended this war years ago with some “brave volunteer” F-22 pilots. But the US has to also balance the wars in the middle east and the Big War brewing in the Pacific; European nations can have a reasonable drive and reach the Ukrainian border, and frankly if they can’t do that they’d be as useful as a wet fart against the PLAN
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European officials fear Donald Trump’s latest rhetoric on Ukraine aims to set them an impossible mission that will allow the US president to shift blame away from Washington if Kyiv falters in the war or runs short of cash.
After months of pressing Ukraine to settle with Moscow and give up Russian-occupied territory, the US president stunned European capitals on Tuesday by declaring on social media that Kyiv could “fight and win” all its land “with the help of the EU”.
While Trump’s new stance was welcomed in some quarters, several European officials concluded he was handing them responsibility for Ukraine’s defence with expectations that Europe would find hard to meet.
“This is the start of a blame game,” one official said of Trump’s abrupt change of heart. “The US knew that the China and India tariffs would be impossible” for the EU to accept.
Trump “is building the off ramp” so he can blame Europe when and if he needs to, a European government aide said. The shift was “spectacular” and “generally good”, but Trump was “setting a very high bar,” a German official noted.
Why are we speculating on the plans of someone who clearly lacks the stability and awareness of facts necessary for planning?
Would anyone be surprised if Tariffs McDumbass announced that he was surrendering to Mikhail Gorbachev tomorrow? Or Nikita Khrushchev? Or possibly Sauron, Lord of Mordor?
Is there anything European officials don’t fear? Other than becoming dangerously reliant on their primary geopolitical rival or incapable of defending themselves without help from others?
Whether Trump is acting crazy in opposition to them, or alongside them, the only common theme is that European officials are afraid of something.
Frankly, the EU has ~200 stealth fighters and hundreds of other 4th gens. They have combined 1,200,000 million active duty personel, they have two nuclear weapon states with significant arsenals. And even more, they’re rich!
If Ukraine falls, it is Europe’s fault for simply not wanting it as much as they claim they do
That doesn’t mean that the US is blameless; they could also have ended this war years ago with some “brave volunteer” F-22 pilots. But the US has to also balance the wars in the middle east and the Big War brewing in the Pacific; European nations can have a reasonable drive and reach the Ukrainian border, and frankly if they can’t do that they’d be as useful as a wet fart against the PLAN