Glory to Ukraine!
Glory to the defenders of Ukraine and all modern civilization!
Today in the issue:
- Three events of the week: strike on Moscow, strategic defeat of the USA, Trump remains Trump
▶ Possibly, the past week will enter history textbooks. It’s hardly possible to predict how what is happening these days will be perceived in 20-30 years or more. We don’t know the framework in which today’s events will be viewed. Much more may happen.
But today, three events of the past week seem very significant from here, in the USA.
● The first event is the very successful and very painful strike on the empire of evil by Ukraine on Moscow. When all American TV channels switch from their usual topics to show a blazing Moscow oil refinery, the lid of a huge tank blown off by Russia’s own “high-precision” anti-aircraft missile, Ukrainian drones flying over Moscow and hitting the target precisely, it shows that American TV producers understand well that this is a very important event. Very important today. Very important historically. The war has fully come to those who started it.
The Commander of the British Royal Air Force during World War II, Sir Arthur Harris, when ordering mass bombings of Germany in June 1942, said in a radio address: “The Nazis entered this war under the rather naive delusion that they were going to bomb everyone else, and nobody was going to bomb them. In Rotterdam, London, Warsaw, and in fifty other places, they put this naive theory into practice. They sowed the wind, and now they are going to reap the whirlwind.”
And this applies fully to today’s heirs of the Nazis – the Kremlin’s evil empire. It is getting what it has long deserved these days. And it will receive even more. The successful strike on Moscow on June 18 may well be called a turning point in the war, the beginning of the end of the evil empire in history textbooks in various countries around the world.
● The second event is the extremely humiliating strategic defeat for the USA in the war with Iran.
It’s not just that the memorandum of understanding with Iran is a list of obligations that the USA has taken, from non-interference in Iran’s affairs to paying Iran at least $300 billion without any obligations from Iran, other than allowing free passage of ships through the Strait of Hormuz for 60 days.
The fact is, this strategic defeat will have far-reaching consequences in various aspects. Trump “ditched” Israel. Those who very naively considered and perhaps still consider Trump the “best friend of Israel” may now be stretching in psychological splits. But they will have to understand that for Donald Trump there is no such concept as an ally, there are no interests of the USA. He is interested in only one person on this planet – himself.
And he did, does, and will do only what, in his own opinion, benefits him personally, benefits him today, at this particular moment. It brings financial gain to increase his personal financial state and political gain to protect himself from investigations and possible impeachment in the next, the 120th Congress.
He started the war with Iran, reasoning to himself much like Putin—believing he would achieve victory in three days, that the regime in Iran would change, and with the new authorities in Iran, he would negotiate both the nuclear program and control over Iranian oil. He expected this to bring him personal financial benefits through his family’s business participating in new projects in a “new Iran,” and political benefits—he could claim he had achieved what no one else could: changing the regime in Iran, ensuring Iran was no longer a threat to anyone, and that the US would be Iran’s main partner in the oil business.
But his plan, based on nothing but utterly boundless narcissistic self-confidence, completely failed. The regime in Iran did not change and even became more stringent. Most importantly, Iran demonstrated that it possesses real weapons for which the US has no “counter weapon,” and blocked the Strait of Hormuz. This led to an increase in oil prices, higher costs for all energy carriers and electricity, increased production costs for everything requiring energy, and a rise in prices for virtually all food products and goods in the US. Particularly painful for Americans, as practically the whole country drives cars, was the rise in gasoline prices.
When Trump realized that everything happening was extremely unpopular among Americans—both the war itself and its economic consequences, leading the Republican Party towards a devastating defeat in the Congressional elections in November—he stopped the war. For more than two months, he sought an agreement with Iran to open the Strait of Hormuz at any cost. Hoping that this would lead to a drop in oil prices, lower energy costs, and reduced inflation in the US. Hoping that by the November 3 elections, the change in price dynamics would positively shift voter sentiment in his, Trump’s, and the Republicans’ favor. For him personally, a Republican defeat in the Congressional elections, even just in the House of Representatives, would be the worst nightmare. Because it would mean investigations into his corruption, his use of the state leadership position for personal gain, investigations into his and his ministers’ violations of laws, the creation of a special commission to investigate the circumstances of the US entering the war with Iran, and finally, a very likely impeachment, which, although unlikely to lead to his removal by the Senate (there wouldn’t be the 2/3 votes needed, Republicans wouldn’t “give him up”), would humiliate him and make any Republican presidential candidate close to him complicit in potential impeachment accusations and inherently extremely unpopular ahead of the next presidential elections.
Trump wants to avoid this. That’s why he stopped the war. And that’s why he was so eager to make any agreement with Iran that would unblock the Strait of Hormuz.
And Israel, in Trump’s coordinate system, is just as much a “small” country as all other “small” countries. And “small” countries must listen to their “strong men”—himself, Putin, and Xi. Trump, after all, appeared at the G7 summit and declared that “the boss is here.” He is the “boss.” And everyone else is just nobody, “small,” and insignificant.
The memorandum with Iran, signed by Trump, completely changes the Middle East. Trump not only “ditched” Israel, but also the US allies in the Persian Gulf. They suffered from Iranian attacks, and their economy incurred significant damage. Although they did not fight Iran. It was Iran that struck them in response to US and Israeli strikes on Iran. Now the 47th president expects these countries to gather the $300 billion promised to Iran. And he places them in a situation where they will have to build their own relationships with Iran, because they can no longer rely on the USA.
The result of this war, instead of the regime change in Iran proclaimed by Trump on February 28, the destruction of the Iranian nuclear and missile program, the end of Iran’s support for its proxy forces, and the expected seizure of Iranian oil, was the tightening of the Iranian regime, the de facto preservation of the Iranian nuclear program with completely uncertain prospects for negotiations on it, Trump’s verbal acknowledgment that Iran has the right to arm itself with ballistic missiles, and the de facto acknowledgment that Iran can continue to arm its proxy armies—Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Houthis in Yemen, and others.
