Forum Topic

Has Trump succeeded in making Europe safer?

With it looking like there is a deal to be had between USA and Ukraine on rare earth minerals to pay back the billions US have put into Ukraines war effort. Does that mean with the USA having a foot in the Ukraine door they have something to defend   And therefore will guarantee security. Should the Europeans , including us, also be looking for a share of this wealth in order to pay us back the money we have put in? Maybe Trumps early daft pronouncements were just designed to get everyone talking and looking for solutions. The pace of seeking peace has certainly speeded up since his arrival.Still dislike the man intensely but maybe he's onto something here.

Andy Pike ● 407d8 Comments

I'm sorry Andy but you do need to look at a bigger picture as to how we got to this parlous state with crumbling and unmaintained infrastructure and not enough military equipment.

Philippa Bond ● 406d

You're rambling off the subject again Phillipa.The post us not about when you were bor  rationing after WW2 or even our payback to USA.Please find somewhere else to post your ramblings.

Andy Pike ● 406d

Successive Ministers of Defence and the families of service personnel have called for more money to be allocated but there has been a lack of investment and and/or poor choice possibly as a result for a long time.

Philippa Bond ● 406d

Although I wasn't alive for WW2 I was born before rations were stopped and that was a long long time before the UK's payments to the US ended!

Philippa Bond ● 406d

@Andy😄Anyway back to your question about Trump.  There can be no doubt that Trump's intervention has galvanised the issue and he may well be the catalyst that brings an end to the current conflict.  I use the word current because the only thing that will permanently stop Putin is his death.

Sue Hammond ● 406d

WW2 repayments finished in 2006.

Andy Pike ● 406d

Trump has certainly shaken up Europe.  The US is very insular partly because of that lovely big ocean (no longer a pond) although most people fly to and from the US nowadays.  I really don't think the US people realise how much closer they are and vulnerable they are to other interference including that of communications nowadays.  They also seem to allow Big Business to cause a lot of damage before they do anything about it.  Repayments by the UK to the US for WW2 have only just ended.  There may be a large difference between what many people have voted for and what they will get.  Perhaps that's the same everywhere.  Time will tell.

Philippa Bond ● 406d

I think a lot of the UK & EU financial support are by loans unlike the US support. Clearly that didn't go down well with Trump.Defence spending is now up that's for certain.The idea that Russia is going to take over Europe but we won't increase defense spending until 2029 actually sold quite well despite it being completely illogical.It was always going to have to increase they known that for years.I think the war will end sooner which is a good thing unless anyone thinks Ukraine can recapture land back which no serious commentators are suggesting.However the US does not consider Russia as an economic threat. It's rivals are China and then the EU.The war has seen off Europe now as an economic threat. Germany deindustrialized, cheap energy gone. Tariffs to mop up.With Europe poorer it's probably more a danger to itself as governments become more nationalist.

Ed Robinson ● 407d