Is the White House a mafia whose Godfather is Donald Trump?
Since his return to the White House, Donald Trump has not acted as a Head of State. His erratic behavior gives the impression that he does not follow a logical path. Full of contradiction, with no concern about the country and its people, he is missing the key ingredients of a statesman while his lieutenants do roll a plan for fascism.
This is not dealmaking: there is no good faith negotiation, only aggression and extortion. Power and money are what drives him. He chose his cabinet with people who would not contradict him and even would follow him into absurdity. Loyalty is their only quality, and few of them do have a relevant pedigree.
Whoever opposes him, triggers the appetite for revenge and blood. It can be a university, a country, the press or any other contradictor. He is fundamentally destructive, and his narcissism is pathological.
His first six months confirm what his true nature is. These are exactly the characteristics of a godfather. He is not an autocrat or a dictator or a king. Using those comparisons misses the fundamental nature of the man and his lieutenants.
Let’s look more closely at his actions.
His international policy does not have any form of consistency, except for one thing: the money he grabs from other countries.
His $ 400 million gift from Qatar in the form of a Boeing 747 was a consummate disaster. To become usable as Air Force One, it would need two years and an extra $ 200 million to be refurbished … and it will eventually be given to … the Trump Foundation.
His crypto policy changed. When he was not involved, he hated it. When he could make money and create his own crypto, it became a mission of the White House, even though its regulation and policy do not make sense. But its notional value of $ 8 billion was created to the detriment of those who were misled and lost value immediately.
The “peace” in Ukraine is unlikely to become a reality any time soon, but Trump’s intervention has been assorted with a deal or rare earth minerals racketeered from the country to the advantage of US companies. It just included a $ 90 billion “purchase” of US weapons by Ukraine. The weapons he will “give”, will be paid by European countries via NATO.
The “peace” between Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo includes minerals for US interests.
The Japan tariff deal includes the absurd creation by lieutenant Luksic of a $ 550 billion “fund” that will be managed by him for ten years and is a “compensation” for the reduction of the tariffs from 25 to 15 %.
The same pattern is used for the EU Trade “agreement” that reduces tariffs from 25 to 15%, using the opportunity to create a $ 600 billion “fund” for investment in the United States and $ 750 billion of purchase of US oil.
This is of course not limited to foreign policy, and the extorsion is largely organized domestically.
The false accusation of antisemitism at Columbia University will reap $ 200 billion as if it had anything to do with the mission of a university. Will Harvard pay as well? This has, of course, nothing to do with antisemitism.
As to the fight to try to convince us that he is not an accomplice of pedophile Epstein, he pretended not to understand its importance but sued the Wall Street Journal and his former ally Rupert Murdoch for $ 10 billion.
His bullying of the Federal Reserve Chairman and the insults he uses are undignified and powerless. Jay Powell is someone who is governed by principles and respects the institution he presides. It is intolerable to the Godfather. He will fail if he nominates a successor in 2016 that will not reassure the market that the Fed will independently maintain a sound monetary policy.
The main technique of the mafia is racketeering. The “beautiful” deals made by the White House are nothing else and are enabled by the extraordinary power of the United States. It is an abuse in full illegality with the support of the entire Republican Party and its Congress representation. Each and all of them failed to the nation.
As a true mafioso, he considers that if he can get it, he deserves it. No ethics should come into play. The constitution is ignored. The judges must be fired. His predecessors must be audited.
This is where the second dimension of a Godfather enters: the endless need for narcissistic reinforcement by companies or governments who are compelled, at various degrees, to lick his boots or kiss the ring. The good news is that it continues to work. Whether it will be his trip to Scotland as a State visit (Buckingham Palace is under renovation) or his absurd presence at the reopening of Notre Dame de Paris, many heads of state have agreed to play the game. The show of strength of the European leaders in Washington to support Zelensky is another one.
It is, however, not the end of the game.
Whether it is the democratic party or lawmakers, governments or corporates, they have a limited ability to change the course of action. What matters is that the narrative is complacent. Donald Trump will not change.
We must therefore act accordingly: the only thing he understands is tit-ot-tat. He uses the term “reciprocity” for his racketeering tariffs. He uses his secret police (the ICE) using fascist methods. What is currently missing is the ethical narrative, the support to Trump’s victims who cannot resist his immigration kidnapping and his support to rape. We must stand for truth and ethical behavior.
Those voices exist, but they are currently episodic, non-coherent and sometimes inaudible. The audience is our communities, country, people and the world who remains astonished that one man can destroy what was a beacon of democracy and integrity. The first victim is and will be the United States on the verge of a financial crisis that the FED desperately tries to avoid.
More than ever, we muststick to our values.
