His favorite game is to keep the rest of the world on the brink of a permanent nervous breakdown
Federico Rampini / Corriere Tv / CorriereTv
Here we go again. It feels like we're back back eight years to the first Donald Trump. Here we go again with his favorite game, which is keep the rest of the world on the brink of a permanent nervous breakdownbombarding allied, friendly or antagonistic countries with announcements that cause agitation elsewhere. And in the last few days we have had his proposal, request, demand that European NATO member countries increase defense spending to 5% of GDP, which – for a country like Italy – means more than tripling the current level of military spending.
Trump said the United States should take control of the Panama Canal because what they are currently paying in rent to the state of Panama is expensive. He said they should take it Greenland because that land is too strategic to leave it in the hands of little Denmark. Finally, he recently started talking about Canada as the 51st state of the United States and when he mentions its current prime minister, Justin Trudeau, he calls him governor.
We are, in some of these cases, obviously on the ground of provocation. And he has a lot of fun seeing the effect it has. But it is not just a perverse, spectacular, irresponsible game, if you like. There is a logic to this madness.
Putting the rest of the world in this permanent state, on the verge of a nervous breakdown, anxiously waiting to understand how much provocation there is in his words, and how much they can instead herald real negotiating positions. precisely pursues its own favorite negotiation tactic. It is a way to destabilize and therefore make its interlocutors, whether friends, allies, enemies, antagonists, rivals, more insecure and weaker. It does not matter. It's one his psychological tactics which it pursues with some effectiveness, judging by the results. And then, perhaps, those who are the recipients of these destabilizing messages should finally learn to handle the Trump character, who has not changed compared to eight years ago.
We need a instruction manual for Donald Trump's use.
December 23, 2024
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