Many American pundits have compared Donald Trump with H. Ross Perot. However, he probably reminds Eastern Europeans more of Neville Chamberlain than of Perot.
Like Chamberlain, Trump has been an appeaser in his relationships with murderous dictators. Take Vladimir Putin. As the instigator of Russia’s two attacks on Ukraine, he’s caused thousands of civilian deaths. Yet, Trump insists the two men are friends. The former president also claims Putin is savvy, says he’s a genius for attacking his neighbors in 2022, and has refused to take Ukraine’s side in the conflict.
No wonder the ex-KGB leader is helping the Trump campaign again. If the war continues beyond January 2025, Russia would likely win with a pro-Putin appeaser in the White House.
Putin isn’t the only homicidal maniac whose rear Trump has kissed. As president, he sucked up to the Russian dictator’s murderous cohorts in the Middle East.
Soon after the Saudis killed Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi, Trump called them “a great ally.” He also said “the U.S. stands with Saudi Arabia” and meant it.
Like Chamberlain, who continued to back Hitler after he’d had most of his rivals murdered, Trump stood with the Saudis. As appeaser-in-chief, he ignored their human rights abuses and showered Saudi Arabia with favors.
Indeed, Putin can’t be the only despot who hopes Trump will win. Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the ruthless leader of Saudi Arabia, must be pulling for the former president. Trump gave the Saudis red-carpet treatment when he held office. And he’s never called out Putin for invading Ukraine, something else bin Salman, whose country is an ally of Russia, appreciates.
By contrast, President Biden excoriated Putin after the invasion. Biden also helped arm Ukraine and has hit Russia with two rounds of sanctions. In the process, he apparently infuriated bin Salman, to judge from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries’s actions.
Biden approved the second round of sanctions against Russia in September 2022, and within a week, the crown prince hit back. In October, Saudi-led OPEC announced it would cut oil output by 2 million barrels daily.
Coming just one month before the 2022 elections, the timing of the announcement seemed suspicious. Did OPEC hope the move would weaken support for Biden’s party ahead of the midterms?
According to the Minister of State for Saudi Arabia, the answer was no. In response to the charge of election interference, Adel al-Jubeir said his country doesn’t politicize oil production.
In fact, the Saudis have done so twice since October — not only before the midterms but also in June. In addition to the daily 2 million barrels cut last fall, OPEC slashed its output by an additional 1.66 million barrels in April; then in June, it doubled down. In an especially brazen attempt to weaponize crude for political purposes, OPEC extended the reductions through 2024.
During the election campaign, OPEC will cut production again — for the same reason it has slashed output twice in the last eight months: to drive up gas prices and turn voters against Biden in retaliation for his support of Ukraine. If the plan works, Trump beats the president and the war hasn’t ended, it should be clear what will come next.
After taking office, Trump will morph into appeaser mode and give Ukraine the shaft. Hoping to further ingratiate himself with Putin and bin Salman, he’ll cancel all arms shipments to the country and deny it the weapons it needs to defend itself. Trump will also lift the sanctions and hope OPEC boosts production.
It will be a different story as long as Biden is in office. He’ll keep the sanctions in place and help arm Ukraine until all Russian troops have withdrawn from the country. Biden could do something else and turn the tables on the meddlesome Saudis.
According to euro-green.com, a sea change in automobile manufacturing is taking place across the Atlantic. The car-making industries of several European countries are quickly becoming electrified.
Biden could follow Europe’s lead and urge U.S. carmakers to embrace electronic automotive technology. Specifically, he could have them produce 50 million affordable EVs and agree to no longer manufacture gas-powered vehicles after 2025.
If Biden helped the EV acquire preeminence on our roads by 2030, the Saudis would be in checkmate. With oil consumption here being a fraction of what it now is, they could no longer meddle in U.S. elections on behalf of rogue nations and their imperious leaders.