“He who laughs has not yet heard the bad news.” – Berthold Brecht
They sat there in stunned silence, petrified, like a row of stone statues staring at their highly polished footwear.
They resembled nothing less than a group of naughty children, suffering the pitiless admonishments of a sadistic headmaster in a draughty school assembly room.
But this was no schoolroom, but the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) on Tuesday.
The audience did not consist of frightened schoolkids, but the heads of states of all the main countries of Europe.
And the person who was treating them to a generous helping of the most offensive and stinging insults that have ever been heard from the rostrum of this august assembly was none other than the president of the United States of America.
When Donald J Trump slowly mounted the rostrum and glared at the assembled company of the Great and Good of the free world, nobody had the slightest idea of what he was about to say.
This, needless to say, was nothing new. President Trump is well known to be a highly volatile and unpredictable character, who is very likely to change his opinion on any given subject, from black to white and back again, more or less at the blink of an eye.
They were therefore confidently expecting the worst. What they actually got was far, far worse than that.
The problem started from the very outset when Trump kicked off his speech, grumbling about a non-functional teleprompter, but quickly adding that he did not mind that it was not working.
“I don’t mind making this speech without a teleprompter, because the teleprompter is not working,” Trump said.
“I feel very happy to be up here with you, nevertheless. And that way, you speak more from the heart. I can only say that whoever’s operating this teleprompter is in big trouble.”
If that sounded vaguely like a threat, it was.
Donald Trump may well have been happy, since a speech that was supposed to last just fifteen minutes turned into a lengthy rant, lasting almost an hour.
It must have seemed to last a lot longer for the long-suffering European ‘friends and allies’ of the United States, against whom it was mainly aimed.
Cowering under the unceasing barrage of insults and complaints, they must have been wishing with all their heart that the wretched teleprompter had been in good working order.
In fact, it seems that it was. A UN official said the teleprompter was being operated by the White House itself. And after Trump finished speaking, UNGA President Annalena Baerbock said:
“As we are receiving queries, I would like to assure you that, don’t worry, the UN teleprompters are working perfectly.”
But since every faulty teleprompter has a silver lining, the extra time granted to the man in the White House was used to devastating effect.
He was fairly obviously giving vent to all his feelings of pent-up frustration with the Russians, Ukrainians, Europeans, and the world in general.
Trump clearly turned up at that meeting in an angry mood and looking for a fight. But the main target of his fury was neither Russia nor China. It was Europe.
For almost an hour, he lashed out mercilessly, delivering the most unflattering verdict on his European friends and allies.
He lashed them on every conceivable issue – and some that were frankly inconceivable – from immigration, passing through climate change, finally arriving on the evils of paracetamol.
On and on, he relentlessly continued to bring down a verbal sledgehammer on the heads of his unfortunate guests, ignoring both the most elementary etiquette of diplomacy and even the rules of polite conversation.
“You’re destroying your countries!” he informed the leaders of Europe, blaming all its problems on what he calls the “mass invasion” of immigrants.
“They’re being destroyed. Europe is in serious trouble. They’ve been invaded by a force of illegal aliens like nobody’s ever seen before. Illegal aliens are pouring into Europe.
“You have to end it now – I can tell you. I’m really good at this stuff. Your countries are going to hell.”
This conclusion flowed quite naturally from the rest of his speech. Clearly, the infernal region was the only place open to them, since the Kingdom of Heaven must by now be full to overflowing with hordes of illegal immigrants.
Now, if such a speech had been made by anyone else on Earth, they would have walked out immediately, loudly denouncing the outrageous remarks of the speaker.
But throughout all this horrid diatribe, the European heads of state sat in silence. He spat in their faces, and they wiped it off and begged him for more.
There is nothing surprising about this conduct. Ever since Donald J Trump entered the Oval Office, they have been grovelling at his feet, showering him with the most outlandish praise and obsequious compliments, while secretly cursing him under their breath.
They behaved like servile courtiers, vying with each other to attract the favours of the king, like the satraps who prostrated themselves at the feet of the Great King of Persia.
And that is precisely what the leaders of Europe have become: the miserable satraps of second-rate powers that have lost their leading role in the world and become completely subordinate to the Great White King across the Sea.
Trump’s thank you to Britain
Among this miserable crowd of cowardly satraps, the most miserable of all is surely the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain, Sir Keir Starmer.
He had just spent a colossal amount of money (more accurately, the British taxpayer had spent it, although they were never consulted about that) in entertaining the president of the USA, who had honoured them by paying them a visit.
