Simplicius suspects that Trump is going to go a lot bigger on Europe than anyone assumes or even imagines. As do I.
Things are rolling full steam ahead on the ‘negotiations’ front. Russian and American counterparts are set to meet in Riyadh tomorrow, February 18th. The American team is said to consist of Rubio, Witkoff, and Mike Waltz, and the Russian one of Lavrov, Putin foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov, and Kirill Dmitriev.
Of course the real nub of the negotiations will revolve around what the US is secretly willing to offer. On the surface, Trump and co. must preserve their bold American bravura, but these opening forays are non-starters for Russia. In reality, behind the scenes there are hintings that Trump may be ready to go much farther, perhaps even make some of Lavrov’s earlier dreams into realities. For instance, rumors now abound of Trump really doing a number on Europe unlike anything previously imagined.
If there is one thing we know about the God-Emperor 2.0, it’s that he likes to go big. Bigger than anyone else. The best. Huge. And there is nothing that would be bigger when it comes to Europe, or more to America’s advantage, than a complete withdrawal of its troops from Europe.
Now, the mere fact that Trump proposes something cannot be equated with him actually following through on it; the Wall is not yet built and the Deep State is still undrained. But he likes massive proposals that change the game by the mere fact of them being on the table, which is why I think it is likely that the opening statements on the subject by Vance and Hegseth are a prelude to a proposal to leave European security to the Europeans.
It is telling, is it not, that nothing terrifies the Clown World servants who rule antidemocratically over the European peoples than those peoples being set free to rely upon themselves.
In any event, I’m sure that whatever does come out of these initial discussions will prove interesting and provocative.