Uncategorized – Joe Fahey

The Stain on My Profession

I have been a lawyer for almost 50 years. During the first two decades of my career, along with colleagues, I represented clients charged with heinous offenses. We defended those clients in criminal trials in the state and federal courts in Upstate New York.

During the next two decades I presided over some of the most serious criminal trials throughout Upstate and Northern New York. During that period, I was able to observe the next generation of lawyers courageously defend those individuals whom Clarence Darrow once described as the “damned and the despised.” We did it without regard to our personal feelings about the client or the crime because it was part of what we were sworn to do when we took the oath to become lawyers.

During the past month President Trump has targeted several major law firms with executive orders punishing them for employing lawyers that were averse to him during legal proceedings and investigations or because of the clients that they represented. These executive orders imposed sanctions that include blocking their attorneys from government buildings and stripping them of their security clearances.

The first firm targeted, Perkins Coie, sued Trump and successfully obtained a temporary court order declaring this executive threat was likely unconstitutional. Trump threatened to levy similar punitive sanctions on the firms Jenner &Block and Wilmer Hale, another large law firm, who chose to fight back and obtained injunctive relief similar to Pettit Coie’s. Susman, Godfrey the latest firm to join this fight was also granted this injunctive protection. Most regrettably, other large firms bowed to Trumps threats.

The firms of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison; Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher and Flom; and Willkie, Farr, and Gallagher all opted to “settle” with Trump by collectively pledging to perform two-hundred forty million dollars in pro bono work for causes of Trumps choosing, along with other concessions.

In a separate line of attack, Trump ordered the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) to investigate the law firms, Kirkland &Ellis; Latham & Watkins; A&O Sherman; Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft; and Simpson, Thacher &Bartlett for employment discrimination. Their sin was that they may have employed Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) in their hiring practices. Rather than celebrate these efforts to broaden the profession by adding women, African Americans and other historically shunned groups to the profession, they capitulated to Trump by agreeing to provide another six-hundred million dollars in pro bono legal services to causes of Trump’s choosing in exchange for the investigations being terminated.

Trump gleefully celebrated these capitulations declaring, “They’re all bending and saying, “Sir, thank you very much. Law firms are just saying where do I sign where do I sign.”

What makes this capitulation, so disheartening is that each of these firms employ attorneys of the highest caliber, outmatching the MAGA sycophants now heading the Justice Department. If they had pooled these talents with the firms that have successfully resisted Trump this disgraceful episode would be over.

One wonders what the reaction will be inside these firms if Trump orders them to represent the Proud Boys, Oath Keepers or some other far-right militia?

From my perspective, Trump is extracting these multi-million-dollar benefits by threatening sanctions and that amounts to the crime of Extortion as defined in Title 18 United States Code Section 872 and Bribery, in violation of Title 18 USC Section 201(2). According to news accounts, Trump has declared that the pro bono work required by these “settlements” will be determined by his whims and wishes and and do not appear related to any compliance with any EEOC action.

In my experience the crime of Extortion usually requires that a victim be powerless in the face of threatened conduct. These law firms that “settled” when faced with these threats have surrendered their integrity and the stain on their reputations will last far beyond the time when their multi-million-dollar commitments have been exhausted.

The Man Under the Sheet

It is time that we stopped treating Donald Trump’s assault on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

(DEI) as a philosophical or cultural dispute and call it out for what it is, Racism.

Donald Trump has a well-documented history of racism that exceeds that of Robert Shelton, the Imperial Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan from 1961 to 1987.[i]

In 1963, Trump, his father and their real estate company were sued by the United States Justice Department for discriminating and refusing to rent apartments to African American applicants. The litigation was ultimately resolved by the Trumps entering a consent decree.[ii] In 1989 Trump spent $85,000 to take out full-page advertisements in the New York Times, the New York Daily News, the New York Post and Newsday in which he called for the death penalty in the case of the Central Park five a group of teenagers accused of assaulting and raping a female jogger in Central Park.[iii] Following their exoneration and a multimillion dollar settlement of their wrongful convictions Trump refused to apologize for the advertisements and continued to maintain his belief in their guilt.[iv] In 2011 and 2012 Trump falsely spread the claim that President Obama was not born in the United States and was ineligible to be president. Even after President Obama presented documentary proof that he was a citizen, Trump refused to apologize for the scurrilous claim.[v]

Even before Trump took office, white supremacists were hailing his election.[vi] Once in office, it did not take Trump long to show his true feelings. On August 12, 2017 a counter demonstrator was killed at a “Unite the Right rally” and nineteen others were injured after a rally supporter drove his car into the group of demonstrators. On August 15, asked to condemn this act, Trump said there were “very fine people” among both the white supremacists counter protesters.[vii] Trump would repeatedly reaffirm and defend his comment during his first term.[viii]

Following his defeat in 2020, Trump publicly hosted White Nationalist, Nick Fuentes leader of the Proud Boys, at Mar A Lago.[ix]

Since returning to office Trump has spent his time working with Elon Musk and his wrecking crew dismantling every program that provides assistance, health services and benefits to people of color, both foreign and domestic. In allowing Musk to abolish and dismantle USAaid programs to impoverished countries, auditors have found “heightened hunger and desperation”[x] in African countries, South Sudan and Senegal. Even the smallest, poorest landlocked African country was not spared from Trumps tariffs. Lesotho, which exports denim to the United States had a 50% tariff imposed on Madagascar, another poor African country, had a 47% tariff imposed on it. Algeria, Angola, Botswana, Libya, and Mauritius had 3% tariffs imposed on them. Trump imposed these tariffs “after ending billions of dollars in aid, destroying these countries healthcare relief systems and disaster relief aids.”[xi]

Most recently the Department of Homeland Security revoked temporary status for over half a million Cubans, Haitians Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans putting them in line for deportation.[xii]

Upon taking office, Trump replaced highly regarded Lloyd Austin, the Secretary of Defense and he fired the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Air Force General C.Q. Brown.[xiii] Both career officers are African American. Lest there be any doubt that these decisions were racially motivated Trump’s choice for Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth, questioned whether Gen. Brown was named Chairman of the Joint Chiefs because of his race.[xiv] it was a particularly egregious criticism coming from an unqualified, incompetent drunk.[xv] Republican senators confirmed Hegseth upon his promise to stop drinking if he was confirmed.[xvi] This may be the lowest bar in confirmation hearing history.

