12 February 2025

ALAN HAYES

 

TRUMP’s behaviour is a worrying concern for the world and is reminiscent of history’s megalomaniacal despots. Yet the world still kowtows to the flurry of insane statements and incessant demagogic executive orders that do no more than threaten and intimate (announced, rescinded, expected) without any real purpose than for a bully to get his own way – all the while Trump is turning on America’s closest allies.

 

Amid the unremitting flow of inane executive orders, Trump managed to sneak one through that has largely gone unnoticed. He has withdrawn the US from a global agreement on corporate taxation brokered by The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). It was an ambitious effort to prevent multinational companies artificially shifting their profits to jurisdictions, such as the Cayman Islands, who have lower tax rates.

 

But while the world anticipates, Trump has embraced a guns-blazing approach to imposing U.S. power around the globe – cutting trade and forcing countries to bow to his demands. He’s hell-bent on annexing Greenland, taking control of the Panama Canal, renaming the Gulf of Mexico and now believing he has the unmitigated right to take control of GAZA.

 

Danish leaders, in an attempt to protect Greenland from Trump’s dictatorial eyes, announced a nearly $2 billion investment in Greenland’s security — a step that is unlikely to satisfy Trump’s aim of taking control of the territory or to quell his hunger for world domination.

 

In Europe, leaders have been forced to focus on a demand for territorial conquest by their closest ally and protector rather than strategise about how to bolster Ukraine as Russia continues to make advances. Some European policymakers also warn that if Trump hits them with tariffs, as he said he would “absolutely” do, they’ll also be less cooperative on his China policy.

 

But Trump’s madness is nothing new – it’s played out on the world stage before, and once again with the same lockstep arrogance as Adolf Hitler. And, just like before, the world watches on not wanting to ruffle the feathers, capitulating to a bully’s demands.

 

His master’s bidding

 

Is Donald Trump’s golden prince, Elon Musk, paying the price for his far-right fascism? – it’s killing Tesla around the world!

 

As Elon Musk descends further into the swamp of the far right and plays a prominent role in dismantling the US government, Australians, Europeans and Americans are turning their backs on Tesla. And as political distaste becomes a rising factor in car selling, the public ‘snub’ of the Tesla brand will only accelerate this year.

 

Last year saw Tesla’s often-extraordinary growth in global sales — from fewer than 50,000 vehicles a decade ago to 1.7 million in 2023 — has come to a shuddering halt: apart from increasing competition in the EV market, Musk’s public persona has now left Tesla struggling.

 

Musk’s  portrait was removed from a space and technology exhibition at a German museum following backlash over a controversial gesture Musk made at Donald Trump’s presidential inauguration.

 

Many interpreted Musk’s gesture at the Trump inauguration as a Nazi salute, a gesture is most commonly associated with Adolf Hitler and is illegal in Germany and Austria.

 

To add to Musk’s declining popularity, his net worth has also dropped since Donald Trump took office. But is this part of the Trumpian plan?

 

Musk’s blitzkrieg on Washington has brought into focus his vision for a dramatically smaller and weaker government, as he and a coterie of aides move to control, automate — and substantially diminish — hundreds if not thousands of public functions.

 

In less than three weeks, Musk’s U.S. DOGE Service has followed the same playbook at one federal agency after another: install loyalists in leadership, vacuum up internal data, including the sensitive and the classified, and to gain control of the flow of funds. And push hard — by means legal or otherwise — to eliminate jobs and programs not ideologically aligned with Trump administration goals.

 

The DOGE campaign has generated chaos on a near-hourly basis across America’s capital. But it appears carefully choreographed in service of a broader agenda to gut the civilian workforce, assert power over the vast federal bureaucracy and shrink it to levels unseen in at least 20 years.

 

The aim is a diminished government that exerts less oversight over private business, delivers fewer services and comprises a smaller share of the U.S. economy — but is far more responsive to the directives of the president.

 

Musk’s actions echo one of the most astonishing political transformations in the history of democracy. A pattern similar to Adolf Hitler, when he  set about destroying a constitutional republic through constitutional means. What followed in 1930s Germany was a step-by-step, systematic disablement and then the dismantlement of the country’s democratic structures and processes, in particular controlling the judges - in less than two months it was achieved.

 

In order to maintain this power, Hitler needed organisations that could control the population to ensure absolute loyalty to his governance! And just like the shadows of the past, candidates for top intelligence and law enforcement jobs in the U.S. have been asked to give “yes” or “no” responses to questions such as: Was the Capitol attack on January 6 2021, “an inside job?” – ensuring loyalty to a madman’s regime!

