There is a clear Trump doctrine. Those who can’t see it won't have a say in reshaping the world | Nesrine Malik
www.theguardian.com
Mon, 24 Feb 2025 08:00:06 +0200
The sooner the USs former friends realise the old global order is over, the sooner they can organise to regain power and agency the only language Trump understandsA resonant phrase during Donald Trumps first administration was the advice to take him seriously, but not literally.
It was a singularly detrimental expression, widely quoted by politicians and the media.
Its adoption fit with the position many felt most comfortable taking Trump was bad, but he wasnt smart.
He wasnt intentional.
He wasnt calculated and deliberate.
He sounded off, but rarely followed up with action.
He was in essence a misfiring weapon that could do serious damage, but mostly by accident.The residue of that approach still persists, even in analysis that describes Trumps first executive orders as a campaign of shock and awe, as if it were just a matter of signalling rather than executing.
Or that his plan for Gaza is to be taken you guessed it seriously, not literally.
When that was suggested to Democratic senator Andy Kim, he lost it.
I understand people are bending over backwards to try to mitigate some of the fallout from these statements that are made, he told Politico.
But Trump is the commanderinchief of the most powerful military in the world if I cant take the words of the president of the United States to actually mean something, rather than needing some type of oracle to be able to explain, I just dont know what to think about when it comes to our national security.Nesrine Malik is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...
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