While Trump, Musk and his appointees deport or prepare to deport Haitians and other people of color, by eliminating their protected status, they are also preparing to grant white Afrikaners from South Africa refugee status under a program called “Mission South Africa.”[xvii] One can only surmise that Trump, Stephen Miller, Musk and other members of his Klan have devised their very own Great Replacement Theory in which white immigrants would replace immigrants of color . I am grateful that I lived to see the end of the Jim Crow Era and the death of Robert Shelton. I never expected to see Shelton’s resurrection in Donald Trump or the beginning of the Donald Crow Er

[i] “Robert Shelton, 73, Leader of Big Klan Faction,” New York Times, March 20, 2003.

[ii]“’No Vacancies For Blacks;’ How Donald Trump Got his Start and Was First Accused of Bias,” by Jonathan Mahler and Steve Eder, New York Times, August 27, 2016.

[iii] “Angered by Attack, Trump, Trump Urges Return Of the Death Penalty,” by Lisa Foderoro, New York Times, May 1, 1989.

[iv] “Trump Will Not Apologize for Calling for Death Penalty Over Central Park Five,” by Jan Ransom, New York Times, June 18, 2019.

[v] “Donald Trump Clung to ‘Birther’ Lie for Years, and Still Isn’t Apologetic,” by Michael Barbaro, New York Times, September 16, 2016.

[vi] “’Hail Trump,’ White nationalists Salute the President-Elect, “by Daniel Lambroso and Yoni Applebaum, The Atlantic, November 21, 20216.

[vii] “What to Know About the Violent Charlottesville Protests and Anniversary Rallies, “by Meghan Kneally, ABC News, August 8, 2018.

[viii] “Trump Defends ‘Very Fine People’ Comments, Calls Robert E. Lee ‘A Great General,’” by Jordyn Phelps, ABC News, April 26, 2019.

[ix] “Trump’s Latest Dinner Guest, Nick Fuentes, White Supremacist” by Maggie Haberman and Alan Feuer, New York Times, November 25, 2022

[x] “Harsh Findings on Trump’s Aid Freeze Kept Secret by USAID Watchdog,” by Lisa Rein and Josh Hudson, Washington Post, February 27, 2025.

[xi] “When Huge Trump Tariffs Hit Small African Economies,” by Patricia Cohen, New York Times April 20, 2025.

[xii]“Homeland Security Revokes Temporary Status for 532,000 Cubans Haitians Nicaraguans and Venezuelans,” by Gisela Soloman, Associated Press, March 21, 2025.

[xiii]“Trump Fires Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and Two Other Military Officers,” by Tara Copp and Lolita Baldor, Associated Press February 21, 2025.

[xiv] “Trump Fires Black Joint Chiefs Chair Hegseth Accused of Promoting Diversity,” The Guardian, February 21, 2025.

[xv] “Hegseth Routinely Passed Out From Alcohol Abuse, Witness Says,” by Lindsay Wise and Jack Gillum, Wall Street Journal, January 21, 2025.

[xvi] “Hegseth Promises to Stop Drinking If Confirmed GOP Senators Say,” by Oren Oppenheim, Katherine Faulders, Soo Rin Kim, Kelsey Walsh and Lalee Ibssa , ABC News, December 4, 2024

[xvii] “’Mission South Africa’: how Trump is offering white Afrikaners Refugee Status,” by Zolan Kanno-Youngs and Hamid Aleaziz, New York Times, March 30, 2025.

President Quisling

In 1939, a failed Norwegian politician named Vidkun Quisling met with Adolf Hitler to urge that the Nazis invade and occupy Norway. In 1940, following the Nazi invasion Quisling proclaimed himself head of the government of Norway. His regime lasted one week before collapsing. Nevertheless, he continued to serve in the occupation government and was named “Minister President” in 1942 by the Third Reich.[1] During the Nuremberg war crimes trial in December 1946 a trove of documents concerning Quisling were admitted into evidence. William L Shirer, who was covering the trial, wrote,

“This peculiar Norwegian, the German documents make clear, was more enthusiastic about a German occupation of Norway then were the Germans themselves. In fact, he seems to have spent a year trying to argue the Nazis into invading and occupying Norway…”[2]

At the time Quisling took power there were approximately 2100 Jews in Norway. During Quisling’s tenure 722 Norwegian Jews were deported from Oslo to Germany and executed at the Auschwitz concentration camp.[3]

In September 2016, I first wrote about Donald Trump’s strange attraction to Vladimir Putin in a blog post entitled The Manchurian Candidate 2016, on my blog at JoeFahey.com. Putin’s preference for Trump in the 2016 presidential election was well documented by the Mueller investigation and in its final report. Trump has only been in office now less than two months and his fealty to Putin is manifest with what will be tragic consequences for Ukraine.

The United States and European allies have been steadfast in support of Ukraine’s three-year effort to repel Putin’s Russian invasion. The Biden administration committed billions of dollars to Ukraine’s defense. The vast majority of those monies have been returned to defense contractors in the United States who have supplied Ukraine with the armaments it has needed. As a result, Ukraine has battled Russia to a stalemate and occupied some Russian territory. All of those gains appear to be about to change.

On February 18, 2025, Trump publicly began his turn away from Ukrainian president Volodomyr Zelensky and toward Putin by falsely claiming that Ukraine started the war with Russia and calling him a dictator with an approval rating of 4%. Trump ignored the fact that elections are suspended in Ukraine during wartime and that Zelenskyi has a 52% approval rating, higher than Trump’s own approval rating.[4]

On February 24, 2025, the third anniversary of Russia’s invasion, the United States voted with Russia, North Korea and fifteen other Russian allied countries against the Ukrainian resolution condemning the Russian invasion of Ukraine. At the same time Trump has proposed an agreement with Ukraine in which that country would sign over the rights to 50% of its mineral wealth to repay money that the United States has spent on Ukraine’s defense.[5] This was never a condition of our assistance. No other nation demanded repayment for military assistance it provided to us after the September 11, attack on our nation.

