So the plan to oust Nicolas Madura resulted in an attack, during which the dictator and his wife were seized and transported to the United States. This is an undoubted breach of international law, but Trump and MAGA don't care about that. It also broke the rules of the United States, but nobody seems inclined to enforce those. Nevertheless, this isn't just another mad President Trump moment - this has pushed Trump, the bully who used tariffs to put extreme pressure on other countries - across the line into the use of military force to do likewise. This makes it highly likely more will follow. Let's discuss.

In this news round-up of the week for January 2nd 2026, President Trump threatens military action against Iran, as the regime there tries to cope with mass protests. Global warming is already hitting Southern Europe so hard that growers there are having to give up traditional crops such as citrus fruit. Elon Musk makes a shocking observation about the state of government that someone really ought to do something about. And the people that took Russian money to fund MAGA Influencers have been allowed back into the US - because foreign interference is just fine so long as it’s Vladimir Putin.

What are the three basic values and processes of democratic systems that we are most in danger of losing - both in Trump's United States and much of Europe, and elsewhere in the world? And - having identified what makes a healthy democracy work, how can we halt the process of democratic decline that we see all around us? In other words, how can we make 2026 the beginning of the fightback for democracy against autocracy? Well, let's discuss.

The New Year is upon us - a time for new beginnings! But for President Trump, the early days of 2026 could see the Supreme Court ruling on the legality of his tariffs - and to all appearances the merits of the case are overwhelmingly against him. Should the justices rule accordingly, the tariff Plan B will be invoked - and the administration will pretend it's all okay, but it will have defanged Trump by removing his most powerful and arbitrary weapon. Let's discuss.

In the first half of 2025, the massive investment in Artificial Intelligence data centres was by far the largest part of the economic growth that the US economy registered. This reflects a breathtaking scale of activity. But every action has an equal and opposite reaction - and communities across the United States, across the political divide, are starting to vigorously protest all these new energy-hungry data centres. And that presents a particular problem for Trump, allied as he is to the tech billionaires. Let's discuss.

In this news round-up of the week for Friday December 26th 2025. Trump's America launches a bombing strike against ISIS targets in Nigeria - but with the support of the government there, contrary to its earlier approach. Five Europeans who are deemed to be beastly to American free speech are barred from being in the United States - and why this is a trend we'll be seeing more of. And Trump world is dismayed that the Administration's extraordinary incompetence in its messaging over the Epstein Files has made it far worse, and laster longing, than it ever needed to be.

President Trump has launched a new battleship concept for the US Navy, bigger, more advanced, faster - what else could it be called other than 'Trump Class'? But is this project just a misconceived fantasy - a vanity project that could divert major spending from the things the US military actually needs to do to keep pace with its rivals? Or is it the way of the future? And if the latter - why a battleship - given that these were abandoned after the second world war, and for good reason? Well, let's discuss.

President Trump had already told us that he wanted to take over Greenland. Then we got the sense that it was a live project when it was revealed that spies had been sent to the island on a 'covert influence' operation. Now, Trump has announced a "special envoy" for Greenland, placing it at the top of a priority list, and alarming Greenland and Denmark over what this means might be coming next. Meanwhile, Europe pretends that nothing much has changed with the US, and we're all still the best of allies. At what point does that change? Let's discuss.

In its recent National Security Strategy, the Trump Administration lay claim to Central and South America as being 'its neighbourhood', where it would exert more control and expect to be able to shape events to its satisfaction. And it specifically said it would seek to push out third party countries, and it was clear that this meant China. But China just released its own strategy, and it's making it clear that it has no intention of going anywhere. Let's discuss.

In this news round-up of the week for Friday December 19th, 2025. President Trump addresses the nation, and it's fascinating for what it says about the pressure the administration is under. President Putin addresses the nation, and apart from the stark contrast, it's worth noting what it says about the end game for Ukraine. And the Epstein Files release day is today - and the administration will fail the requirement to release all of them, because they just haven't had time to censor them all. Let's jump in.

President Trump's trusted and loyal chief of staff, Susie Wiles, always known as the quiet person who got everything done, has hit the news big time with a series of interviews she did with Vanity Fair, where she gave strikingly honest assessments of her colleagues, some of Trump's recent actions and his motivations. It made a big impact - some of it wasn't news, or at least shouldn't have been. But some of it was important background to the administration's political strategy and the White House infighting and debate. Let's discuss.

