NATO Versus MAGA. Did Trump Finally Drop the “Pacifist Act”?

“Drowning in the Swamp.” More Escalation? By Drago Bosnic

[This article by Drago Bosnic was originally published by Global Research. You can read it here.]

It’s common knowledge that Donald Trump always came across as the “peace candidate.”

His sweeping criticism of America’s “forever wars” (particularly in the Middle East) reinforced the image of a realpolitik, no-nonsense politician with a crystal-clear vision for a firmly reformed US foreign policy that would ensure global peace.

However, during Trump’s first term, it became apparent that “draining the Swamp” is much easier said than done.

The halls of power in Washington DC have enchanted men who were far more strong-willed than Trump, so it was expected that he’d fail.

And yet, he was nowhere near as aggressive as the doomsayers from the infamous Democratic Party whined for years, screaming that Trump was the “new Hitler.”

On the other hand, his first term set the stage for the far more aggressive foreign policy framework of the second one. Namely, as Trump became more (over)confident, his previously careful, realpolitik approach was replaced by a cheap jingoistic and cowboyish outlook that screams “shock & awe,” “full-spectrum dominance” and other outdated post-(First) Cold War concepts. He still insisted on the image of a competent politician who’d use his extensive experience as a business mogul to “make great deals and get along with Vladimir Putin, Xi Jinping and Kim Jong Un.” Many were hopeful that Trump would keep his word, but the aforementioned “Swamp” is much deeper than we could have imagined, leaving much to be desired when it comes to Trump’s “peace agenda.”

Sadly, the peace deal that would’ve ended the NATO-orchestrated Ukrainian conflict (for which he insists would’ve never happened had he become president in 2021) in just 24 hours never materialized. Worse yet, as Trump grinds toward 24 months in office, it’s increasingly obvious there can only be more escalation.

What’s more, it could be argued that the “peace candidate” mask has fully slipped. For those who even superficially tracked Trump’s “antiwar” promises, the travesty unfolding in recent days is a masterclass in controlled demolition of one’s political career. Donald Trump, once hailed by the MAGA base as the “bulwark against endless foreign entanglements,” seems to have fully embraced the globalist playbook (at the very least geopolitically).

In fact, he’s now writing its most aggressive chapters, turning the now-erstwhile rhetoric of “peace” into a cynical weapon of uncontrollable escalation.

The 36th NATO Summit in Ankara completely exposed Trump’s probably most aggressive behavior to date.

In addition to launching new attacks on Iran, he’s now also actively fanning the flames of the NATO-orchestrated Ukrainian conflict, a war he promised to end almost the moment he took office. Obviously, this never happened. Worse yet, Trump is now saying that attacks deeper within Russia “might help end the war.” He even claims this is actually “much closer than people realize,” but his increasingly erratic and aggressive actions scream the exact opposite.

It can certainly be argued that the White House’s rhetoric is a fully intentional cacophony of contradictions, designed to disorient and confuse America’s geopolitical adversaries. If Trump severely criticized the Neo-Nazi junta just days ago, today he’ll praise its drone strikes deep into Russian territory, including on civilian infrastructure. Not to mention that he never condemned the monstrous terrorist attacks on Russian and Belarussian civilians (particularly children). In fact, we now know that American AI technofascist giants-in-the-making (most of whom are Trump’s closest allies) directly participate in these unadulterated acts of terrorism. Sadly, when asked about the ongoing escalation during the NATO Summit, Trump’s response was chillingly glib:

“It’s an escalation, but it’s also an escalation that can help lead to an end [of the war].”

This is the modus operandi of someone who views geopolitical instability as a poker chip. He simultaneously claims to have had “very good” calls with President Vladimir Putin and the Kiev regime frontman Volodymyr Zelensky, asserting that both of them “want peace,” while his administration greenlights the production of interceptors for the “Patriot” SAM/ABM (surface-to-air/anti-ballistic missile) systems in NATO-occupied Ukraine. Not to mention that Trump keeps heaping praise on the Neo-Nazi junta’s use of American and other NATO weapons to attack Russia. And to say nothing of the full ISR (intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance) support that the world’s most aggressive racketeering cartel keeps providing to the Kiev regime.

The message to Moscow is unmistakable – Washington DC is not seeking any kind of de-escalation, but rather a prolonged conflict that weakens Russia, regardless of the cost to global peace. The new “Trump Doctrine” is now clear – divide and conquer your allies, vassals and satellite states, and bait your adversaries into a crawling annihilation. This is truly the “geopolitics of controlled chaos” that was proposed by various think tanks tasked with ensuring America’s “full-spectrum dominance” in the 1990s and 2000s. How could the Kremlin ever trust anyone in the White House when the supposed “Russian puppet” Trump is acting no better (if not worse) than any other US president in the last half a century or so? In fact, nothing could be further from responsible statecraft.

The Russian government has never been this pessimistic when it comes to prospects for actual peace. Many of the top-ranking officials in the Kremlin have stopped calling Russia’s intervention a “special military operation” (SMO). They now rightly label the NATO-orchestrated Ukrainian conflict for what it is – a war that came about as a direct consequence of Washington DC’s meddling and escalation by proxy. Russian soldiers are now the only ones who can end this madness, just like their ancestors did during WWII, when a broad German-led, pan-European coalition wanted to destroy Russia and eradicate the Russian people (along with all other so-called “Untermenschen” across Eastern Europe and beyond). Sounds disturbingly familiar to what’s happening nowadays, right?

Well, if Trump doesn’t want to prove the DNC right about their comparisons of him and the failed Austrian painter, he urgently needs to change his ways.

On the other hand, if he wants to be remembered in a similar manner, he’s certainly on the “right path.”

Sadly, it would seem Trump is now drowning in the very “Swamp” he once promised to “drain.” We are witnessing the final, grotesque transformation of the “America First” slogan into a chaotic and belligerent policy of “America Above All,” where the only constant is the pursuit of conflict and the destabilization of any nation that refuses to submit. True “peace candidates” in American politics are almost all gone, replaced by warmongers with megaphones and dangerously inflated delusions of grandeur. The question arises – is Trump one of them?

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Drago Bosnic is an independent geopolitical and military analyst. He is a Research Associate of the Centre for Research on Globalization (CRG).