While President Zelenskyi was open to the mineral rights agreement, he wanted the United States in turn to provide security agreements to Ukraine to guard against another Russian invasion. Trump flatly rejected any security guarantees to Ukraine.[6]

On February 28, 2025, President Zelensky met with Trump and J.D. Vance in the Oval Office, ostensibly, to sign a mineral rights agreement. Instead of completing the agreement Trump and Vance hectored the Ukrainian President with claims that he was ungrateful for all of the support the United States had provided to Ukraine throughout the Russian invasion. Zelensky left the White House without the agreement being consummated.[7] The Kremlin applauded Trump and Vance’s attack on Zelensky declaring ”This largely aligns with our vision,” and that it was “a proper slap down of the insolent pig, Zelensky.”[8]

Trump has suspended all aid and intelligence sharing with Ukraine.[9]

Russia wasted no time taking advantage of the suspension and has stepped up its attacks on Ukraine. Trump, in turn expressed no concern for the Ukrainians and defended Putin’s massive assault on the country, declaring;

“I actually think he’s doing what anybody else would do. Probably anybody in that position would be doing that right now. He wants to get it ended. And I think Ukraine wants to get it ended, but I don’t see. It’s crazy. They’re taking tremendous punishment. I don’t quite get it.”[10]

It is not hard to understand why Zelensky would not enter into a mineral rights agreement in which his country would give up 50% of its rights and receive nothing in return. When Neville Chamberlain appeased Hitler in Munich on September 30, 1938, ceding the Sudetenland region of Czechoslovakia to the Nazis, he did not try to rape the country by taking its resources or treasure.

At this writing, it is hard to predict what the ultimate outcome of the Russian invasion will be for Ukraine, but the country’s prospects appear bleak. It is also hard to predict what consequences Trump will suffer from this appalling betrayal.

In 1945, when Norway was liberated, Quisling was tried by the Norwegians and executed.

[1] Vidkun Quisling, Britannica.com

[2] Shirer, William L. End of a Berlin Diary, Rosetta books (1947) p.256.

[3] Vidkun Quisling, Holocaust Encyclopedia, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.

[4]“Trump’s Dark Anti-Ukraine Turn”, by Aaron Blake, Washington Post, February 19, 2025

[5] “US Votes Against UN Resolution Condemning Russia for Ukraine War,” by Karen DeYoung, John Hudson and Siobahn O’Grady, Washington Post, February 24, 2025

[6] “Trump Says Ukraine Should Look to Europe for Any Security Guarantees,” by David Sanger, New York Times, February 26, 2025

[7] “Behind the Collision: Trump Jettisons Ukraine on his Way to a Larger Goal,” by David Sanger, New York Times, February 28, 2025

[8] “Washington Now ‘Largely Aligns’ with Moscow’s Vision, Kremlin Says,” by Francesca Ebel, New York Times, March 2, 2025.

[9] “Trump Suspends Military Aid to Ukraine after Oval Office Blowup,” by Erica L Green, Eric Schmitt, David E Sanger and Julian E Barnes, New York Times, March 3, 2025.

[10] “Trump says latest Russian attack on Ukraine’what anybody else would do,’” by Michael Birnbaum, Sabrina Rodriguez and Kostiantyn Khudov, Washington Post, March 7, 2025.

The Department of Injustice

If anyone had questions about whether Trump would staff the Justice Department with sub moronic bullies, one need look no further than Emil Bove III.

Bove, Trumps nominee for Deputy Attorney General, served as the acting Attorney General for three weeks following Donald Trump’s inauguration on January 20 and the confirmation of Pam Bondi as Attorney General. During that period Bove commenced a purge of senior officials at the FBI. He ordered a review of thousands of FBI agents who were involved in investigating the insurrection of January 6, 2021. He ordered the firing of agents who were assigned to the probe that was conducted by special counsel Jack Smith into Donald Trump.[1]

At the same time, the acting United States Attorney for the District of Columbia, Edward Martin Jr., another Trump sycophant fired thirty federal prosecutors who worked on the January 6th cases and announced that he would extend his office’s investigation into Democratic leaders and former Justice Department officials.[2]

While all of this was transpiring confirmation hearings for Bondi and Kash Patel, Trumps nominee to be FBI director, were pending before Congress. Both Bondi and Patel repeatedly pledged that no retaliatory firings in either agency would occur and Patel promised to adhere to the existing procedures for discharging employees as well as due process.[3] During the Biden Administration Patel published a book in which he vowed to close FBI headquarters and published a list of people who should be prosecuted in the event Trump returned to office.[4] Despite Patel’s testimony the Judiciary Committee received information that he was covertly directing dismissals while his nomination was pending.[5] Notwithstanding this information the Republican majority on the judiciary committee chose to ignore it and advance Patel’s nomination to the Senate for a full confirmation vote.[6]

One does not have to be clairvoyant to understand the strategy here. According to the information received by Senator Richard Durbin ranking member of the Judiciary Committee, Patel had enlisted Stephen Miller, Trumps immigration weasel, and Acting Deputy Attorney General Bove to carry out the purge before he was confirmed, so that he could deny responsibility for them.[7]

While these events were unfolding, Bove got the bright idea to order the dismissal of a criminal case pending against New York City Mayor, Eric Adams, pending in the United States District Court in the Southern District of New York. The ostensible reason for the dismissal was “that the investigation would prevent Adams from cooperating with Trumps immigration crackdown.” In his directive to the Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District, Bove explicitly made it clear that the decision was not based on the evidentiary strength of the case. Moreover, the dismissal would be without prejudice and the Department of Justice would have the option to restore the case and prosecute Adams in the future. Adams would have the prosecution hanging over his head, like the Sword of Damocles, if he failed to sufficiently do Trump’s bidding.

When the Acting US Attorney refused to carry out the directive, Bove fired her, placed several of her assistants under investigation and transferred the prosecution to the Public Integrity Section of the Justice Department. Thereafter prosecutors in that unit resigned rather than carry out the order.[8] Bove gathered all of the remaining lawyers in the public integrity section and threatened dismissal unless someone from the unit signed the motion to dismiss. One senior member of the Section agreed to sign the motion, along with Bove, to prevent the dismissal of all the other prosecutors. A hearing is now scheduled before the Hon. Daniel Ho, the judge presiding over the case.[9] it seems somewhat remarkable that Bove apparently did not know or realize he could sign the motion to dismiss without discharging and jeopardizing all the other prosecutors involved in the case.

While Judge Ho could deny the motion to dismiss, there is no precedent for him to direct the Justice Department to proceed to trial. The hearing nevertheless will be interesting to learn how Bove can justify the Trump dismissal.

There is a precedent for the judge to conduct such an inquiry. When the Trump Justice Department sought to dismiss the case against Michael Flynn for lying to the FBI, Judge Emmet G Sullivan, Senior Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, conducted a similar hearing and appointed a retired federal judge and prosecutor, John Gleeson to oppose the motion. [10] Before the judge could proceed with Flynn’s sentencing, Trump pardoned Flynn.

Bove is designated to become the deputy to Todd Blanche, his former law partner and who is nominated for the position that Bove now occupies. Bove and Blanche were Trump’s defense lawyers during his “hush money “trial in New York City.

