HOW DO WE LIKE IT SO FAR?

There is too much to be going on with. Many of the world’s leaders seem to be lining up to either make deals with the United States and their President, or resist the barrage of questionable decrees, both domestic and international in scope. Those seeking to make deals must somehow find a way to ingratiate themselves without appearing to be too accepting of his bullying and arrogant nature so as not to alarm their own countrymen. Others go full on with effusive flattery, thereby gaining his full attention, whilst relying on their countrymen to recognise the irony in their approach. It is as if they are indicating to their citizen’s “Hey, watch this. This is how you deal with and egotistical idiot”. This is certainly the approach used by Putin since Trump first come on the scene, back in the day Trump first applied to build a Trump Tower in Moscow.

In the United Kingdom, much criticism has been laid at the doors of David Lammy and Peter Mandelson for their presumed volt face in their current appreciation of Trump. Their prior comments about him seem to indicate a level of unacceptable hypocrisy; yet, how else is one to make an approach when faced with having to deal with the current American President and his advisors. To date the UK Prime Minister seems to be in favour with Mr Trump, although it seems clear that no one, and I mean no one, least of all Keir Starmer, knows why.

There are other opinions which suggest that, despite the brouhaha caused by the second election of Mr Trump, there is nothing really to be concerned about. The United States has always been a questionable influence throughout the world and has often violated international law in many respects. It has indulged in covert operations around the globe since the establishment of the United States of America. History is littered with instances of American interference and skulduggery. The continued existence of Guantanamo in Cuba, and the uses to which it has been put, is clearly evidence of that.  So no real change with regards to Trump and his open braggadocio of America First. It has always been America First. In effect, the current President is just the same old same old with a bit more exaggeration.

Despite this truth being universally acknowledged, there are certain American citizens and their elected representatives who still believe in the Constitution and the separation of powers that it supports. It is, for some, a strongly held believe. You can see them all over YouTube expressing opinion and dismay at the doings of the present administration, strenuously attempting to take Mr Trump’s nominees for public office to task for their inexperience, bias and adherence to Trump’s lies and conceits. They do this in the full knowledge that it is to no avail given the slim majorities of the Republican party in both houses of congress. The Justices of the Supreme Court have long lost any influence as the Court has clearly been corrupted.

So what is a citizen to do? The Press, most notably the White House Press Corp, no longer challenges the administration as it should, nor does it highlight the misinformation and continued propagandist style of the Press Secretaries proffered by Trump.  They have lost any integrity they might have had. The repetitious “I will always tell the truth” doesn’t cut it anymore.

Is it now just a matter of sitting tight for the next four years and hope it will all right itself in the end? There are many caring citizens in the United States who should not forget that there is a very slim majority who have voted in the current administration and it should not take much to form an effective opposition. Executive decrees are limited and can be struct down by the courts, as some already have been. There have been rather forceful solidarity movements around the world that have made differences in government. This should not be overlooked.

In any event, it would seem that the world economic situation will be going through some rather up and down frenetic activity in the light of tariff wars and other cascades of Mr Trumps irresponsible disruptions. For him, this is just another episode of the Apprentice show. “How will everybody react if I do something really stupid?” He does all this between rounds of golf in Florida. How is that in anyway serious?

The tragedy of Trump in the United Kingdom is, unfortunately, far reaching. Quite apart from a labour government finding itself in a situation having to adjust its very basic principles to deal with a Trump, it is also in the throws of attempting to reconcile those very principles with an economy very much geared to the marketplace. It is all down to affordability and the necessity of raising sufficient state income to provide the kind of welfare required for the nation. Without growth, no increase in taxable income. Hence the refrain of growth, growth growth. How does one cope with an essentially socialist outlook, with making deals in the marketplace, and in making those deals, cope with providing public services without selling out those services to private enterprise.

Public utilities and public transport have already been auctioned off and we can clearly see the results. Water companies have made their executives and shareholders rich and have only succeeded in polluting rivers and shorelines, whilst claiming they have to increase their pricing to fix the problems of antiquated systems they claimed they were going to fix when they first took over running the utility. They failed and are asking the public to pay yet more. Electricity and gas are equally claiming the need for increased payments. Refuse collection has been farmed out to private enterprise and collections have deteriorated. They are now fewer and the supposed emphasis on recycling, although necessary, is hiding the fact that the service once provided is painfully inferior to what it once was.  Train services have deteriorated considerably since privatisation, despite additional support from the taxpayer over the years and the fares still increase. These are just the UK’s domestic problems.

What price doing ‘deals’ with other nations in the world markets?  Mr Trump will be more than happy to organise a trade deal with the UK so long as it contains a pass for big pharma and numerous insurance schemes to get their claws into the NHS. This would be the final straw that killed off the NHS entirely.

Marina Dunbar, a young journalist and a Guardian newspaper fellow, in an article published on the 22^nd January 2025, reported, inter alia:

Within his first 48 hours back in office, Trump has signed several executive orders that threaten the healthcare of millions of Americans…

Those orders are expected to affect the medical insurance coverage for upwards of 20 million people in the US…

“The consequences of more people going uninsured are really significant, not just at an individual level with more medical debt and less healthy outcomes, but also has ripple effects for providers,” Sabrina Corlette, a research professor and co-director of the Centre on Health Insurance Reforms at Georgetown University, said.

Commercial insurance has proved difficult to navigate for millions, as people with insurance have been almost as likely to experience medical debt as those who are uninsured. In fact, people with health insurance may now represent the majority of debtors American hospitals struggle to collect from, according to medical billing analysts.

“Premiums go up for the people who do have health insurance. For the people without health insurance, it’s financially devastating,” Corlette said. “The result is medical debt, garnished wages and liens on people’s homes because they can’t pay off their bills.”

This is the prospect the British public is likely to face from a ‘trade deal’ with the United States, under the stewardship of Donald Trump and his cronies. The United States already has taken over certain digital services with their program ‘My Chart’ which is now being used by Guys and St Thomas Hospitals. The same program is used across the whole of the United States. All of our medical history, current treatments, appointments and prescriptions are available on this site. Why has the NHS app effectively been abandoned? None of this bodes well.

I do not think I am being alarmist. You cannot trust anything that man says or does. The last eight years of continuous lies, narcissism and infantile behaviour is brutally demonstrated by his first term in office, and during his last four years continuous rant about stolen elections and how hard done by he has been. He is a convicted felon with yet more criminal charges to deal with once out of office. They should be revied and dealt with once his supreme court immunity is gone. Whether that will be the case is another matter; however, I would urge the various prosecuting attorneys to be vigilant and proceed accordingly when the time comes.

The insanity of his UK supporters like Nigel Farage, Liz Truss, Boris Johnson etc. is an outrage and completely contrary to the British Constitution and the rule of law.  What they see in him is beyond understanding. That a British Citizen can support an insurrectionist, an inciter to violence, a fraudster and sexual predator, proved beyond reasonable doubt, says a lot about them. They are just as mendacious as he. How is it that they have support in the UK? What is wrong with these people? Have they no shame?

More of this anon. I have cooking to do.