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Bulletins and News Discussion from January 27th to February 2nd, 2025 - Tariffs in Trump's Imperium - COTW: Colombia

Image is of Colombian President Gustavo Petro giving a speech at the UN in 2022.

Trump has arrived in office with the force of an avalanche; ending slowing a genocide on the one hand, while simultaneously promising a total nightmare for minorities and the poor throughout and outside the United States on the other hand. [edited for clarity; I do not actually think Trump has ended the Palestinian genocide obviously, I was making a joke - but the ceasefire is a genuine improvement in conditions for millions of people right now who are on the edge of death, so it cannot be dismissed]

It's still far too early to truly compare and contrast his imperial strategy with Biden's, but initial signs show that there does appear to be somewhat of a reorientation. Biden was famous for being two-faced; ostensibly offering aid and stability, while also blowing up your pipeline to ensure you did not actually have an alternative to his idea. Trump, meanwhile, seems only really capable of aggression, threatening several "allied" nations with what may as well be sanctions because of the economic harm they'd do. I suspect we'll be debating for a long time how much of this can be attributed to the specific characteristics of Trump, or whether he merely embodies the zeitgeist of imperial decline - a wounded empire lashing out with extreme violence to try and convince everybody, including themselves, that they can still be the world imperialist hegemon.

I'll admit it: I did not believe that Trump would actually try and go ahead with putting tariffs on basically anybody who annoys him. And while the threat could still be empty in regards to countries like China and Canada, Colombia is the first indication of the potential of his strategy. Despite some fiery words from President Petro, after Trump's administration revealed the punishment if Colombia did not agree, it appears that Colombia will in fact be accepting deported migrants after all. It's funny how that works.

Last week's thread is here. The Imperialism Reading Group is here.

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  • Danish Leader On Crisis Tour Of Europe Amid Trump-Greenland Crisis

    Danish leader Mette Frederiksen spent Tuesday urgently touring European capitals to rally support against U.S. demands to annex Greenland, following threats from American supreme leader Donald Trump, who told reporters this Saturday that Danish refusal to hand over the island would be “a very unfriendly act.”

    Meetings with German, French, and NATO leaders signalled common European support for border integrity. The French even offered to deploy troops to Greenland, although Denmark choose not to move forward with the idea.

    Even as Frederiksen spoke worriedly of a new kind of relationship between the United States and Europe she regurgitated the American Trump regime's talking points about Russian and Chinese bogeymen in the Arctic and signaled plans to ramp up military spending closer to 5% of GDP to placate Washington.

    This Sunday, in a similar display of unity, Frederiksen met with the leaders of Sweden, Norway and Finland in Copenhagen.

    The diplomatic efforts are being extensively posted by the Danish regime's social media team with texts in both English and Danish, intended to quell criticism at home that the regime is not being firm enough in its response and to show international observers, especially in Washington, that Denmark is not alone.

    The Danish regime is following a two-pronged approach of drumming up European solidarity to stand up to potential tariffs from Washington on one hand while groveling before their imperial overlords on the other hand, conceding to Washington's demands of exorbitant military spending in a hope that this will satiate the empire's hunger.

    Despite showcasing European and Nordic unity, the crisis highlights Western Europe’s vulnerability due to overreliance on U.S. military and economic ties, underscoring the fragility of the European political elite's reliance on perpetual American benevolence.

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