One must wonder about the propriety of Trump’s appointing his defense lawyers to two powerful positions in a department that can prosecute his enemies, carry out his policies no matter how extreme and where their allegiance will always be open to question.

One might also wonder about the wisdom of appointing two lawyers to these positions that succeeded in getting him convicted of thirty-four felonies.

[1][1] Justice Department Orders FBI Purge, Review of Staff Who touched January 6 Cases.by James Roebuck, Perry Stein, Salvatore Rizzo, Carol D.Leonnig, Washington Post, January 31, 2025.

[2]“DC US Attorney Fires Six January 6 Prosecutors, Launches New Probes,” Washington Post, January 31, 2025

[3] “Trump FBI nominee Patel Questioned on Capital Riot, Retribution Claims,” by Sarah N. Lynch and Andrew Goudsward, Reuters, January 30, 2025.

[4] “People on Kash Patel’s ‘So-Called Enemies List Taking Drastic Steps for Protection Before His Potential FBI takeover,” by Annie Grayer and Marshall, CNN, January 30, 2025

[5] “Sen. Accuses FBI Nominee of Covertly Directing Dismissals,” by Charlie Savage, New York Times, February 11, 2025.

[6] “Trump FBI pick Kash Patel clears Senate panel. Headed for confirmation vote,” by Sarah Ann Lynch Reuters, February 13, 2025

[7] “Durbin Accuses Patel of Ordering FBI Firings Before His Confirmation as FBI Director and lying About It,” by Jacob Rosen, CBS News, February 11, 2025.

[8] “Order to drop Adam’s case prompts resignations in New York and Washington,” by William K Rasbaum, Benjamin Weiser, Jonah E Bromwich, Maggie Haberman, New York Times, February 13, 2025.

[9] “Hearing called on Adam’s Case as Governor. Hochul Questions Mayors Conduct,” by Shayna Jacobs and Jeremy Roebuck, Washington Post, February 18, 2025.

[10] “Judge Sullivan Says He Is Not Required to Rubberstamp DOJ’s Bid to dismiss Flynn Case,” by Anne E Marimow and Carol Leonnig, Washington Post, June 1, 2020.

Trump’s Dachau

On May 10 last year, while Trump was running for President, I published a piece entitled The Rise of the Fourth Reich on this platform. Since then, Trump has been elected to a second term and much of what I predicted in that piece is coming true.

We are less than one month since his inauguration, and during that time he has announced a massive roundup and deportation of migrants who are in this country. In order to accomplish this task Trump has ordered the construction of a 30,000-bed detention camp at Guantánamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba. This facility would add to the 40,000-detention capacity currently maintained by the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement and is far larger than any existing detention facility administered by ICE.[1]

the United States has operated the military base in Guantánamo Bay pursuant to a lease with Cuba for more than a century. It is currently best-known for the facility detaining terror suspects following the September 11, 2001, attacks. It currently has a small separate facility that has housed migrants from Cuba and Haiti who were rescued at sea.[2] Trump has wasted no time in utilizing the facility at Guantánamo Bay and 10 migrants recently sent there are occupying prison cells in the facility formerly occupied by terrorism suspects. The Trump administration has justified this form of detention by claiming the ten migrants are part of a Venezuelan gang.[3] Like most claims made by the Trump administration this one remains unverified. In addition to building the massive detention camp at Guantánamo, Trump has expressed interest in sending convicted criminals, including Americans, to prison facilities in El Salvador.[4]

In 1934 Nazi Germany opened its first large-scale detention camp at Dachau to detain Communists, Socialists, and other opponents of the Nazi regime. Over time Dachau evolved into a concentration camp, a slave labor camp and ultimately a camp dedicated to the extermination of Jews and other select groups held there.[5]

Like Trump and Tom Homan, Trump’s Borders Czar, the Nazis were very vocal about the consequences the Jews would face if they failed to leave Germany and its occupied countries. Adolf Eichmann, the architect, and executor of the ultimate extermination warned the Jewish populations that they would be confined to the camps if they failed to self deport, while at the same time obstructing their ability to leave.[6]

At this early stage it is impossible to predict how all of this will turn out. The United States has leased Guantánamo from Cuba for over a century. Cuba opposes the lease and has rejected all of the United States lease payments in the past. Cuban Government officials are on record criticizing and opposing the decision to imprison migrants at Guantánamo.[7]

Ironically, Trump has invoked unspecified treaty violations with Panama in support of his claim for the return of the Panama Canal.[8] The ultimate irony might be that Cuba seeks to evict the United States and terminate its lease for what appears to be Human Rights violations by imprisoning the migrants at Guantánamo.

It is crystal clear that this policy is motivated by racism. Trump’s long history of racism need not be recounted here. The vast majority of migrants being rounded up and imprisoned are from Latin American countries and Haiti. At the same time, Trump is trying to wrest control of Greenland whose population is overwhelmingly white. Trump has most recently sanctioned South Africa claiming that white South Africans are oppressed and that their property is being unlawfully expropriated. While Black and Latin American migrants are being rounded up for shipment to Guantánamo, Trump has offered to resettle white South Africans in the United States. To their credit the Afrikaners have refused this offer.[9]

Simultaneously, Trump has proposed that the United States seize control of Gaza and permanently remove the entire Palestinian population and turn it into ‘the Riviera of the Middle East.”[10] The Palestinians have categorically rejected this proposal.[11] Trumps Gaza Plan is ethnic cleansing in its purest form.

Ethnic cleansing is considered a crime against humanity punishable in the international criminal Court. Likewise, the mass deportation of migrants pursuant to Trumps plan violates the United States Refugee Act of 1980 which incorporated the 1967 Protocol in the 1951 Convention of the Status of Refugees into our law.

American leaders that implement these plans and world leaders who are complicit in it may find themselves in the dock at a future Nuremberg Trial.

[1] “Trump Plans to Build Mass Detention Camp for Deportees at Guantanamo Bay,” by Nick Miroff and Dan Limoff, Washington Post, January 29, 2025.

[2] “What to Know About Guantánamo Bay, The Base Where Trump Will Send ‘Criminal Aliens,’” by Tim Sullivan, Associated Press, January 29, 2025

[3] “US Is Hlding Migrants in Cells That Once held Al Qaeda Suspects,” by Hamed Aleaziz, Eric Schmitt and Carol Rosenberg, New York Times, February 5, 2025.

