Maybe it's time for Europe to thank Trump...

[Starfox]

Sorry for a unusually long absence but I wasn't in the best health and morale this past couple of months, so I decided to not worry myself with the international scene. But what just dropped is too big to just let it go without discussing it. And I'm not talking about the famous US National Security Strategy guide 2025. This really dysfunctional document is a whole topic in itself. NO, the big current news is:

Finally, Trump has pulled the trigger (or at least he thinks so) by having some of his faithful lackeys introducing a bill that would pull the US out of NATO. What a surprise! Who would have thought this could happen... Wait... Me? I seem to remember having written something like that somewhere... Obviously what is intended (because this bill hasn't been adopted... yet) is to get European so shaking in their boots that they would come groveling telling Trump "Please, sir, don't do that to us, we promise to worship you always and to accept any of your conditions!". Or at least it's what I imagine Trump is picturing in his barely functional brain.

What is really happening though, is quite different.  After the announcement, Europe simply... shrugged, the European market lost 2 to 3% then recovered from the loss the same morning. Completely the opposite of the reaction you'd expect when people learn that the biggest military alliance in history might cease to exist. I guess Trump wanted to grab Europe by the balls and shake it, pushing it to panic. Thing is Europe has been preparing for precisely that moment for a long long time, building countermeasures behind the scene, since we already knew that with Trump at the helm the USA as a partner and an ally was more unreliable than ever, and we knew it since Trump's first term, nearly ten years ago.  That gave the European Union (and other allies -- like Canada, UK, Norway, Japan, South Korea, Australia...) time to prepare (quietly, secretly even) for what was seen as inevitable if Trump went into a second term, or if any guy like him became POTUS... And the inevitable just happened.

And I'm going to leave the scene to an American investor, Warren Buffet, to explain what it entails and what the future holds. Not only he understands what is truly going on and what Trump and his minions completely failed to see,  just stumbling forward without even looking where they were going, but he explains it with a language that can be understood by everyone, in a speech devoid of any unnecessary political BS that would obfuscate the issue. It's a bit long but is well worth the 30 minutes of listening to (especially if you're an investor yourself).

And this is without the US having actually withdrawn from NATO. Right now it's just a declaration of intent and most certainly a pitiful attempt at bullying by a guy who clearly understand nothing of the world and has six bankruptcies to his name. Why would anyone think he is a financial genius, and apt to make any kind of decision for the future of the USA is really puzzling.

Anyway, whatever happens, the dice have rolled. Trump may go back like he usually does and declare that finally the US will stay in NATO, at that point, who cares? Certainly not Europe and its allies. The guy has proven unreliable, dysfunctional, throwing tantrums, insulting and trying to pressure US allies all around (and when it's not him acting up, it's his cronies).  This last move was just the  bridge too far and the move that Europe has been expecting for a long time; it shows to every US ally what can be expected from Washington and that it's time to move away.

To be precise NATO may very well continue to exist, even without the US which is just showing further that Trump doesn't even understand what NATO is. And yes, Europe also has plans for NATO without the US if needed. NATO spells North Atlantic Treaty Organization... not "North American". Take just Europe and Canada... ooh, both with North Atlantic coastlines, seems fitting enough, don't even need to change the name. Or we may change the name but not the organization. Most NATO members already cooperate and routinely train with each other without the US being necessarily involved. 

Europe is going to pay a lot of money, yes, but for our own protection, to our own defense companies. and those of our Allies (I mean, the ones seeing us as true partners and not vassals).

Buffet speaks of a slow realignment of the markets over at least several years and I cannot fault his thinking. So no need to worry about tomorrow or next year but things definitely took a turn and I don't think there is a way back; not from that particular Trumpian blunder.

But why Europe should thank Trump? Because since the 1960s, France advocated for a European strategic autonomy. In the fact though, none of the other European countries were convinced of the necessity of the move. Then Trump arrives and suddenly, the French idea sounded much better to everyone. So yeah... Thanks Trump. You cemented us like no other US president could. In fact former US presidents tried specifically to keep Europe divided enough to avoid what is just happening now. Finally Trump had a positive effect on something, although he certainly didn't want it... Who would have thunk?

[Starfox]

I have been forced to replace the video that was previously on this page because it was copyright claimed on YT and no longer available. The new version is essentially the same speech by Warren Buffet, as the original video but without the image and (which I guess bypass the copyright issue). I'm not entirely a fan of the images running in background because for the most part they have very little to do with the subject but here we are.

Sorry for the inconvenience.