 

A blast from the past

 

In the summer of 1938 Hitler demanded the annexation of the Sudetenland into Germany. At this point Hitler was aware that the Allies were desperate to avoid war, and thought it likely that they would appease his demands. Sound familiar in 2025?

 

The Allies agreed to concede the Sudetenland to Germany in exchange for a pledge of peace. But as history has shown, you can’t trust a madman.

 

Yet despite Trump’s ‘might-makes-right style’ of leadership, and the impact that it may well have on Australia, our leaders refuse to comment – cowering away like the British, Italians and French did in 1938.

 

Not surprisingly, the Trump administration pumped out their chests, crowing that the bully-threat-tactics had delivered some quick wins – the friendlier the nation, the greater the leverage Trump had to break ties, forcing leaders to bend to his demands. Predictably, rivals and foes in Moscow and Beijing haven’t faced the same threats, partly because Trump doesn’t have the same power over them.

 

Trump, like any other megalomaniac, justified his actions by saying that he was pushing back on years of U.S. allies taking American support for granted. “Countries that are dependent on Washington's goodwill have no standing to spurn my requests for territory, accepting deported migrants or any other demand,” he said.

 

But will Trump adopt that same egg-scrambled-brain attitude about Australia? The answer appears to be YES! – with a 25 percent tariff slug on iron, steel and aluminium.

 

Studies have shown that the 25 per cent tariff on metals imposed during Trump's first term hurt the broader economy as prices went up for so many other industries.

 

Trump’s metal tariffs might primarily be aimed at allies of the U.S., but they’re really intended to hit China, which dominates the global steel and aluminum industry.

 

Australia previously secured tariff exemptions for exports to the US. However, Trump said the proposed tariffs would affect all countries.

 

While not named specifically in Trump's list of tariffs, iron is a key component in creating steel and would likely be impacted by the taxes, too.

 

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said, "We will continue to make the case to the United States for Australia to be given an exemption to any steel and aluminium tariffs."

 

Yet Anthony Albanese's telephone call with Donald Trump yesterday morning only received a maybe. Trump told Prime Minister Albanese that an "exemption was under consideration."

 

“What I’m concerned about is securing an exemption,” Mr Albanese said during a media conference yesterday.

 

“I’m about positive relationships, and today’s discussion was another step in developing that positive relationship.”

 

Trade Minister Don Farrell, reacting to the announcement last Monday, said the government had “consistently made the case for free and fair trade” to their American counterparts.

 

“Our bilateral economic relationship is mutually beneficial – Australian steel and aluminium is creating thousands of good paying American jobs, and are key for our shared defence interests, too.”

 

And AUKUS could be "in even deeper trouble than before", an expert has warned in a conversation with the Grapevine.

 

When Prime Minister Anthony Albanese briefed reporters on yesterday morning's phone call with Trump, he wouldn’t confirm if the president had indicated he was in favour of AUKUS. Instead, Albanese reiterated his own support for the deal.

 

“Quite clearly, I’ve indicated there’s very positive support for the AUKUS relationship,” Albanese said.

 

“I have no intention of speaking on behalf of President Trump, that is up to him. But quite clearly I’ve indicated there’s strong bipartisan support for AUKUS in Australia and in the United States.”

 

Trump has never publicly discussed AUKUS, but Australians need only look at how Trump has treated its northern neighbour Canada to remind themselves of how Trump treats his allies and partners.

 

After Trump threatened to “make Canada the 51st state” and put in place sweeping 25% tariffs on Canadian products, the northerners understandably felt “one of the world’s most durable and amicable alliances” had been “broken”, as the Associated Press reported.

 

So, isn’t it time our government reminded Donald v2.0 that Australia is America’s ears and eyes in the pacific and key to those shared defence interest. It’s time for Australia to flex its muscles, be tough and stand up to this Trump bully.

 

Pine Gap, which is the most important U.S. military base in Australia, is jointly run by the Australian Defence Force (Australian Signals Directorate), the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), US National Security Agency (NSA), and US National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) and is a key contributor to the NSA's global interception/surveillance effort, which included the ECHELON program. ECHELON, originally a secret government code name, is a surveillance program, also known as the Five Eyes.

 

Currently, Pine Gap is tasked with contributing to Global surveillance operations and provides data to the US Drone program. It also plays a crucial role in supporting the intelligence activities and military operations of the U.S. around the world – a fact that Trump should be constantly reminded about.

 

The rise of a dictator

 

The first Trump presidency showed there are always two parts to Trump’s political persona — the lazy, incompetent, malicious man, and the performer who distracts from his inept government with a ceaseless provision of spectacle, usually via outrageous statements and smears.

