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Yahoo
12 hours ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Trump's parade didn't make him feel tough. Maybe a war with Iran will?
Having an insecure president during a time of crisis is a problem, largely because he's going to say things like this when asked about possibly bombing Iran: 'I may do it, I may not do it. I mean, nobody knows what I'm going to do.' That was President Donald Trump's wildly problematic comment on June 18. First, President Dodo-head seems to think the decision to draw America into a potentially cataclysmic conflict in the Middle East is his alone ‒ you'll note the use of the first person four times in two sentences. Apparently, Congress and the American public have no voice in such a decision. It all rests in the little hands of the Supreme Leader. Trump says, 'Nobody knows what I'm going to do.' No kidding. Second, the man who oversees the world's largest military probably shouldn't be saying, ' Nobody knows what I'm going to do.' That sounds like something an unhinged dictator would say and … well, never mind, I guess that tracks. Trump was speaking outside the White House, where he was having two enormous flagpoles installed. It was effectively an advertisement for male overcompensation, which makes sense in the wake of Trump's poorly attended and morose military parade, the one he thought would cast him in the all-powerful-ruler light he desires. The weekend and weakened parade was overshadowed by millions of Americans across the country protesting Trump and his king-like behavior. Before that, the president's previous show of manly-man toughness ‒ sending the U.S. Marines into Los Angeles to address anti-ICE protesters ‒ also failed. Now, soldiers are just standing around in a city that's doing fine. Will the quest to quench this man's insecurity ever end? Trump stumbled disconsolately from his puny parade to the summit of the Group of Seven leading industrialized nations in Canada on June 16, then left early the next day to return to Washington, DC, ostensibly to deal with the worsening crisis between Israel and Iran. After getting home, Trump's 'dealing with the crisis' seemed to largely involve posting unhinged comments on social media, bizarrely advising residents of Tehran to evacuate and, despite claiming the United States isn't involved in Israel's ongoing attacks on Iran, boldly proclaiming: 'We now have complete and total control of the skies over Iran.' Opinion alerts: Get columns from your favorite columnists + expert analysis on top issues, delivered straight to your device through the USA TODAY app. Don't have the app? Download it for free from your app store. Trump raises flagpoles while threatening war So are we in or are we out? It's a reasonable question for any American to ask, and it's one Trump clearly won't answer, as evidenced by his 'nobody knows what I'm going to do' comment during the apparently critical installation of new White House phallic symbols. 'These are the most magnificent poles made,' Trump posted on social media on June 17, the night before the flagpoles went up. 'They are tall, tapered, rust proof, rope inside the pole, and of the highest quality.' Great job, Mr. President. Americans are laser-focused on White House pole quality and are not at all concerned about you starting a war nobody wants ‒ a new Economist/YouGov poll finds "only 16% of Americans think the U.S. military should get involved in the conflict between Israel and Iran" ‒ without congressional approval. Trump's sad-boy feelings will always override what's best for America Trump is proving, as if we needed proof, that insecure men are dangerous. They act impulsively, with no focus beyond soothing their own tender feelings. Dispatching troops against American citizens didn't make Trump feel big. A military parade didn't make him feel big. He didn't feel big around other world leaders at the G7 summit, so he left and did some online hollering and saber-rattling. And now? We wait to see if our capricious president needs to drop a bunker-busting bomb on Iran to feel big. We wait to see if Trump single-handedly marches America into war, leaving us to suffer the blowback of his inextinguishable self-doubt.