[4] “Trump Sys He Would Jail Americans in El Salvador ‘In a Heartbeat.” By Zolan Kanno-Youngs, New York Times, February 4, 2025.

[5] Kogon, Eugene, The Theory and Practice of Hell, Berkley Publishing Corporation, New York, New York (1958).

[6] Evans, Richard J. Hitler’s People: The faces of the Third Reich, Penguin Press, (New York, NY 2024) p.379.

[7] FN2.

[8] “Why the US is Claiming China’s Presence Violates the Panama Neutrality Treaty,” by Marianna Parraga and Elifa Moreno, Reuters, January 21, 2025.

[9] “Trump Says Some White South Africans are Oppressed and Could be Resettled in the US. They say No Thanks. By Gerald Imray, Associated Press, February 8, 2025.

[10] “Trump Proposes US Takeover of Gaza and Says all Palestinians Should Leave,” by Michael D Shear, Peter Baker and Isabel Kershner, New York Times February 4, 2025, updated February 5, 2025.

[11] “I Won’t Leave. ‘Put that in your brain.’ Palestinians Reject Trump’s Call to Expel Them From Gaza,” by Waffa Shurafa, Samy Magdy and Juia Frankel, Associated Press, February 5, 2025.

Shill

After watching the confirmation hearing before the United States Senate Judiciary committee concerning the nomination of Pam Bondi to become United States Attorney General I endeavored to try and capture a word that best summed up Ms. Bondi. Shill was the only one that seemed to do her justice.

Bondi became the replacement for the failed and ludicrous nomination of former Congressman Matt Gaetz to this position. While Bondi, by virtue of her service as Attorney General for the State of Florida, appears to be qualified for this position a closer examination of her ties and advocacy of Donald Trump’s specious claims that the 2020 election was “stolen,” along with her tacit endorsement that prosecutors in the Justice Department and Special Counsel’s office in the prosecution of Donald Trump should be targeted for prosecution themselves, renders her unfit for this position.[1]

Bondi first came to national attention when it was revealed that in 2013, while serving as Attorney General for the State of Florida, she declined to join other state attorney generals in litigation against Trump University and it was further revealed that her political action committee had solicited a $25,000 campaign contribution from the Trump Foundation. The contribution was later determined to be unlawful expenditure by the Trump Foundation.[2]

Following her tenure as Attorney General of Florida, Bondi became a regular defender of Trump on cable television and during his first impeachment trial. Bondi was also one of Trump’s premier election deniers including refusing to acknowledge that Trump had lost the 2020 election during her confirmation hearing.[3] Indeed, when it came to questions about Trump prosecuting the prosecutors who investigated and charged him, Bondi became the “Artful Dodger,” ducking questions about her own calls for these prosecutors to be charged. In an appearance on Fox News she declared, “you know what’s going to happen. The Department of Justice, the prosecutors will be prosecuted, the bad ones. The investigators will be investigated. …They were hiding in the shadows. But now they have a spotlight on them and they can all be investigated, and the house needs to be cleaned out. Because now we know who most of them are; there is a record of it, and we can clean house next turn, and that’s what has to happen.”[4]

If one needs a barometer to gauge how influential and independent Bondi will be if confirmed, one needs only look to her testimony during her confirmation hearing about the prospect of pardons for the January 6 insurrectionists. In response to questions about whether she would recommend pardons to Trump, she responded that “she condemned ‘any violence’ against law enforcement officials but added that she had not reviewed the files from those cases and would need to ‘ look at each case and advise on a case-by-case basis.’”[5] Five days later, apparently without any consultation or input from Bondi, Trump issued a blanket pardon to all January 6 insurrectionists and directed the Department of Justice to dismiss all pending cases.

Bondi’s nomination and likely confirmation to be the United States Attorney General confirms two beliefs that I have long held. First, is that there are people who are successful in politics that could never be successful in anything else. Second, is that simply because someone has been elected to public office does not mean they are the best qualified for that office.

Following her tenure as Attorney General of Florida, unlike most individuals leaving such a position, she did not join a prestigious law firm. Instead, she joined a lobbying firm that included Susie Wiles, Trump’s incoming Chief of Staff and became a “talking head” on Fox News.

Surely, the Nation can do better for its eighty-seventh Attorney General.

[1]“What to Know about Trump’s Attorney. General Pick Pam Bondi as she faces questioning on Capitol Hill,” Alanna Durkin Richer, Associated Press, January 15, 2025.

[2]“Pam Bondi a $25,000 Donation and Trump University: Questions Remain,” by Eric Lipton, New York Times November 22, 2024.

[3] “How Pam Bondi Boosted Trump’s Election Fraud Claims in a Key Swing State,” by Beth Reinhard, Washington Post, December 16, 2024

[4]“ it’s not just Kash Patel. Many Trump Picks Have Suggested Retribution.” Aaron Blake, Washington Post, December 23, 2024.

[5] “AG pick Bondi Says No Enemies List Won’t Rule Out Probes of Trump Foes,” Jeremy Roebuck and Mark Berman, Washington Post, January 15, 2024

The World’s Ugliest Beauty Contest

During the past month I have followed Trump’s efforts to appoint his cabinet and various agency heads and diplomats. It has been, to say the least, interesting.

Trumps premier cabinet choice for the position of Attorney General was Republican Congressman Matt Gaetz. Gaetz would have been the first Attorney General to have been investigated by the United States Department of Justice for sex trafficking. He was likewise the subject of a House of Representatives Ethics Committee investigation. While the Department of Justice declined to prosecute Gaetz, the Ethics Committee found that he had paid numerous women for sex, had participated in several sex parties both in Florida and the Bahamas, and had engaged in sex with an underage female who legally was incapable of consent. When it became clear that the findings of the House Ethics Committee and its Report would become part of Gaetz’s confirmation hearing he requested that his nomination be withdrawn.

Trumps next major cabinet nominee is a Fox news commentator named Pete Hegseth. Upon closer scrutiny it has been revealed that Hegseth was the subject of a sexual assault complaint and investigation in California, had been removed from executive positions in nonprofit veterans organizations for financial mismanagement and appeared at public functions and on the air in an intoxicated condition.[1] Unlike Gaetz, Hegseth is not requesting his nomination be withdrawn nor has Trump withdrawn the nomination. Hegseth continues to seek the appointment while pledging that he will abstain from drinking if confirmed as Secretary of Defense. The cynical side of me wonders sometimes whether Gaetz was nominated to be Attorney Genera. because Hegseth might not look so bad by comparison.

Trumps nominations to lead other agencies have been equally perplexing.