No expense was spared for this royal circus. The president was entertained by the King and Queen at Windsor Castle, treated to several impressive parades of the Brigade of Guards and the Household Cavalry, invited as guest of honour to a royal banquet, and even saluted by an impressive fly past of the Royal Air Force.
It was noticeable, however, that President Trump was not invited to address the British Parliament (which I believe was safely in recess).
Nor was he at any time allowed to meet the British people. No public meetings of any sort were permitted. Even his brief journeys in the Royal carriage were carefully organised so that the public was kept at a safe distance.
The reason was quite clear. President Trump is not a popular man in Britain and his appearances in public would inevitably be met by mass demonstrations – not of a very welcoming sort.
Consequently, Mr Trump and his charming wife came off the presidential plane on arrival, and got on it again when they left, without ever suffering the inconvenience of any contact whatsoever with the people of this island.
The precise purpose of this visit was never made clear. Presumably, Sir Keir expected to get some kind of reward. But no such reward was ever mentioned or given.
The people in Number Ten Downing Street breathed a sigh of relief when he left, comforting themselves with the thought that it had all gone very well, simply because there were no incidents and no embarrassing remarks from Mr Trump.
Nevertheless, Sir Keir must have been expecting at least a few kind words from the man in the White House in his speech at the General Assembly. Least of all did he expect a blast of unexpected and unjust criticism.
His expectations were disappointed. Evidently, the positive effects of the royal visit had quickly worn off and were now completely forgotten.
The British Prime Minister must have been squirming in his seat when he had to listen to a barrage of complaints directed against his country – and by implication, against his government, and against himself.
In attacking what he describes as the fraud of global warming and green policies, Donald specifically mentioned his displeasure at the sight of massive windmills which the government insisted on installing in Scotland, thus ruining the attractive landscape of the Highlands and spoiling the enjoyment of honest tourists like Mr Trump and his good wife.
He then went on to deliver his customary attack on the mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, who happens to be a member of the same party as Sir Keir.
He accused him, without the slightest evidence, of wanting to impose sharia law on everybody. Personally, I do not have a high opinion of Sadiq Khan, who can be criticised for many things, but this is certainly not one of them.
But, as the journalists say, why let the facts spoil a good story?
A miraculous change?
But then, just as it seemed that things could get no worse, a miraculous transformation occurred.
All of a sudden, the black clouds that had gathered in the chamber vanished. The thunder and lightning fell silent. And the demonic features on the face of the speaker were replaced by a sublime and angelic expression.
From his face they came a radiance that shone upon the audience, instantly calming their fears and filling their hearts with joy and relief.
It was like a miracle. Could they believe it? Could it possibly be true that Donald Trump had at long last seen the light? Had he finally drawn the correct conclusions?
They strained with the utmost attention to understand exactly what he was trying to say. The subject of their amazement was his remarks on the question of Ukraine.
Trump’s about-face on Ukraine
In an extraordinary development, the US President not only claimed that the Ukrainians were winning the war, but actually claimed that Kyiv can “win all of Ukraine back in its original form.”
That was a most extraordinary thing to say, and it appears at first sight to represent a major shift in his position on the war with Russia.
At first sight, that sounds like a very comforting thought, and one that should please the Ukrainians and their European allies mightily.
However, the conclusion which he draws from it will not please them at all. Quite the contrary, in fact. In the words of Alice in Wonderland, “curiouser and curiouser…”
Let us look at this question in more detail. He issued the most extraordinarily bizarre post, which contradicts what US officials have been saying for the past year.
Even his official envoy to Ukraine, General Keith Kellogg, admits that Ukraine is in no military position to recapture all the territory that it has lost.
But here we have the President of the United States appearing to publicly endorse Vladimir Zelensky’s war aims in their clearest and most maximalist form.
He says that the Russians are useless, that they’re “paper tigers”. Just think! They’ve been “fighting aimlessly” for three and a half years and “their economy is on the brink of collapse.”
All that was very interesting. But does the man in the White House actually believe this? To this question, it is impossible to give a definite answer, since we are not able to enter the rather convoluted brain of Donald J Trump.
But anyone with any knowledge of Donald Trump will know that it is highly unwise to take any of his remarks at face value. That goes especially for the kind of improvised rant that he launched without warning at the UN General Assembly.
For those observers who are not deceived by words, but look for hidden meanings behind them (always a wise procedure in the case of this individual), it appeared very likely that some of his more bizarre declarations may have a purely satirical character.