The National
a day ago
- Entertainment
- The National
All the news about global crises rightfully needs an antidote
There's a famous 1960s British musical called Stop The World: I Want To Get Off. The title probably says it all, given the gloomy news from around the world right now. Sometimes the deluge of information around the globe seems too much. Now is one of those times. Palestine, Israel, Iran, the prospects of a wider war in the Middle East. Ukraine, Russia, Nato and again the prospects of a wider war in Europe. The recalibration of American interests round the world. Oil shocks. Donald Trump's tariffs. The continuing prospect of economic and trade dislocation from the Strait of Hormuz to Wall Street and the City of London. And then there is the very controversial decision of Mr Trump to send US Marines to California while public unrest about the treatment of migrants continues. Meanwhile in London, defence experts make public comments about Europe having passed from a 'post-war' era into what is now a 'pre-war' era as Nato's leaders are encouraging member nations to find 5 per cent of gross domestic product for defence. Almost everywhere it seems governments are trying to find more money for more weapons. But since 'stopping the world and getting off' is not an option, I've been trying to cheer myself up by joining the hundreds of thousands of British people who turn up at book and music festivals this summer. The weather in Britain has been (mostly) glorious. Glastonbury is the biggest and best-known of the music festivals and is happening soon. But there are little gems of culture everywhere. I've just returned from speaking at the Borders Book Festival in the south of Scotland just a few kilometres from the border with England. For readers around the world who have never been there, I should point out that the 'border' between Scotland and England exists on maps but is nothing more than a sign or two on the road – no border patrols or customs checks or bureaucracy, just the lovely British countryside in summer. And a book festival is the perfect antidote to doom-scrolling about international crises and military confrontations. The best thing about these festivals is not the authors and writers, although we do form a kind of community. Authors are always comparing notes about publishers and the challenges of writing itself. But the best thing is the audiences. They can range from children to the elderly. The shared interest in books and knowledge is the most cheering characteristic all these festivals have in common. Audiences often challenge authors but when they do it, it is always polite and open minded. As the old-fashioned saying goes, we may disagree, but we try very hard not to be disagreeable. Audiences at book festivals also tend to like solving problems rather than creating them. For me, these festivals feel like an antidote to a world that looks as if it is going crazy. And there is also that strange kind of camaraderie among the authors. Those I met most recently include a former contender to be UK prime minister, two former government ministers, an author of a children's book about insects, various broadcasters, award-winning novelists, sporting stars and TV personalities plus several astounding British intellectuals whose expertise ranged from the history of the seas around our coasts to the story behind the dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima in the Second World War. The most cheering moment was a request to talk to a group of articulate young people with ambitions to become journalists and writers. Their incisive questions and their fundamental optimism were the perfect antidote to the news headlines. It's impossible to calculate how many book or literary festivals there are in Britain in any one year, but one informed guess suggests it could be almost 100 of varying sizes. You could visit about two a week every week. The best known include those in Edinburgh, Hay on Wye, Oxford, Bath and elsewhere. Some – including Shetland in the far north of Scotland, or Ilkley in Yorkshire or Hexham in the north of England – are not only great festivals but an excuse to visit some truly beautiful parts of the country. It is not possible to emulate the 1960s musical and stop the world to get off. But it is possible to find an antidote to the bad news deluge that engulfs us. And if you can't get to a festival, you can always engineer an escape from reality another way. Buy a book and escape into a new reality.
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First Post
a day ago
- Politics
- First Post
Pete Hegseth hints disobeying court order and maintaining troop deployment in LA, leaving Democrats baffled
US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth left Democrats baffled during a Senate committee hearing after he suggested that he would not obey a federal court ruling against the deployments of National Guard troops and US Marines to Los Angeles read more US Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth attends the annual White House Easter Egg Roll event, on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, DC, US, April 21, 2025. File Image/Reuters The US Secretary of Defence, Pete Hegseth , suggested on Wednesday that he would not obey if a federal court ruled against the deployments of National Guard troops and US Marines to the ongoing protests in Los Angeles , California. The remarks from Hegseth came during a hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee. US President Donald Trump's administration has been facing numerous lawsuits over its policies, especially the government's crackdown on immigration. In several instances, the administration has even avoided complying with court orders it dislikes. In response to this pattern, Democrats argued that Trump is sending the country into a constitutional crisis. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD It is pertinent to note that the state of California has sued over Trump's deployment of National Guard troops to the ongoing LA protests against raids conducted by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Last week, a federal judge ruled that the control of soldiers should return to California's Democratic governor, Gavin Newsom. Hegesth echoes Trump's rhetoric After the federal court's order, an appeals court stayed that ruling. However, the arguments produced by Hegeseth on Tuesday sounded like the Trump administration is willing to defy Trump's order and keep soldiers under the POTUS's authority. 'I don't believe district courts should be determining national security policy. When it goes to the Supreme Court, we'll see,' Hegseth told the Democratic senator Mazie Hirono during the hearing. 