Publicly denouncing war and liberals was a regular part of Donald Trump’s communication in his 2024 presidential campaign. Yet, as president, Trump has been relying on the responsibility to protect idea associated with liberals he would normally ridicule as a basis for the US engaging in wars abroad.
Tag: Donald Trump
President Trump’s Cross of Iron
On Wednesday, United States President Donald Trump declared in a post at Truth Social that he has determined the military budget for the next fiscal year should be hiked to 1.5 trillion dollars.
On Saturday, United States President Donald Trump held a press conference to boast about his sending the US military hours earlier to bring destruction in Venezuela and drag off the leader of the nation’s government to America for incarceration and prosecution. It was all done in the name of fighting the war on drugs, though few people give much credit to the Trump administration’s repeated assertion that Venezuela President Nicolás Madura was a drug kingpin responsible for a major share of fentanyl or cocaine shipments into America.
Tiring from its overuse, we have heard many times the accusation that this or that person has expressed an “antisemitic trope that Jews control” fill in the blank — Hollywood, the government, whatever.
President Trump’s Drug War Bad Math
You may have heard President Donald Trump declare once or more his often repeated claim that the United States government has saved the lives of 25,000 Americans each time its military has blown up a purported drug trafficking boat over the last few months in the Caribbean and Pacific. That sounds impressive. But, as Jacob Sullum explained in a Tuesday Reason article, Trump’s numbers don’t make sense.
President Donald Trump, in a Friday memorandum, directed Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Acting Director Jim O’Neill “to review best practices from peer, developed countries for core childhood vaccination recommendations — vaccines recommended for all children — and the scientific evidence that informs those best practices.” If Kennedy and O’Neill “determine that those best practices are superior to current domestic recommendations,” Trump further directed that Kennedy and O’Neill update the US government’s childhood vaccine schedule accordingly.
A CBS poll conducted November 19-21 has found that 70 percent of polled Americans oppose the United States government taking military action in Venezuela. This result is in line with polling earlier in November by Reuters/Ipsos that found that only 21 percent of polled Americans support the US government using military force for the specific objective of removing from office Venezuela President Nicolás Maduro.
The Global War on Terror (GWOT) declared by United States President George W. Bush in 2001 has been a bonanza for the military-industrial complex and foreign intervention supporters over the last two and a half decades. It has also been the bringer of poverty, destruction, and death in parts of the world targeted by the sanctions, drone strikes, all-out wars and other interventions the US government has pursued in the name of advancing the imperial enterprise.
Donald Trump seems to be following through in his second term as president on the threat of a United States war on Venezuela he made in his first term. Significant US military force has been recently placed near Venezuela ready for attack, the US has already destroyed several boats near Venezuela and killed most the people on them in a claimed effort to counter “narco-terrorism,” and Trump last week said he has authorized Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) operation and is considering attacks on land in Venezuela.
The United States government has over the last couple years provided weapons hand over fist to support the Israel government in it bringing a great amount of death and destruction to Gaza. In answer to a reporter’s question Tuesday at the White House, Trump suggested the US government may soon take things to the next level — directly engaging in war in Gaza.