He has nominated vaccine critic, Robert F Kennedy Jr., to be secretary of Health and Human Services. It is reported that “more than 18,000 physicians have signed a letter warning that he is unqualified and actively dangerous to the health of Americans.”[2]

Trump has nominated defeated Arizona Gubernatorial candidate and defeated United States Senate candidate, Kari Lake, to head the Voice of America. One of the missions of the Voice of America is to spread democracy around the world. If confirmed, this will be the first time that the Agency has been led by someone who has repeatedly denied election results in her own race and the 2020 presidential election.

Trumps choices for various diplomatic missions are also puzzling.

His choice for Ambassador to France is Charles Kushner. Kushner was convicted in the United States District Court in New Jersey for making illegal campaign contributions, tax evasion and witness tampering. The witness tampering involved his sending his sister a tape of her husband engaging in sex with a prostitute arranged by Kushner. On December 23, 2020, Kushner was pardoned by Trump for these felonies.[3] Kushner’s son, Jared, is married to Trump’s daughter, Ivanka. The post of Ambassador to France has been held by two Presidents, Thomas Jefferson, and James Monroe. Our first Ambassador to France was Benjamin Franklin. Since those days, the post has been held by numerous luminaries with impeccable backgrounds in diplomacy, business, and the military. One can only wonder what our oldest ally is thinking about being sent an ambassador that is a convicted felon and whose only qualification is that his son is married to Trump’s daughter.

Trump’s choice for Ambassador to Greece is Kimberly Guilfoyle. Guilfoyle is a California attorney and was an occasional television commentator. Her sole qualification for this position appears to be that she was engaged to Donald Trump Junior. The nomination occurred after news reports that Donald Trump Junior has a new girlfriend.[4] This is one way to put some distance between the old girlfriend and the new girlfriend.

Trump has selected Herschel Walker to be his ambassador to the Bahamas. Walker was an All-American football player who once played for Trump’s football team the New Jersey Generals. In 2022 Trump secured his nomination for United States Senate seat from Georgia which he lost to Sen. Raffael Warnock. Walker’s candidacy was hampered in no small part by the sudden appearance of two children that he had never acknowledged, allegations of domestic violence by his ex-wife and girlfriends, along with other mental health issues. Walker has falsely claimed that he graduated from the University of Georgia. His only qualification for the position appears to be his history with Trump.

Equally disquieting are Trump’s nominees for director of National intelligence and Director of the Federal Bureau of investigation.

Trump has nominated former Congresswoman, Tulsi Gabbard, to be Director of National Intelligence. The former Democrat was briefly a candidate for the Democratic nomination for President in 2020. She subsequently became a Republican and endorsed Donald Trump for president in 2024. Gabbard is viewed as being “unqualified and a national security risk by over one hundred former United States diplomats and intelligence and national security officials. They have requested that the United States Senate hold closed-door hearings to question her about her support of Vladimir Putin and Bashar al-Assad, the deposed dictator of Syria.”[5]

Trump’s nominee for Director of the Federal Bureau of investigation is Kash Patel. This nomination was the result of the resignation of Christopher Wray, whom Trump appointed to lead the FBI during his first term. Ray ran afoul of Trump when he approved a search warrant for classified documents illegally held by Trump at Mar-A- Lago after he had left office. Patel was a minor functionary during Trump’s first term and is a committed Trump sycophant as evidenced by a list of sixty Trump critics that Patel has vowed to prosecute in a second Trump term.[6] In Patel, Trump has found a potential FBI Director that makes J. Edgar Hoover look like the epitome of probity. No less a personage than William Webster, the former Director of both the CIA and FBI, has urged that the Gabbard and Patel nominations for these positions be rejected by the United States Senate during confirmation hearings.

In response to criticisms of the Trump nominees, Steven Cheung, the incoming White House Communications Director repeats his mantra that they “…can get started on Day One to Make America Safe and Great Again.”[7]

That may be how they view it, but it appears to me that Trump is trying to re-create the Bar Scene in Star Wars.

[1] “As Hegseth Public Profile Grew, He faced Deepening private Turmoil,” by Casey Tolan, Kurt Devine, Robert Kuznia and Brian Stelter, CNN, December 5, 2024

[2] Heather Cox Richardson, Letters From An American, January 10, 2025.

[3] “Kushner Pardon Revives ‘Loathsome’ Tale of Tax Evasion, Sex,” by jill Colvin and Colleen Long, Associated Press, December 20, 2020.

[4] “Kimberly Guilfoyle Preps For Greece Ahead of Donald Trump Jr.’s Birthday on New Years Eve,” by Jennifer Sangaland, Palm Beach Post, December 26, 2024.

[5] “Former US Officials Alarmed Over Tulsi Gabbard’s alleged ‘Sympathy For Dictators,’” The Guardian, December 5, 2024.

[6] “Kash Patel Has an Enemies List Centered on Grievance,” by Phillip Bump, Washington Post, December 3, 2024.

[7] “Trump Taps Combative Aide For Top Press Job As Cabinet Picks Face Scrutiny,” by Hannah Knowles and Josh Dawsey, Washington Post, November 15, 2024.

The Cheapening of The President

When I was in grade school and the teacher wanted to motivate the class, we were told, “that someday you could grow up to be President of the United States.” At other times we were told that we lived in a country where, “anyone could become President of the United States.”

This first declaration was meant to inspire us to work hard because we might be able to achieve the highest honor this country could bestow. The second declaration was said to exemplify that the opportunity to achieve this highest honor was open to everyone. This promise was personified in Franklin D Roosevelt who was chosen by the electorate four times, twice during the Great Depression and twice in World War II. It was again fulfilled when John F. Kennedy broke the religious barrier that had existed for Roman Catholics that had existed throughout American history. It was again kept in 2008 when Barack Obama became the first African American to achieve that office.

In 1960 the American political journalist and historian, Theodore White, wrote a series of books titled The Making of the President which chronicled the trials and sacrifices candidates for President of the United States made in their quest for the presidency of the United States.

The duties of the president have been conducted by occupants whose administrations have been largely free from corruption. To be sure, there have been administrations such as those of Ulysses Grant and Warren Harding in which scandals occurred. Only one president has demonstrably committed crime while in office and in the public outcry resulted in his resignation during his second term. Richard Nixon never held public office again and his crimes and resignation became his enduring legacy.

