What Are We Doing Here?

Regime Change: It's not just for adversaries anymore.

Schot (Netherlands), Cagle Cartoons

Regime Change. This anodyne statement became the prevalent buzzword surrounding America’s wars in Iraq during the 90s and 00s. It’s a less-violent euphemism for the removal, usually by military force, of an adversarial nation’s government. It’s also a foreign policy practice the US has been quite fond of, even if our efforts to accomplish these changes haven’t always been as successful as we would have hoped. Until now, it has usually been directed at our enemies. Has that changed?

The Trump Empire

Trump’s 2024 campaign was replete with “America First” oratory. It seemed as if he was selling the idea of reducing America’s foreign entanglements and adopting a more isolationist posture on the world stage. He told us that he would cut spending on foreign aid. He told us he would impose tariffs on Canada, Mexico, and China. He told us that he would reduce our support of NATO. He obviously was able to communicate that vision to enough Americans to get re-elected.

Shortly after the election, however, Trump surprised the world by revealing his desire to embark on an Imperialist agenda. Comments about buying Greenland, annexing Canada as our 51st state, and taking back the Panama Canal illustrated an expansionist strategy that was not even hinted at throughout the campaign. This was all new, and shocking. No one voted for this, not even the most fervent of the MAGA cult. And yet, like clockwork, the sycophants in the MAGA party immediately started with the excuses and explanations of why these were not only genius moves by Trump, but were crucial to US National Security.¹ Within days of his Inauguration, he added ethnic cleansing to the pot when he stated that the United States was going to take over Gaza, sending it’s 2 million residents to “another Arab country”. Again, this was never discussed during the campaign, even though this particular position was foreshadowed in comments made by Trump’s son in law Jared Kushner.

What the Hell Is Going On?

There are many people, both pundits and the general populace, who will tell you that Trump’s musings amount to nothing but distractions, that he is trying to divert media coverage and criticism from his true agenda with these missives. Others will tell you that he is simply trolling, because threatening unilateral attacks on our closest allies to own the libs is responsible leadership. Thing is, the leaders of these allied nations are not seeing the humor. The Panamanians, the Danes, and the Canadians have spoken out, forcefully at times, against these suggestions, as has nearly all of the Arab world.

Let’s take a moment to consider the resumption of crippling tariffs against Canada and Mexico.² I think that we can all agree that the nominal reason Trump is giving for the Canadian tariffs, that fentanyl is crossing the border with Canada in large amounts, is bullshit. I would venture to guess that most Americans known this as well. Today’s news that Trump is delaying the Mexican tariffs for another month³, despite not referencing any concrete change in Mexico’s position, while leaving the Canadian tariffs intact only solidifies this point. Far more drugs, including fentanyl, cross the Southern border than the Northern one.

So the logical question is.. why? Here is where I believe that Trump really does have designs on Canada. Regime change is off the table, as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has already announced his resignation after a decade in the position. Trump must know this, and he must also know that, prior to the trade war that he started, the likely person to replace Trudeau was the much more MAGA friendly Pierre Polliver.⁴ If Trump isn’t trying to get Trudeau to step down, and there is next to no fentanyl coming into the United States from Canada, then, again, what are we doing here? Perhaps we need to take far more seriously Trump’s “idle” threats about annexing Canada. Trudeau, speaking in response to the resumption of the tariffs Trump has placed on Canada and Mexico, minced no words in describing what Trump is aiming to accomplish.

I suppose forcefully taking over an entire country could be considered Regime Change too…

UPDATE: Literally as I am writing this, the news has dropped that Trump is walking back tariffs on all goods covered by the USMCA⁵. I guess a 1700 point drop in the Dow sparked more than a few phone calls.

The Ukraine Question

Trump’s goals with regard to the situation in Ukraine are far clearer than anything in the Americas. We need only go back to the Harris-Trump debate to remember that Trump would not answer the simple question: Who do you want to win this war? Anyone who has paid a modicum of attention over the last 10 or so years knows how much Trump respects, and maybe reveres, Vladimir Putin. The belligerence that he has shown towards Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is then not really a surprise, nor is Trump’s position that Ukraine, as the attacked, is the only party that should have to agree to concessions in order to accomplish peace. Even if Ukraine were willing to consider such a peace, how long would it last?

It is no secret that one of Putin’s aims in Ukraine is the removal of Zelenskyy’s government, to be replaced with a puppet administration beholden to Russia. That has been a public condition of Putin’s since the beginning of this war. T2.0 has already been working back channels to try to encourage Zelenskyy’s political opponents to push for wartime elections.⁶ Trump has also stepped in to try to facilitate this by “pausing” first US military aid⁷ and more recently US intelligence sharing with Ukraine. The former is troublesome, but the Ukrainians already have some stockpiles of weapons and ammo. Further, the European Union can back fill arms and other military aid. The ceasing of intelligence sharing is a critical issue though. The Europeans simply do not have the intelligence sources that the US does. The loss of the intelligence will have immediate and significant negative effect on Ukraine’s battle capability.

Finally, in a move that can really only be described as cruel, T2.0 announced late Wednesday that they would be revoking the Temporary Protected Status of some 240,000 Ukrainians who have come to the US to escape the war. This would result in these people being deported back to a war zone as early as April. Again, these are people who fled a war of aggression, started by Russia, and came to the arms of their ally, who summarily is going to send them back. It’s fucking disgusting.

I tend to find the social media memes about Trump being a Russian asset a bit tiresome and extreme, but damn if he doesn’t continue to do things that sure as hell seem like he is exactly that. He may not be directly working for Putin, but he is most certainly not working against him.

Change Even Closer to Home

Since 2015 Trump has worked to enact Regime Change on the Republican party and, as we see on a daily basis, has been remarkably successful. Any of the classical “Reagan Republicans”, those who see Russia as an enemy, who loathe deficits, or those who actually give a shit about the Constitution have been drummed from the ranks. They have been replaced with sycophantic Trump cheerleaders or weak-willed invertebrates who know he is lying, who know what he is doing is wrong, but do not have the stones to stand up to him.

By virtue of his 2024 election win, Trump has now accomplished regime change for the entire United States. One only needs to see how Congress, the legacy media, and large corporations are toeing the administration’s line, afraid to stand out lest they be changed themselves. It remains to be seen if any of these folks will rediscover their spines any time soon. Having convictions is hard. Standing by them can be as well. Defending them when they are under a multipronged attack is the hardest. It’s time to see who will stand.

Take Care and Stay Strong

1. Ah, that old chestnut.

2. Trump has also doubled the tariff on Chinese goods, but that isn’t relevant to this discussion.

3. When does the “boy who cried wolf” effect come into play with these on-again / off-again tariffs?

4. Ironically, Trump’s meddling with the Canadian economy has resulted in a tremendous surge in Canadian nationalism as well as anti-American sentiment. This has resulted in the liberal party seeing a resurgence in their popularity and chances for electoral success.

5. The USMCA is the trade agreement Trump signed during T1.0, replacing the NAFTA agreement that had dated back to the Clinton administration. The same USMCA that, while announcing the latest round of tariffs this past Monday, Trump criticized: ““I look at some of these agreements, I’d read them at night, and I’d say, ‘Who would ever sign a thing like this?’” You would, Donny. You. Would.

6. This would be in violation of the Ukrainian Constitution. Of course, Trump doesn’t give a shit about our Constitution, so why would we think he’d care about theirs?

7. Aid that has already been approved by the United States and appropriated by Congress.