Trump and the European vassals

There's no point in pretending nothing is happening, as the media and the political circus try to do. Something has changed, or rather, something has confirmed the harsh European reality beyond appearances and the fake media and political representation. Everyone, out of shame, cynicism, and hypocrisy, prefers to cover it up so as not to have to admit that the European Union has become a union of vassals. Or they tell one story, forgetting the other. So, last week, what happened was that Trump debunked the narrative of European rearmament based on the belief, already launched in the Biden era, of an imminent Russian invasion. He also marginalized the EU (and even NATO, as we will see later) on the issue of support for Ukraine. And all of this was made possible by the European ruling classes who, instead of focusing on their own interests and creating a European armed force, uniting individual national forces into a single defense organization, or at least flanking national armies with a European force, chose to surrender to Trump, who now has them hanging by the neck.

Let's begin with the NATO Summit in The Hague, where we witnessed disconcerting scenes of servility: after a year in which the European establishment devoted itself body and soul to telling us how evil Trump was, that with him the Seven Biblical Plagues would fall upon Europe and the world, it is now kneeling at his feet. And Mark Rutte, the godfather of the Frugal Four, the intransigent guardians of the EU budget, pitted against us, the spendthrifts of Southern Europe, treated like beggars and forced to tighten our belts so much that we developed Émilie Marie Bouchaud's wasp waists, turned the new 5% of GDP defense target into a celebration, giving Trump the credit and thanking him for offering us this extraordinary opportunity to impoverish ourselves.

In fact, the 5% of GDP target is not the most important part of the Summit's final declaration. The 5% target is a political commitment by each member state that intends to adopt it; NATO does not oblige anyone, and, in fact, there are no sanctions or limitations for those who cannot or will not respect it.

At the 2014 NATO Summit in Wales, members committed to investing 2% of GDP in defense. Ten years later, most members have not achieved this target, even though the European security situation has worsened. The 3.5% for arms spending and 1.5% for related spending are a target that each member achieves according to its own plan, with the sole condition that it be compatible with NATO's. Furthermore, the 5% is not a ceiling, but a baseline for having, according to NATO's calculations, the defense and deterrence capability to prevent Russia from attacking or resist a first strike and sustain the conflict for a certain period. This capability must be achieved within 10 years, by 2035. Until then, we are in the hands of our Lord Jesus Christ, since, according to NATO, current capabilities do not allow for deterrence, resistance, or response, except with nuclear weapons. It's already clear here how the supposedly imminent Russian threat seems more suited to a science fiction novel, given that, faced with a direct and immediate threat, there aren't three or ten years to deal with it.

But it is between what was said and written and what remained unsaid that lies the truly "transformative" and historic part of the Final Declaration. In the written part, Russia is downgraded to a "long-term" threat, and spending on Ukraine is included in the calculation of allies' military spending. This is absurd, considering that by allocating 3.5% of GDP to Ukraine, Portugal (and other member countries) would fulfill their commitment without any improvement in their defense, which also reveals an implicit acceptance that support for Kyiv has become a long-term issue, rather than the prelude to a quick victory, as initially promised. In the unwritten part, practically everything that characterized NATO until yesterday remained: nothing about condemnations and sanctions against Russia, about the "Russian war of aggression," about the Middle East and threats to global security, about relations with the EU, China, the Baltic countries, the Indo-Pacific, and, above all, nothing about Ukraine's accession to NATO.

This silence is particularly revealing when compared to previous summits, where Ukraine's accession was presented as "irreversible." And the consequences of this silence are there for all to see: Ukraine fought a terrible war to join NATO, but it will not join NATO. It fought to join the EU, but there is no sign of that, given Orbán's opposition. It fought to preserve its territorial integrity, but is on the verge of being dismembered and losing its richest and most strategic regions. It fought to defend its sovereignty and independence, but is now subject to punishment from those who, having promised to end the war, are now trying to profit from it.

Isn't it paradoxical, then, that the EU and its member states remain determined to convince us that Putin will soon unveil an equestrian statue of Alexander I in Lisbon, taller than the Vasco da Gama Tower? Yes, because the war is no longer even on our doorstep, as Macron and Mark Rutte warn, but in our own home, according to Dr. Montenegro, although he forgot to warn us. And to fight it, Dr. Montenegro is counting on a new airport thanks to Donald Trump, which will be very useful for our soldiers in stopping the Russian invaders between Scylla and Charybdis.

I'm joking to disguise my embarrassment, of course. The self-parody of these self-proclaimed mythomaniacs is so comical and tragic at the same time that sarcasm naturally emerges. But, in short, Dr. Montenegro and his other sycophants will first impoverish us by setting us back 200 years with rearmament, and then they'll calmly decide what the point is.

Meanwhile, not satisfied with transferring 5% of GDP to NATO to please Trump, the EU, precisely out of fear of Trump, eliminated the imposition of a tax on Big Tech, known as the "digital tax," which was a way to force large tech companies, almost all of them American, to pay taxes. Worse still: the tax remains, but American companies are exempt; otherwise, Trump will impose tariffs. As a result, no American Big Tech company will pay the tax (thank you! You're welcome!), and the tariffs will come anyway. This takes genius.

And so it was that, from one vassalage to another, we arrived at the sending of new, highly sophisticated American military systems to Ukraine, paid for in full by the EU. A move by Trump that subverts the Alliance's logic and transforms the war emergency into a commercial contract. Furthermore, it completely marginalizes the EU in the issue of rearmament and support for Ukraine. It has the merit, however, of making everything crystal clear: the US produces, Ukraine fights, the EU pays. It's a Columbus egg, everyone happy.

Trump is defending his own interests and those of the United States. Just as the EU is defending the interests of Trump and the United States.

We could very well move the European Commission headquarters to Washington; at least everything would be more honest.