A fine example of this is his notorious Truth Social post, which was apparently written after his brief meeting with Zelensky. This seems to have lasted the grand total of – seven minutes.
Yet, if we are to believe Mr Trump, those seven minutes were sufficient to enable him to “get to know and fully understand the Ukraine-Russia military and economic situation and […] the economic trouble it is causing Russia.”
Surely a great achievement for a seven-minute chat. However, the conclusions he drew from it were far-reaching indeed. He says, “They don’t even really need the help of the United States.”
Or so it seems, because, according to him, NATO and the EU are providing Ukraine with all the help it needs, and all the Ukrainians need to do is to keep up their fighting spirit, go on the attack, and victory is theirs.
So what are we to make of these statements? Can they be taken seriously? Or are they written in a tone of sarcasm, as some serious commentators have concluded? Following that logic, it is quite possible that the real meaning of his words are approximately as follows:
You always tell me that you’re winning the war, that the Russians are useless, that they’re suffering huge and unsustainable losses, and that their economy is on the point of collapse.
You are also constantly boasting about the fighting spirit of the Ukrainians. Very well! If that is to, then carry on fighting and drive the Russians out of your territory – all of it, Crimea included!
Fine! They don’t need to stop at their 2014 borders. They can continue their triumphal march, it seems, all the way to Moscow! All that it needs is determination, fighting spirit and maybe a little help from London, Paris and Berlin.
This glorious victory might possibly have some basis in reality if all that was necessary to win a war was fighting spirit.
“With time, patience and the financial support of Europe and in particular NATO, the original borders from where this war started is very much an option.”
Here it is clear that Trump is expressing a deep sense of frustration that his plans for peace negotiations have met the stubborn resistance of both Ukrainian leaders and their European backers. He is now throwing their arguments back in their face. In effect, he is saying to them:
I have tried to convince you to be reasonable and to enter into negotiations with the Russians, even to sacrifice some territory in order to put an end to the slaughter. But you have refused. Therefore, there is no further point in my attempts to reach a negotiated outcome to the conflict.
You want to continue the war to the end. Very well. Carry on! We wish you every success in that. But please don’t count on any assistance from us. From now, you’re on your own. We are walking away.
And he adds, almost as an afterthought:
“We will continue to supply weapons to NATO for NATO to do what they want with them. Good luck to all!” (my emphasis, AW)
What Trump is referring to here is a continuation of the revised weapon supply programme whereby European NATO nations will have to pay for US weapons for Ukraine.
The initial euphoria that followed his speech at the UN was immediately followed by a wave of alarm and despondency in every European capital.
This was reflected in the press, which until now has maintained a glowing picture of optimism concerning the possibility of Ukrainian victory, but is now beginning to sing a different song.
The British Daily Telegraph has always been one of the most fervent defenders of the Ukrainian cause. But its chief US correspondent Rob Crilley writes the following:
“Look beyond the headlines and the statement is a lesson in messaging. Rather than pledging fresh support to Ukraine or loading up action on Russia, Mr. Trump appears to be handing things over to Europe and NATO.
“There is no suggestion of extra support for Ukraine or that he will punish Moscow further. His only commitment is to keep selling weapons to allies.
“Hardly a game changer. After staking so much of his own reputation to bring Putin to Alaska for talks and putting himself at the heart of negotiations, Mr. Trump has learned a difficult lesson. Ending a war is hard.”
the 25 September edition of the Financial Times carried an even more devastating verdict. In an article entitled ‘European officials fear Donald Trump is preparing to blame them for Ukraine failure’, it quotes one unnamed European official as saying:
“This is the start of a blame game, […] ‘The US knew that the China and India tariffs would be impossible’ for the EU to accept. Trump ‘is building the off ramp’ so he can blame Europe when and if he needs to.”
So the time has come to find someone to blame for the debacle. But it is necessary to point out that a period of blame and recrimination can only take place either in the aftermath of the defeat, or in certain anticipation of it.
What these words clearly indicate is the following. Despite all the hot air, all the belligerent rhetoric, all the continued exaggerated – and frequently fictitious – claims of Ukrainian successes on the battlefront, in private, a growing number of Europeans are in no doubt whatsoever that the real prospects of a great victory are now vanishingly remote.
It has now become clear to everyone but the most stupid hardline warmongers in the West that time has run out for Ukraine.