In 2016 Donald Trump became the 45^th president of the United States. He had never held public office before. He brought with him a history of bankruptcies, lawsuits, and sexual predation. Congress impeached him twice and sought his removal from office. The first time for corruptly conditioning military assistance to Ukraine on their opening an investigation into his successor Pres. Joseph R Biden Junior. The second impeachment was due to his fomenting an insurrection following his defeat in 2020 and attempting to remain in office by nullifying the results of his electoral defeat.

In 2016 Trump achieved a victory in the electoral college but failed to win the popular vote. Much of the scandal that was part of his history had not been revealed in the fullest detail.

During the election campaign of 2024 the American people knew fully who Donald Trump was. They knew of his sexually predatory history with women. They knew about the multimillion-dollar verdict awarded by a civil jury to a writer who had been the victim of one of his sexual assaults. They knew about the judgment entered by a judge in a civil trial for fraud committed against the state of New York. They knew about the thirty-four felony guilty verdicts found by a jury for fraudulently disguising payments to a porn star to prevent the payments being revealed during the 2016 election. They knew he was under indictment for criminally fomenting an insurrection to avoid leaving office on January 6, 2021. They knew he had been indicted for endangering national security by taking and refusing to return classified information after he left the office. Any one of the scandals would have prevented any of his predecessors from being elected to the highest office in the land. Despite the overwhelming stench of corruption and a campaign marked by hateful, vile, and vicious attacks on immigrants, migrants, women, and his opponent Vice President, Harris, a majority of voters returned Trump to the Oval Office.

By returning Donald Trump to the Oval Office, the American electorate has tarnished and cheapened the highest honor that citizens have bestowed on American Presidents for over two-hundred years.

The 19th Century philosopher, Joseph De Maistre, once said, “In a democracy the people end up with the leaders and government they deserve. “

The worst is yet to come.When I was in grade school and the teacher wanted to motivate the class, we were told, “that someday you could grow up to be President of the United States.” At other times we were told that we lived in a country where, “anyone could become President of the United States.”

In 2016 Trump achieved a victory in the electoral college but failed to win the popular vote. Much of the scandal that was part of his history had not been revealed in the fullest detail.

By returning Donald Trump to the Oval Office, the American electorate has tarnished and cheapened the highest honor that citizens have bestowed on American Presidents for over two-hundred years.

The 19th Century philosopher, Joseph De Maistre, once said, “In a democracy the people end up with the leaders and government they deserve. “

The worst is yet to come.

The Next Nuremberg Trial

Donald Trump has campaigned for President of the United States by attacking and vilifying immigrants and migrants. He has called them vermin, animals, criminals, and other vilifications. He has spread false stories that claimed they were eating pets and that migrant gangs had taken over Aurora, Colorado.[1] On Sunday, October 27, 2024, he held a rally at Madison Square Garden in New York City in which the most vile, racist, misogynistic, and hateful comments were hurled at immigrants, migrants, his opponents and others. He and his speakers eclipsed the searing rhetoric spewed forth at the 1939 Nazi rally held at the same venue.

If there is any doubt about Trump’s true intentions, one need only recall that he said, “Hitler did some good things, too.”[2]

He repeated his promise to conduct the largest mass deportation in history if he is returned to the White House. Stephen Miller, his human gargoyle that is charged with implementing this mass deportation, resurrected the Ku Klux Klan slogan that” America is for Americans only.”[3]

If reelected, Miller will be joined by another Trump sycophant, Mike Davis, who relishes the prospect of separating children from their parents at the border, declaring “We’re going to put kids in cages. It’s going to be glorious.”[4]

The Supreme Court in in its harebrained decision, Trump v. United States, ruled that the President is immune from criminal prosecution while carrying out his official actions. This undoubtedly has emboldened Trump and his lackeys into planning these mass deportations. While Trump may indeed be immune from criminal prosecution for conducting this horrific plan, Stephen Miller, Mike Davis, and the other lackeys that are salivating to participate in it should be mindful of the fact that the immunity from criminal prosecution does not extend to them.

In 1945 leaders of the Third Reich were prosecuted for their conduct during the Nazi regime at Nuremberg, Germany. Among the charges they were convicted of include Crimes against Humanity. Count four of the indictment encompassed conduct which is relevant here. It defined Crimes Against Humanity to include “ deportation and… persecutions on political racial or religious grounds in execution of or in connection with any crime within the jurisdiction of the tribunal, whether or not in violation of domestic law of the country where perpetrated.”[5] The international Criminal Court currently defines this offense as ”acts committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack directed against any civilian population such as… deportation…”[6]

At the conclusion of the Nuremberg trial in 1946, sixteen of those charged were found guilty of crimes against humanity and fourteen were sentenced to death.[7]

It is disheartening that so many of our elected officials have either forgotten or never learned the history of this conduct. They blithely dismiss Trump, and his new Brown Shirts plans as political rhetoric. The best example of this dereliction of leadership is embodied in Republican Minority leader, Mitch McConnell. McConnell shrugged off his history of critical commentary of Trump, “Whatever I may have said about President Trump pales in comparison to what JD Vance, Lindsey Graham and others have said about him, but we are all on the same team now.”[8]

The defendants at Nuremberg were all on the same team too.

[1] Trump thinks the Border Got Him Elected in 2016. He’s Convinced It Will Do So Again, New York Times, by Jonathan Swan, Maggie Haberman and Ruth Igielnik, October 19, 2024.

[2] As Election Nears, Kelly Warns Trump Would rule like a Dictator, New York Times, Michael Schmidt, October 22, 2024.

[3] Another Night at the Garden: How Trump’s Rally Echoed One in 1939, Washington Post, Phillip Bump, October 28, 2024.

[4] Mike Davis Trolls the Left Online. He could Help Trump Pick MAGA Judges, Washington Post by Beth Reinhard and Marianne LeVine, October 19, 2024.

[5] United States Office of the Historian.

[6] Government of the Netherlands, The international Criminal Court (ICC), Crimes Within the Jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court.

[7] Tusa, Anna and John Tusa, The Nuremberg Trial, MJF Books, (New York, 2010), p.504.

[8] McConnell Called Trump ‘Stupid’ ‘A Despicable Human Being’ New Book Says” Washington Post by Mariana Alfaro, October 17, 2024.Donald Trump has campaigned for President of the United States by attacking and vilifying immigrants and migrants. He has called them vermin, animals, criminals, and other vilifications. He has spread false stories that claimed they were eating pets and that migrant gangs had taken over Aurora, Colorado.[1] On Sunday, October 27, 2024, he held a rally at Madison Square Garden in New York City in which the most vile, racist, misogynistic, and hateful comments were hurled at immigrants, migrants, his opponents and others. He and his speakers eclipsed the searing rhetoric spewed forth at the 1939 Nazi rally held at the same venue.

