Iran has Trump's nuts in a vise right now. They've successfully made the Strait reopening contingent upon Israel stopping its attacks on Lebanon, which means Trump would have to put on big boy pants and stop Netanyahu, but Trump doesn't have the life skills to put on big boy pants. Trump threatens total war with Iran, but knows that would be the end of his administration domestically. He has left Iran with more power than they had before he attacked, and doesn't know what to do, so is trying to bully NATO into saving him, which NATO will never succumb to.
this post was submitted on 09 Apr 2026
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Nicely summed up.
In Rutte speak that is worrying. We know already he'll say anything to keep Trump in. To say that the conversation was very frank is saying that Trump was frank and he couldn't sweet talk him out of the crazy.
Trump can’t pull out of NATO without an act of Congress. He might try but it’ll definitely be stopped in the courts. Even the US Supreme Court wouldn’t be able to find a way around the law.
Rutte needs to grow a spine and stop indulging Trump’s juvenile shit.
Like he's given a flying fuck about Congress before.
But he can unilaterally attack Greenland, which would de facto extract the us from NATO.
NATO WASN’T THERE WHEN WE NEEDED THEM
That's such bull. If Poland suddenly decided to attack Russia, say somewhere last year, USA would only send thoughts and prayers, and nothing else. But in his logic, with the roles reversed, USA should go out there and bomb Moscow. But that only applies when Trump needs something.
I swear I saw the word Cheeto in the headline, I guess the C- from criticize and -to from NATO tripped me up. What do you call Freudian slips of the eyes?
NATO needs to replace Rutte. He's a worthless sack of shit.
His only job is to string Trump along until he is gone. Unfortunately, there is not much anyone else could do better at this time.
This exactly. Jens Stoltenberg stepped down simply because everybody knew that Rutte was good at deescalating with Trump by way of glazing. So Rutte is NATO's silk glove.
As it stands, Europe has about - what - 2-3 years to become militarily independent? Let's just hope the EU doesn't screw up that process somehow.
But assuming everything goes well, Rutte will most likely be replaced with a ball buster and not a diplomat.
But assuming everything goes well, Rutte will most likely be replaced with a ball buster and not a diplomat.
Probably Nato will continue to exist in one form or another and the job will need doing.
The" ballbuster " you mentioned, would be the position of EC defense minister or someone in similar position in (very) near future probably.
He is and he always was as prime minister too. We called him Teflon Mark because he kept coming back scandal after scandal. Shit just doesn't cling to him. That's really the main thing he's good at, laughing problems away. And being a puppet for big corporations which is what his party was always about.
In that sense he fits in well with Trump. No substance.
There's enough shit that would cling to him if only somebody would hold him accountable.
The time he has to spend licking Trump's boots is time he can't use to do worse things.
I think he is sacrificing himself so none of the state presidents has to. It is hard to watch but I really think this is a strategy.
I think Rutte thinks this. But appeasing an autocrat will only make things worse. Plus what he's doing is pretty insulting to the NATO members that quite rightly have refused to join this war.
If that Rutte asshole decides to send us in a war with Iran just because his buddy Pedohitler says so, he's gonna suffer a tragic incident in less than a day of saying the words. I can't see anyone in the alliance willing to go on a war of agression against Iran just because the octogenarian toddler wants help.
The two persons in the world I believe the least, so who gives a flying fuck about what comes from their meeting. The only truth we care about is, that Trump loves putin, Rutte loves his position at NATO, we all know USA won't come and help if russia attacks a NATO Ally in Europe. Trump want to take greenland with force, Rutte knows his job is gone if this happen. As long as Rutte can keep the lie alive about NATO, the longer he is in a position of power.
Russia won't attack Europe any time soon. The war in Ukraine has already drawn them out so much. In the long term I do consider Russia a threat to Europe but right now they're not one really.
I dunno... What worries me is that Putin's ability to escalate is constrained right now, because Ukraine is seen more as military adventurism, not a fight for survival. If he could engineer a war with NATO - especially NATO minus the US - that would justify far reaching conscription, total militarization of the economy, etc, etc. He probably won't win, but if he's fearful enough of losing power it might seem like an attractive option.
I'm not considering this a likely scenario, just one that's plausible enough that we need to plan for it.
Russia already has total militarization of the economy. Its why Russia has an economy.
I feel sometimes you people fail to understand what it's like living in a sanctioned nation.
Russia isn't even close to total militarization. Not yet. Their economy is becoming highly militarized, and you're right that that's how they've been surviving the sanctions, but their focus is still on keeping the more affluent Russians in the cities supplied with fast food, electronics and gas. They're trying to make life seem normal despite the strain of the war. Being able to dispense with those niceties would open up a lot more room for applying their industrial capacity.
Hard disagree. 'Normal' as you describe hasn't existed for even wealthy Russians in the country since the first round of sanctions in 2014.
It's been a decade since they've been reliant on external sources for trivialities, and their economy since the union fell has been nearly exclusively oil, gas, and military hardware anyway.
It's why sanctions have largely not worked; they were given no time to actually become lazy westerners despite the west's best's efforts; so the average day to day is no different now than it was 30 years ago. For some people it's no different now than it was in the 1980s, except their rent is higher since there's no state protections.
That is only as long as EU can manage to deliver what Ukraine needs. Blockages from Putin lover Orban has been a real pain in the arse. Everytime we are near something that could end the war, some fucking asshole keeps spoiling things. If Orban isn't taken care of on sunday, and if the slovaki or slovenian putin lover also starts being trouble for EU, we are in serious problems. We need to step up really quickly. Friends will turn foes on the way to EU independency.
Russia won't attack Europe any time soon. The war in Ukraine has already drawn them out so much. In the long term I do consider Russia a threat to Europe but right now they're not one really.
Ruzzia and Europe are in a hybrid war already. If you mean a full kinetic atack you should specify. Also, when considering a kinetic atack most European analysts believe somewhere within 5 years.
Yes trump finally do a good thing for ounce and destroy NATO.
A good thing, huh? Good for who? Who benefits from destroying a defence alliance?
The entirety of the world besides the 13 countries with a history of exploiting the entirety of the rest of the world.
Yes, I'm sure they care about NATO.
The only ones I've seen get anal about NATO existing are Russians and tankies. Which to me sounds like NATO working exactly as intended.
And africa, and south America minus the currently colonized Argentina, and pretty much all of asia minus a couple of colonial hold overs...