'If the Supreme Court rules on a topic, we will abide by that," he replied when faced with a similar question posed by US Senator Elizabeth Warren. Meanwhile, GOP senators present at the hearing were dissatisfied by the fact that the meeting, which was intended to focus on the Pentagon's budgetary needs for the forthcoming fiscal year, derailed into issues of the LA protests and the ongoing Iran-Israel tensions . During the hearing, Senator Slotkin asked whether troops deployed in southern California were allowed to arrest protesters or shoot them in the legs. 'If necessary, in their self-defence, they could temporarily detain and hand over to [Immigration and Customs Enforcement]. But there's no arresting going on,' replied. On Friday, US Marines temporarily took into custody a US citizen who was protesting at a federal building in Los Angeles. When Slotkin asked the question about troops shooting protesters, Hegesth laughed before delivering his response. 'Senator, I'd be careful what you read in books and believe in, except for the Bible," Hegseth exclaimed. An exasperated Slotkin replied: 'Oh my God.' STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD On the question of hearing The ongoing Israel-Iran conflict also took centre stage at the Senate committee hearing. The matter was discussed as Trump has publicly mulled the possibility that the United States might strike Iran. When asked if the Pentagon is planning to topple the Iranian regime, Hegseth replied: 'We have plans for everything'. Hegseth was also questioned about his order to revert the names of military bases renamed by former US President Joe Biden. The ex-Democratic president renamed the bases because they honoured figures in the Confederacy. While commenting on the order, Virginia Senator Tim Kaine said that in his state, several bases had been renamed under Biden in honour of accomplished veterans and their families were never officially told that the names would be changed back. 'You didn't call any of the families, and I've spoken with the families, and the families were called by the press. That's how they learned about this. They learned about it from the press,' Kaine said. The Senator went on to ask Hegseth to pause the renaming of these bases. However, the defence secretary declined to do so. 'We'll find ways to recognise them," he said. Democrats went on to slam Hegseth for turmoil in the ranks of his top aides, questioning his handling of the department. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD
The Age
a day ago
- Politics
- The Age
The view from isolation: Amid the relentless ill tidings, at least the faithless fairy wrens make sense
The United States, having given itself over to the absurdly erratic Donald Trump and his cabinet of lickspittles, was proving it could no longer be counted on for almost any major decision that lasted more than a blink. Loading Tariffs in Trump's hands had become a global pea-and-thimble trick. His promise to bring international peace was proving not worth an Israeli shekel, a Gazan child's life, a Ukrainian hryvnia, a Russian rouble or now, an Iranian rial. His latest effort, to demand via text on his Truth Social the ' unconditional surrender ' of Iran, came barely a nanosecond after indicating he wanted to stay out of the Israel-Iran mess. Oh, and who might have imagined, before it came to pass, a president deploying 4000 National Guard troops and 700 US Marines to quell what were relatively low-level protests by civilians against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) brutes? Why, it was only a few months ago Trump himself had pardoned all those who had been indicted or found guilty of attacking the US Capitol on January 6, 2021. Unsurprisingly, polling by the Australian foreign affairs think tank the Lowy Institute revealed this week that almost two-thirds of Australians now hold little to no trust in the United States to act responsibly in world affairs. The only surprise is that 36 per cent of Australians still hold some form of trust in the Trump outfit. Watching the fairy wrens bobbing around the lawn, I recalled my first trip overseas, a study tour to the US in the 1970s. I stayed with a series of hosts who proved unfailingly hospitable and generous. A couple of my American hosts tried to persuade me that the disgraced ex-president Richard Nixon wasn't really a bad person, and was the victim of a witch hunt. We cordially agreed to disagree, and I never once felt that expressing a view could get me into any sort of strife. Free speech seemed genuinely treasured, and the perspectives of those from across the oceans seemed welcome. It was, I reflected, so very long ago. What had happened to those mild Americans of half a century ago? Muttering something unkind about Trump these days could get you deported or worse, your university could lose its funding or your law firm could be locked out of government contracts. While I pondered the menace in these developments, Trump's defence secretary, the greasy-haired ex-Fox News host Pete Hegseth – who would barely appear out of place in the sales office of a backstreet used-car yard – was hectoring Australia over its defence expenditure. We may, of course, need to seriously review our defence capabilities, and it's nothing new for the US to press us on the military's share of GDP. Back in 2013, Richard Armitage, the former deputy secretary of state in the George W. Bush administration, called Australia's defence spending inadequate and accused Australia of wanting a free ride on the US. Armitage, however, was a serious man of vast experience. Is there any pressing reason we should listen to a fellow like Hegseth, who is so lacking in smarts that he was caught out sharing on a leaky chat group the details of a US strike on Yemen? Why, this defence secretary couldn't organise America's immense military machine to turn on a stupendously expensive birthday parade for Trump that was much more than a sad-sack march-past. As for Australia's spending, did Hegseth even send a receipt for our $500 million down payment this year on the $3 billion Australia has promised to prop up the US' submarine industry? Has an acronym ever sounded quite as ugly as AUKUS? Back home, what was supposed to be Australia's federal opposition – having been eviscerated at the recent election after its brains trust thought it was smart to assume a MAGA-lite approach – was meaninglessly splitting itself asunder before hurrying back to a shaky coupling of convenience. Even closer, what is supposed to be the Victorian Liberal Party was tearing itself to shreds. Again. The forces for and against offering bankruptcy relief to former leader John Pesutto, spurred by factional hatreds old and new, were still furiously facing off at the time of writing.
