•   the individual parties within the so-called “coalition of the willing,” Great Britain, France and Germany.
  • All three major European economies are in trouble, along with the aggregate economy in Brussels which is heavily influenced by Germany, France and Italy.
  • Within Great Britain, Prime Minister Kier Starmer is in a hot mess. “Starmer faces populists both left and right, with Brexit veteran Nigel Farage’s Reform UK consistently ahead in the polls. Inflation has ticked up. Unpopular tax rises loom. Starmer’s backbenchers are nervous about planned welfare cuts and reforms for children with special needs. And migrants keep arriving on small boats across the English Channel.” {link}
  • In France, Emmanuel Macron is in the worst political shape of his tenuous career.  Another no confidence manuever has backfired against the current French government. “In an Ifop poll conducted after [Prime Minister] Bayrou’s address, 63 percent of respondents said they were in favor of going back to the ballot box, with that figure getting to 86 percent among National Rally voters.” {link} The issues around French politics are now too vast for the Ukraine effort to hide them.
  • Within Germany things are not much better.  The economy is contracting, and Chancellor Merz is in the dubious position of cutting subsidy benefits in order to address the problem. “During Sunday’s interview Merz defended his coalition’s historic decision to loosen the debt brake on defense spending — made possible by an unexpected U-turn by Merz’s conservatives right after the election — and even went so far as to link it to NATO’s survival. “We were essentially able to preserve NATO with our decision,” he said.” {link}
  • A tactical retreat by President Trump is what the majority of the American people support.  A tactical retreat also allows Russian Federation President Putin to complete his larger goals and bring Zelenskyy to the point where he concedes defeat and requests a ceasefire.
  •  German Chancellor Fredrich Merz now saying he views Ukraine as a long war.

Source: theconservativetreehouse.com