 

The inept Trump was on display with a tariff announcement that precipitated a stock market meltdown, only for Trump to hastily reverse himself after claiming “wins” over Canada and Mexico — with neither country offering more than token back to him.  But it’s this ineptness that has world leaders concerned.

 

Top of the list for Trump’s recent, yet now predicable, ongoing performance was his extraordinary White House press conference in which he said the US would remove Gaza's people, "level" the territory and build something new in its place. An announcement that was immediately seen as a violation of international law and denounced by Saudi Arabia.

 

Trump’s GAZA announcement prompted accusations from Opposition Leader Peter Dutton that the (Australian) government had "abandoned" its American ally.

 

Greens leader Adam Bandt said Mr Trump's announcement was "proof" that a Trump presidency was "a threat to peace and democracy".

 

"This is the end of international law. This is Donald Trump talking about the takeover of another country, potentially by force. The Australian government must make clear that it opposes a clear violation of international law."

 

But Trump's dim views of Gaza as a permanent home for Palestinians was certain to provide grist for far-right allies of the Israeli leader, who have called on Netanyahu to abandon the temporary truce that was struck last month.

 

Trump has said Palestinians have “no alternative” but to leave Gaza due to the devastation left by Israel’s war on Hamas, in effect endorsing ethnic cleansing of the territory over the opposition of Palestinians and neighbouring countries.

 

The proposal met with sharp criticism from regional powers and US allies. Saudi Arabia’s foreign ministry who issued a strongly worded statement reaffirming its “firm, steadfast, and unwavering position” in support of an independent Palestinian state.

 

“The duty of the international community today is to work to alleviate the severe human suffering endured by the Palestinian people, who will remain committed to their land and will not budge from it,” the statement read.

 

Egypt and Jordan, key US allies in the region, also rejected Trump’s plan.

 

Trump’s remarks also reignited debates over US foreign policy in the region, with critics arguing that his proposal aligns with Israel’s occupation policies and undermines Palestinian aspirations for statehood. The suggestion that the US could claim “ownership” of Gaza has been particularly contentious, with many viewing it as a blatant disregard for international law and Palestinian sovereignty.

 

Yet as expected, Trump the performer emerged: he had announced, then he rescinded his statements to takeover GAZA. But as expected, the megalomaniacal – third person – Trump then digs in on his plan again to take over Gaza - defending his proposal to take charge of post-war Gaza and resettle Palestinians, promising to build one of the planet’s “greatest and most spectacular developments” there.

 

Trump’s comments left some of the biggest questions about the plan unanswered, including where the Gazans would go, how many people he thought would leave willingly and who would govern and secure the enclave. His fantastical idea also shifted attention away from the cease-fire deal between Israel and Hamas. Its initial six-week phase ends in early March.

 

But barely an hour goes by without Trump saying or doing something that would have been unthinkable for any president before him. And those rare moments of quiet from Trump are filled with the malevolent actions of a clown car full of his cabinet appointees.

 

The fact that Donald Trump behaves in a fashion so profoundly inappropriate for an adult male - in a big White House that has become an adult day care centre – could well see his reality-show behaviour leading humanity into World War III. A salivating thought for a dictator on the rise.

 

Cementing his power

 

A legend in his own mind, Trump displays all the hallmarks of a deranged and unstable leader, with a fervent desire to rule, who was quoted as saying “Hitler did some good things" and said he wanted generals like the Nazis.

 

But if you think Donald Trump can’t be president after his second term is up in January 2029 and set a dictatorship in place? Think again!

 

When President-elect Donald Trump met with congressional Republicans shortly after his November 2024 election victory, he floated the idea of another term: “I suspect I won’t be running again unless you say, ‘He’s so good we’ve got to figure something else out.’”

 

Yet again this week, Trump suggested that he would try to stay in office for a third term, past the constitutional limits.

 

At first glance, this seems like an obvious joke. The 22nd Amendment to the Constitution is clear that Trump can’t be elected again.

 

The text of the 22 Amendment amendment states: “No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice, and no person who has held the office of President, or acted as President, for more than two years of a term to which some other person was elected President shall be elected to the office of the President more than once.”

 

Though the 22nd Amendment prohibits Trump from being elected president again, it does not prohibit him from serving as president beyond January 20, 2029. The reason for this is that the 22nd Amendment only prohibits someone from being “elected” more than twice. It says nothing about someone becoming president in some other way than being elected to the office.

 

Legal experts are arguing that the nation is facing a constitutional crisis as Trump tests the boundaries of executive power.

 

A sobering thought for the rest of the world, knowing that Trump has the dictatorship gleam in his eye!

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