Trump Off and On Yet Again

Trump Off and On Yet Again

Paul Craig Roberts

Two days ago Trump didn’t even want to meet with Putin and gave him a 10-day ultimatum.  Yesterday Trump said he is meeting with Putin next week after Witkoff and Putin “transmitted signals.”  Perhaps finally someone in the Trump regime noticed the escalation toward nuclear war that I described  yesterday in my interview on Larry Sparano’s program, On Target.

Do watch the interview, because Trump’s volatility and changeability  means an agreement is far from certain.  So far, Trump hasn’t even bothered to know what Putin’s position is or what Putin means by “ending the root causes” of the conflict.  Having just finished re-reading A.J.P. Taylor’s The Origins of the Second World War, the endless meetings between Britain, France, Germany, Soviet Union, and Poland in pursuit of peace ended in war contrary to all intentions. 

I remain unconvinced that the iron-clad barriers I have described to peace with Russia can be broken. Washington’s foreign policy remains hegemony.  Trump himself just declared it when he told the Atlantic that “I rule America and the world.”  Moreover, the last thing the US military/security complex wants is to lose its highly profitable Russian enemy.  Perhaps the most likely outcome is that Putin’s hopes will cause him to fall again for an agreement that will be used to disadvantage Russia, and the escalation will continue.

If Washington is interested in peace, why is Washington stirring up trouble for Russia in former Soviet provinces in Central Asia?  Why is Washington ramping up weapon sales to NATO?  Why did Trump just re-deploy intermediate-range nuclear missiles in Europe?  The questions go on.

Hopefully, Trump is not setting Russia up for a surprise attack like Trump did to Iran.