More than anyone else, the Europeans have understood the deep irony that lies behind Trump’s speech at the UN and subsequent triumphalist posts. The Financial Times points out that:
“While Trump’s new stance was welcomed in some quarters, several European officials concluded he was handing them responsibility for Ukraine’s defence with expectations that Europe would find hard to meet.”
It goes on to quote Poland’s Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s warning that Trump’s “surprising optimism” disguised “a promise of reduced US involvement and a shift of responsibility for ending the war to Europe”.
Tusk added on X: “Better truth than illusions.” Trump has also called on the EU to halt purchases of Russian oil and hit China and India with tariffs – steps that Hungary’s Viktor Orbán, a Trump ally, has long said he would block.
The shift was “spectacular” and “generally good”, but Trump was “setting a very high bar”, a German official noted.
That must be the understatement of the century.
Disengagement
In making these wildly exaggerated statements, Trump was clearly expressing frustration at the failure of his attempts to arrive at a diplomatic solution to the war in Ukraine.
He was clearly irked by the failure of his foreign policy and was looking around for somebody to blame for it. References to Ukraine taking back all the lost territory and fighting on its own were clearly sarcastic comments, aimed at exposing the fantastic nature of the intransigent policy pursued by Zelensky.
It also signals America’s clear intention to pull out of the Ukrainian morass, once and for all. This fact has finally dawned on even the thickest skulls in Kyiv, London, Paris and Berlin. And all the alarm bells are now ringing furiously.
The entire rationale of the foreign policy of the European leaders has been quite simply to prevent America disengaging from Europe, since without the USA, the Europeans are entirely impotent.
That’s why they have been deliberately sabotaging all Trump’s efforts to achieve a negotiated solution to the war in Ukraine and arrive at a modus vivendi with Russia. That would be the kiss of death for them.
It would underline the determination of the USA to extricate itself not just from Ukraine, but from Europe and all its problems.
They wish to maintain a close relationship with Europe, not as an equal or ally, but as a useful market for their exports – such as liquid natural gas (which is why they were determined to break Europe’s supply of cheap Russian oil and gas) and military hardware, which they will make available to NATO (and therefore to Ukraine) – at a suitable price.
But the decision has already been taken. Trump has drawn the logical conclusion. He has decided to wash his hands of the whole business and hand the poisoned chalice to Europe.
If the Europeans wish to continue the war in Ukraine, they are welcome to do so. But they, and they alone, will have to pay for it. The USA will provide no further weapons or money – at least, not remotely enough to satisfy the demands of Kyiv.
This is not a matter of free choice or caprice on their part. The reason for it is far simpler. They cannot continue to provide arms free of charge and without limitation, for the very simple reason that their own stocks of arms have become extremely depleted.
They have been drained away by the continued demands from Ukrainians. The same is true of every army in Europe.
For a long time, leading politicians in both Europe and the USA assumed that America’s stockpile of weapons was simply inexhaustible. That assumption has now been exposed as radically false.
That is the real reason why the Pentagon is refusing to deliver any new supplies of Patriot missiles, either to Ukraine or to NATO. They do not have a sufficient number of these missiles to satisfy their own requirements. Nor is there any realistic prospect of creating the necessary replacements – at least in the near future.
Moreover, Washington is confronted with a very dangerous situation on a world scale and will be faced with ever greater demands from Israel, Taiwan and other places, which are far higher on their list of priorities than Ukraine.
And since there is absolutely no way that the Europeans – who are in a similarly lamentable condition – could possibly make up for the shortfall caused by the lack of American supplies, there is very little prospect – more correctly, none at all – of a dramatic turnaround on the battlefield.
Unfortunately, modern warfare, in addition to fighting spirit, also requires a few other things, such as guns, tanks, artillery, bullets and shells, drones, missiles and – last but not least – lots of soldiers, and lots and lots of money.
Sad to say, Ukraine at the present time is completely lacking in every single one of these things. Even fighting spirit – contrary to what the President of the USA believes – is now in very short supply.
All the reports (even in the Ukrainian and American media) indicate an increasingly pessimistic and demoralised mood among the troops, and a marked reluctance of Ukrainian young people to join the army and to be sent immediately to their death at the front.
And, although it is officially denied and difficult to quantify, a growing number of people – probably the majority now – are tired of the war and desire peace, at almost any price.
The situation at the frontline has reached a crisis point, with the fall of Pokrovsk and other key strategic points now an immediate prospect.
The Russian army continues its remorseless advance, while the Ukrainians are driven back constantly, suffering appalling losses.
The conclusion is inescapable. Ukraine is not just losing the war. It has already lost it.
