COMMENT
— Donald Trump’s second 100 days have devastated America’s global standing — from deportations without due process to wrecking alliances, undermining education and economy, and shattering faith in U.S. democracy.
Rashmee Roshan Lall
Journalist by trade & inclination. World affairs columnist.
COMMENT
— America’s MAGA-fuelled transformation evokes China’s Cultural Revolution — Trump’s reign sees fear-driven loyalty, state reshaping, and cult-like displays of devotion, as institutions bend to one man’s will.
COMMENT
— Three ex-US diplomats drew a sharp parallel between Donald Trump and Liz Truss — warning that turmoil in US Treasuries may signal a loss of safe-haven status, echoing Britain’s 2022 market meltdown.
COMMENT
— Donald Trump’s presidency revives Turkey’s EU ambitions as European leaders, driven by security concerns, reconsider Ankara’s value — armed with NATO’s second-largest F-16 fleet and strategic leverage.
COMMENT
— Trump’s coalition faces brewing civil war: economic nationalists pine for industrial revival, while techno-elites chase AI utopia. Ideological clashes loom in a paradoxical anti-elite elite. Bannon versus Musk.
Canada-US Relationship
— The Washington Post cautiously parallels Trump’s hostility toward Canada with Putin’s aggression in Ukraine — while hedging its stance. This equivocation highlights a troubling media reluctance to confront Trump’s aggressive intentions directly.
COMMENT
— A satirical take on US-Russia diplomacy under Donald Trump, proposing a ‘merger’ of their foreign services to cut costs. With Marco Rubio echoing Sergei Lavrov’s rhetoric, why not streamline the messaging?
German Politics
— Alice Weidel, leader of Germany’s far-right AfD, presents a paradox. A multilingual, Swiss-based ex-banker with a diverse family, she once embraced conservative moderation but now champions anti-immigration rhetoric. Opportunism or conviction?
COMMENT
— John le Carré’s The Tailor of Panama eerily foreshadows today’s geopolitical landscape, echoing Trumpian rhetoric. If ex-spy le Carré saw the future, could ex-KGB Putin possess a similar prescience?
COMMENT
— Washington’s political chaos mirrors a high-stakes video game, with Donald Trump and Elon Musk as key players, Rashmee Roshan Lall writes. Reality blurs as theatrics, power moves, and dramatic proclamations dominate the scene.
COMMENT
— Donald Trump embraces a ‘world king’ persona, influencing global politics with imperial ambitions. His return energises Brazil’s Jair Bolsonaro, despite legal troubles, but can Trump’s influence truly reshape Brazil’s political future?
COMMENT
— Donald Trump’s 2025 inauguration sparks unsettling parallels to dystopian fiction, with his “manifest destiny” rhetoric, Mars ambitions, and frontier ideals raising troubling questions about America’s expansionist and divisive past.
COMMENT
— South Korea’s decisive handling of its impeached president contrasts sharply with the US’s failure to hold Trump accountable for the Capitol insurrection, exposing Biden’s Justice Department’s lack of urgency.
COMMENT
— Elon Musk’s attacks on the US spending bill, labelling it “criminal” and urging electoral consequences for supporting lawmakers, highlight troubling parallels with “state capture,” exposing risks to American political integrity.
COMMENT
— A devastating cyclone highlights Mayotte, a French overseas territory in the Indian Ocean, where poverty contrasts with its EU status, attracting migrants despite slums and historical ties to colonialism.
COMMENT
— Donald Trump’s administration is appointing media figures like Kari Lake, Pete Hegseth, and Mehmet Oz to key roles, emphasising communication skills over journalistic integrity, raising concerns about credibility and impartiality.