By all accounts, the MAGA faithful are starting to despair at the disconnect between what candidate Donald Trump promised during his election campaign, and what President Trump is actually delivering. Whether it comes to affordability, the Epstein Files, Artificial Intelligence and more - Trump is seen as aligning with billionaires and tech oligarchs, not the ordinary people. And, according to a series of articles in the Washington Post today, he's simply not listening to the feedback, which could mean nothing is going to improve much from this point forward. Let's discuss.

In an interview a few days ago, Elon Musk - normally the purveyor of hubris and inflated promises - said that DOGE had been "a little bit" successful. This was clearly the closest to reality he could bring himself to admit in public, but the fact he went on to say that he wouldn't do it if he had his time again really tells the story. So that moment of self-reflection is worth noting. But then you have to note how he remains of the view that his vision for the world must be indulged by governments worldwide, and he will seek to attack or undermine those who disagree. Arguably, that's entirely the improvement we might have hoped for from Elon Musk 'spending more time on his businesses'. Let's discuss.

In this news round-up of the week for Friday December 12th 2025: President Trump's Navy seizes an oil tanker carrying Venezuelan crude which highlights what may be the real reason why he won't stop until Maduro is gone; A leaked briefing paints in vivid colours the reality that if the US ends up in a shooting war with China, America itself expects to lose, in spite of all its expensive weapons; And while some are excited that the Epstein files are supposed to be released next week, there are two good reasons to presume it's going to be yet another dud.

One of the big stories of 2025 has been the plummeting rates of foreign tourists entering the United States. Whether because President Trump has insulted their countries, or because they just don't fancy visiting the country the US has become - people are staying away in droves. Now, as though that isn't nearly bad enough, the Trump administration seems determined to impose even more onerous and intrusive tests on the way in - with the possibility that if you have the "wrong opinions" about the Dear Leader, you might not be let in at all. Let's discuss.

European leaders and Ukraine's President Zelensky have been meeting yet again to agree a way forward in the face of Trump's pressure for Ukraine to sign a variation on its one-sided deal with Putin's Russia. And STILL, after Trump's dismissive insults towards them all has been codified as official US security policy - they are keeping up the pretence that the US is still Europe's biggest ally. Why? When do we re-enter a world where public figures talk in a relatively frank way about how they see the world, and what their objectives are? Let's discuss.

The new Prime Minister of Japan, Sanae Takaichi, established a great rapport with President Trump right from the start - or so it seemed. But when she immediately lined up with Trump to draw a hard line with Xi Jinping's China, she turned around and discovered he wasn't there. Trump's America is interested, according to it's recent National Security Strategy (and its observed behaviour) in money. Not geopolitics. Not values. Money. Japan, having attracted the fury of Beijing, is suddenly wondering if its best ally is no longer an ally at all. And even the uncertainty throws the stability of Southeast Asia into a doubt it hasn't seen for a very long time. Let's discuss.

In this news round-up of the week for Friday December 5th 2025 - The US launches its new security strategy, and it doesn't mince words in laying out the real thinking behind Trump's bizarre foreign policy. The question is - will Europeans actually do anything about the admission that Trump aims to replace them all with far-right parties, that he aims to hand Ukraine to Russia, or any of the rest of it - or will they keep pretending it's business-as-usual? Also, the Ukraine Russia peace negotiations fizzle as they were always going to, and the EU rankles Trump's America by fining Elon Musk's Twitter. Also, I note a true unsung hero, and talk about a skunk and a raccoon.

President Trump assumed that waving a big stick in front of Venzuela's Nicolas Maduro would result in him agreeing to step down, since the US has all of its economic and military might to bring to bear. But Maduro has called his bluff, and suddenly Trump is finding that the ground is disappearing under his feet. The attacks against boats are attracting talk of war crimes. Congress is starting to get seriously unhappy. And the latest revelation about a second strike made just to kill survivors - a war crime in any similar context - has the administration changing its story daily as it slowly realises that consequences are coming. Let's discuss.

NATO is realising that the hybrid warfare being waged against it by Russia, via sabotage, airspace incursions, disinformation and hacking attacks, are too serious to continue to be shrugged off. So today one of NATO's top military leaders put it out there that NATO should be taking more aggressive and proactive action, and that such action would count as a defensive measure in the current situation. This matches the threat - but it suffers the one drawback that the lynchpin member of NATO is President Trump's United States. And Trump is very obviously a Putin ally. So could NATO adopt such a stance - or would it simply get vetoed?