Sydney Morning Herald
a day ago
- Politics
- Sydney Morning Herald
The view from isolation: Amid the relentless ill tidings, at least the faithless fairy wrens make sense
The United States, having given itself over to the absurdly erratic Donald Trump and his cabinet of lickspittles, was proving it could no longer be counted on for almost any major decision that lasted more than a blink. Loading Tariffs in Trump's hands had become a global pea-and-thimble trick. His promise to bring international peace was proving not worth an Israeli shekel, a Gazan child's life, a Ukrainian hryvnia, a Russian rouble or now, an Iranian rial. His latest effort, to demand via text on his Truth Social the ' unconditional surrender ' of Iran, came barely a nanosecond after indicating he wanted to stay out of the Israel-Iran mess. Oh, and who might have imagined, before it came to pass, a president deploying 4000 National Guard troops and 700 US Marines to quell what were relatively low-level protests by civilians against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) brutes? Why, it was only a few months ago Trump himself had pardoned all those who had been indicted or found guilty of attacking the US Capitol on January 6, 2021. Unsurprisingly, polling by the Australian foreign affairs think tank the Lowy Institute revealed this week that almost two-thirds of Australians now hold little to no trust in the United States to act responsibly in world affairs. The only surprise is that 36 per cent of Australians still hold some form of trust in the Trump outfit. Watching the fairy wrens bobbing around the lawn, I recalled my first trip overseas, a study tour to the US in the 1970s. I stayed with a series of hosts who proved unfailingly hospitable and generous. A couple of my American hosts tried to persuade me that the disgraced ex-president Richard Nixon wasn't really a bad person, and was the victim of a witch hunt. We cordially agreed to disagree, and I never once felt that expressing a view could get me into any sort of strife. Free speech seemed genuinely treasured, and the perspectives of those from across the oceans seemed welcome. It was, I reflected, so very long ago. What had happened to those mild Americans of half a century ago? Muttering something unkind about Trump these days could get you deported or worse, your university could lose its funding or your law firm could be locked out of government contracts. While I pondered the menace in these developments, Trump's defence secretary, the greasy-haired ex-Fox News host Pete Hegseth – who would barely appear out of place in the sales office of a backstreet used-car yard – was hectoring Australia over its defence expenditure. We may, of course, need to seriously review our defence capabilities, and it's nothing new for the US to press us on the military's share of GDP. Back in 2013, Richard Armitage, the former deputy secretary of state in the George W. Bush administration, called Australia's defence spending inadequate and accused Australia of wanting a free ride on the US. Armitage, however, was a serious man of vast experience. Is there any pressing reason we should listen to a fellow like Hegseth, who is so lacking in smarts that he was caught out sharing on a leaky chat group the details of a US strike on Yemen? Why, this defence secretary couldn't organise America's immense military machine to turn on a stupendously expensive birthday parade for Trump that was much more than a sad-sack march-past. As for Australia's spending, did Hegseth even send a receipt for our $500 million down payment this year on the $3 billion Australia has promised to prop up the US' submarine industry? Has an acronym ever sounded quite as ugly as AUKUS? Back home, what was supposed to be Australia's federal opposition – having been eviscerated at the recent election after its brains trust thought it was smart to assume a MAGA-lite approach – was meaninglessly splitting itself asunder before hurrying back to a shaky coupling of convenience. Even closer, what is supposed to be the Victorian Liberal Party was tearing itself to shreds. Again. The forces for and against offering bankruptcy relief to former leader John Pesutto, spurred by factional hatreds old and new, were still furiously facing off at the time of writing.