Trump can now claim in an interview with Axios that the regime in Iran has changed, that the end of the war is a capitulation (he did not specify whose in response to the journalist’s question on how to handle his demand for Iran’s unconditional surrender at the start of the war). But facts remain facts, no matter what propaganda techniques the president uses.
In this war, he suffered a political defeat. Along with him, the US experienced a strategic defeat. And this assessment is now heard everywhere in the US. This is said by liberal media and liberal politicians. Many conservative and right-wing media say it. Republican senators, who are leaving the Senate after the elections, say it. But even one of the most right-wing Republicans remaining in the Senate, Ted Cruz from Texas, says virtually the same.
● The third very significant event of this week is that Trump remains Trump no matter what. When he signed the joint G7 declaration in support of Ukraine, when he spent two and a half days with the “little” G7 leaders he despised without fleeing the summit as he had done before, it might have seemed that something was happening to him, that he was changing.
I would say otherwise. The fact that he spent three days in Evian and signed the declaration in support of Ukraine, that he had an unscheduled meeting with President Zelensky, were his forced steps. Sometimes heads of state have to do things they would rather not. But there were two factors affecting him. He was uncomfortable after the publication of his “Iranian memorandum.” He wanted to engage G7 countries in demining the Strait of Hormuz. He needed to show he was not alone. But he also really wanted to have dinner at the Palace of Versailles, and President Macron planned this dinner post-summit.
Several events from the last two days, illustrating the chaos he has plunged the country and the world into, suggest that the 47th president remains himself despite everything:
▷ Trump claimed in an interview with an Italian journalist that Prime Minister Meloni begged him for a photo together at the G7 summit, chased after him, and pleaded. Giorgia Meloni responded that neither she nor Italy begs anyone for anything. In protest, Italy’s Foreign Minister Tajani canceled a scheduled visit to the United States.
▷ Iran announced on Saturday that it is closing the Strait of Hormuz again in response to continued Israeli strikes on Hezbollah in Lebanon. A U.S. official responded that the Strait of Hormuz is open. Whether it is open or closed is currently unclear. However, only a handful of ships have passed through it over two days when it was considered open. The strait is mined. Ships can pass through a very narrow corridor, and it remains unsafe until the mines are cleared, which will take several months. Shipping traffic these days is approximately 10% of the level before February 28.
▷ The in-person signing of a memorandum between the U.S. and Iran on Friday was canceled due to ongoing military actions between Israel and Hezbollah. Nevertheless, a group representing the real Secretary of State – the president’s friend Vitkoff and the president’s son-in-law Kushner – traveled to Switzerland on Friday, followed by Vice President Vance on Saturday. An Iranian delegation led by Parliament Speaker Ghalibaf also headed to Switzerland.
▷ A week ago, following a court decision, the inscription “Donald Trump” was removed from the facade of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Since then, part of the building’s facade has been covered in scaffolding with a tarp stretched over it to prevent anyone from seeing the center’s name. It’s unclear whether they hope the court will change its mind or simply want to avoid upsetting “the man himself.”
▷ On Wednesday, the Senate Intelligence Committee was scheduled to hold hearings to confirm Jay Clayton as the new Director of National Intelligence. The committee hoped to confirm him immediately on Wednesday so that the full Senate could vote on Thursday. If successful, Clayton could start on Friday, preventing Trump-appointed Acting Director of National Intelligence Bill Pulte from occupying the position. Pulte faces opposition from all Democrats and many Republicans due to his lack of experience in intelligence, foreign policy, and security, and for searching for kompromat on those the president labels as “enemies.” However, on Wednesday morning, Trump announced that he would not allow Clayton to attend the Senate hearings until the Senate confirmed another of Trump’s criminal defense attorneys as the federal prosecutor for the Southern District of New York (a confirmation that might never happen due to potential blocking by New York senators) and until the Senate passed a bill Trump calls “Save America,” which requires all voters nationwide to re-register in person with citizenship documents, effectively eliminating mail-in voting. The only goal of this bill is to exclude millions of voters, primarily in large cities (who vote for Democrats), where people may not have time to wait in line at election commissions and polling stations. The Senate will not pass this bill because it requires 60 votes to advance. Republicans do not have those votes. Even if all of them voted “yes” (which is not certain), it would give them only 53 votes. All Democrats will oppose. Trump continually demands Republicans change Senate rules to pass bills by a simple majority, but they do not have enough votes for such a measure either.
And on Friday, the acting Director of National Intelligence became a loyal MAGA supporter, Bill Pulte, whom the 47th tasked with firing 300 professionals from intelligence, who had been working there under previous administrations, as he, the 47th, considers them disloyal.
945 days remain until the end of the story titled “Fear: Trump in the White House” © (title of the book by Bob Woodward, published in 2018).
Thank you to everyone who read. Take care of yourself and your loved ones. Take care of each other, help each other. Health to all.
Ultimately, what happens in the world depends on us. On whether we fight evil, do Good, remain mere observers, wait passively and believe that someone somewhere will decide for us, or fight evil and do everything possible to ensure that Good prevails.
We must not allow evil to win. The victory of evil would mean the end of the world we live in. We cannot allow this. Especially now.
Ukrainian Friends, I hug and love you all. Please take care of each other.
Ukraine is and always will be.
And evil will be defeated and punished. And that is certain.
PS I am going on a short vacation. Need a little break. Therefore, the next detailed news release from the USA will be on July 5. Thank you all for understanding.
If there are breaking news before then, I will report on them briefly.
Or make short video releases on my YouTube channel ‘View from America.’