If there is any doubt about Trump’s true intentions, one need only recall that he said, “Hitler did some good things, too.”[2]

At the conclusion of the Nuremberg trial in 1946, sixteen of those charged were found guilty of crimes against humanity and fourteen were sentenced to death.[7]

The defendants at Nuremberg were all on the same team too.

[1] Trump thinks the Border Got Him Elected in 2016. He’s Convinced It Will Do So Again, New York Times, by Jonathan Swan, Maggie Haberman and Ruth Igielnik, October 19, 2024.

[2] As Election Nears, Kelly Warns Trump Would rule like a Dictator, New York Times, Michael Schmidt, October 22, 2024.

[3] Another Night at the Garden: How Trump’s Rally Echoed One in 1939, Washington Post, Phillip Bump, October 28, 2024.

[4] Mike Davis Trolls the Left Online. He could Help Trump Pick MAGA Judges, Washington Post by Beth Reinhard and Marianne LeVine, October 19, 2024.

[5] United States Office of the Historian.

[6] Government of the Netherlands, The international Criminal Court (ICC), Crimes Within the Jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court.

[7] Tusa, Anna and John Tusa, The Nuremberg Trial, MJF Books, (New York, 2010), p.504.

[8] McConnell Called Trump ‘Stupid’ ‘A Despicable Human Being’ New Book Says” Washington Post by Mariana Alfaro, October 17, 2024.

The Coming Danger

Donald Trump has repeatedly claimed that, if Kamala Harris is elected President, we will find ourselves in the midst of World War III. The reality is that electing Trump is more likely to trigger World War III.

Trump has repeatedly expressed his admiration for Vladimir Putin. He has threatened to withdraw the United States from NATO. He has said that if NATO did not meet his financial demands the United States would not honor its Article 5 obligation to come to the defense of its members and that Russia could ”do the hell whatever it wants.” He has refused to say that he wants Ukraine to win its war against the Russian invasion.

Incredibly, Trump has recently blamed Ukraine’s President, Voldomyr Zelensky, for Russia’s invasion of his country, saying Zelensky “should never have let that war start.” [1]Trump has claimed that if elected he has a secret plan to end the Russian Ukrainian war before taking office and has refused to disclose any elements of this plan.

One does not have to be a clairvoyant to predict that Trump will abandon Ukraine and require that it give up much of its land in order to bring an end to the war. Since Ukraine has already lost Crimea during the Russian invasion of 2014; it makes sense that Trump foresees the Ukrainians giving up the Donbas region of their country.

We have seen this movie before.

In 1938 Britain, France and other European nations acquiesced in Hitler’s invasion of the Sudetenland to avoid war with Germany. Hitler, like Putin, justified annexing these countries on the pretext of” protecting the ten million Germans living outside the Reich’s borders.”[2] The fruits of this appeasement spoiled quickly as an emboldened Hitler invaded Belgium, Poland, and France. The following year, Russia, an ally of Germany at this time, proceeded to invade Finland.[3]

In 2014, Putin, echoing Hitler’s justification for his invasion of the Sudetenland, justified his invasion of Ukraine’s Crimea, by claiming he was trying to restore order and protect Russians living there, after his puppet government led by Viktor Yanukovich, was overthrown.[4]

In its latest invasion of Ukraine, Putin has spouted this false justification in attempting to occupy the Donbas region.[5]

It is no surprise, that Sweden and Finland, which has a border with Russia, sought and gained admission to NATO and Ukraine is seeking to do the same.

Regrettably, the United States and its NATO allies stood by and took no action when Russia seized Crimea in 2014. Clearly, this emboldened Putin to try and seize all or more of Ukraine. Thankfully, the United States and NATO allies have come to the aid of the Zelensky government in its effort to repel the Russian invaders. The Ukrainians have fought valiantly and have made enormous sacrifices in fighting the Russians to a stalemate although being vastly outnumbered. Unfortunately, this heroic effort could end on January 20, 2025.

On November 5^th, Americans will choose between two starkly different candidates to become the next President of the United States. Vice President, Kamala Harris, has pledged to honor our commitments to our NATO allies while Donald Trump has questioned that commitment, and the United States continued membership in NATO.

If Trump is re-elected and Ukraine is forced to capitulate to Putin and give up more of its territory, Putin, like Hitler, will be emboldened to pursue more territory and even invade neighboring countries that are members of the NATO alliance. In that event the United States will be duty-bound, along with other NATO members, to defend their allies. War with Russia would be inevitable. Almost every General and National Security Expert that served in the previous Trump Administration has characterized Trump as a threat to national security. Heads of State, worldwide, have expressed misgivings and concerns about a second Trump Administration. Trump’s lionization of dictators and despots like Putin, Kim Jong-Un, Xi Jiping and Viktor Orban[6] stands in sharp contrast to his strained relationships with European leaders like Angela Merkel, Theresa May, Emmanuel Macron, and Canadian Prime minister, Justin Trudeau. If Trump were to be re-elected and capitulate to Putin on Ukraine, World War III will be at hand.

[1] Trump Blames Zelensky for the War I Ukraine. He rarely blames Putin,” Aaron Blake, Washington Post, October 18, 2024

[2] Shirer, William L. Berlin Diaries 1934-1941, Galahad Press (New York 1915) p.93-4.

[3] Shirer, William L. Berlin Diaries, 1934-1941, p.253.

[4] Putin Says He Reserves Right to Protect Russians in Ukraine., Kathy Lally and Will Englund, NBC News, March 4, 2014.

[5] Russia’s War is ravaging Donbas, Ukraine’s Beleaguered Heartland. Here’s What the Region Means to Putin, CNN by Rob Picheta, May 31, 2022

[6] Trump Again Praises Authoritarian Leaders at Bronx Rally, Praveena Somasundaram and Frances Vinall, Washington Post, May 24, 2024.Donald Trump has repeatedly claimed that, if Kamala Harris is elected President, we will find ourselves in the midst of World War III. The reality is that electing Trump is more likely to trigger World War III.

Trump has repeatedly expressed his admiration for Vladimir Putin. He has threatened to withdraw the United States from NATO. He has said that if NATO did not meet his financial demands the United States would not honor its article 5 obligation to come to the defense of its members and that Russia could ”do the hell whatever it wants.” He has refused to say that he wants Ukraine to win its war against the Russian invasion.