Spyke
world·World Newsbybreakfastmtn

BREAKING: Trump halts military aid to Ukraine, media reports

U.S. President Donald Trump has ordered a suspension of all military aid to Ukraine, escalating pressure on President Volodymyr Zelensky mere days after a heated exchange in the Oval Office cast doubt on U.S. support for Kyiv.

A senior Defense Department official told Bloomberg that all U.S. military assistance to Ukraine is on hold until Trump determines that Ukrainian leaders are making a genuine effort toward peace.

The pause affects not only future aid but also weapons already in transit, including shipments on aircraft and ships, as well as equipment awaiting transfer in Poland.

MBFC
Archive

Edit: changed source from Bloomberg to Kyiv Independent b/c there's no paywall and more detail in the story.

https://kyivindependent.com/trump-halts-military-aid-to-ukraine-media-reports/Open linkView original on lemmy.ca
ricecakereply
sh.itjust.works

The military that he just dismissed the leadership of and replaced with his own people, and the CIA that's directed by his people?

134
ShadowRamreply
fedia.io

his own people,

of which are wildly incompetent

64
in4apennyreply
lemmy.dbzer0.com

And the competent ones (as in the ones with experience at creation local militias and terrorist organizations) are gonna be out there creating the resistance.

16
lemmy.world

Here's the pickle though. Wouldn't it be reasonable if another administration get in power and then need to purge all these positions of pro trump people?

Like what happens next? it's such a bleak world now.

23
Spzireply
lemm.ee

Wouldn’t it be reasonable if another administration get in power and then need to purge all these positions of pro trump people?

Oh no! You have a great point for horror fans there.

I'd even say, it probably is somewhat necessary in order to resume administration. What a beautiful, postfactual dilemma:

The Reps fear an ideological, systemic witch hunt, which they use as an excuse to replace government workers. The new workers are ideologically aligned with the Reps, encouraged to assist the dismantling of non-Rep institutions and carry out the King's will above and beyond the law.

Now when votes swing the other way, the new administration kind of has to revert some of this damage to assume functioning.

Which is where the circle closes; the prophecy fulfills itself. Now the Reps have evidence for their previously baseless claims. The whole system is locked in a back-and-forth mud wrestling of replacing workers based on ideology.

12
Phytobusreply
lemm.ee

That's the problem with the two-party system in the USA, in a full democracy this dynamic wouldn't happen. This is the achilles heel of american democracy and the downfall seems to have begun.

8
Gsus4reply
mander.xyz

Sometimes I wish the US were what tankies say it is.

65
yunxiaolireply
sh.itjust.works

I'm pretty sure Trump has proven every single tankie argument about the US.

-8
lemmy.world

Except that whole thing about Dems being just as bad, which is like 90% of tankie arguments about the US.

3

It's funny how much the tankies have in common with the liberal socialists. If only they weren't so darn argumentative.

-10

"Do you solemnly swear that you will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic ;that you will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that you take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that you will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which you are about to enter: So help you God?"

56
Montaggereply
lemmy.zip

I don't know that the CIA has ever given a shit about the United States.

Hell H.W. Bush was the son of a man that tried to overthrow the government and Ford appointed him to CIA director in the 70s.

18
lemm.ee

Given how big a security leak the dipshit is, and he already got a ton of their agents in the field killed the first time around, it's not so much them caring about the US, but then seeing a threat to their own power.

24
sh.itjust.works

As far as I'm aware, the military, in the best case, will simply refuse to follow unlawful orders. There are formal processes to do so. That's part of military culture and law. Whether that system will hold up to Trump is unknown. When he issues unlawful orders, will soldiers simply refuse to comply? Unknown.

But one thing is for sure. It's not part of military culture to actively resist. There is no formal process for that to be protected or OK. That's simply insurrection and rebellion.

17

Dictators fear military coups, that's why people like Putin keeps them weak and fighting themselves

3
in4apennyreply
lemmy.dbzer0.com

If... Let's say if... It'll take some planning, they wouldn't just do it willy nilly they gotta plan the hit, find the right assets, find the right areas, research, etc. it takes a lot of work to whack somebody it's not like The Sopranos or anything.

13
in4apennyreply
lemmy.dbzer0.com

Yeah it's fucking wild the efforts they go through. Even if it's as discreet as a walk-by in a parking garage with a suppressed pistol or strangled in a car, there will be at least 10 people doing different jobs with zero knowledge of what the others are doing or what the end goal is, all doing a very simple task that any normal person could do with probable ignorance. Real life examples of how the mafia do hits are really intricate: You pay one guy to flatten a tire, you pay another guy to drive the tow truck, you pay another guy to ask them for directions to delay them a bit, you pay another guy to be an uber or taxi driver, you pay another guy to receive where the taxi/uber is going, this is all after paying probably a few other dudes to study their schedule and the schedule of their visitors/guests, pay another dude to get keep their neighbor or something distracted, pay another dude to take the shot and dip (source: I know a guy who knows a guy who knows another guy). It's very expensive and time consuming, that's why organized hits don't happen a lot it's gotta be worth the investment. This would be much harder to pull off against someone with 24/7 secret service guard, but the CIA/FBI/Police are pros at pulling shit off like this.

8

Very detailed. Are you, by any chance, a mob boss or their accountant?

5

What do you mean? Trump is an asset of the ruling class.

Rich people in the nation have literally nothing to fear while he's in office, so we shouldn't expect the military or any 3-letter agencies to do anything about it.

2
indexreply
sh.itjust.works

He's a threat for the people not for the government or he wouldn't be the ceo.

0
prolereply
lemmy.blahaj.zone

What a fucking nonsensical comment

You gotta go for quality over quantity if you really want to impress the handlers 😉

3
mander.xyz

Is there a historical precedent for punishing the defender for daring to successfully resist invasion by a third country?

148
lemmy.world

Does it matter at all? Trump is compromised and is actively working for Putin. This is transparent and not being denied. Is there precedent for a puppet to do whatever he's told by his master? Yes, lots.

101
Gerudoreply
lemm.ee

Let's be very clear, it's not just Trump, but the ENTIRE GOD DAMN administration that has been, and is, being put into place. Hegseth already told our intelligence teams to stop looking into Russia.

If Trump was luigied tomorrow, an entire government is now in place to allow whatever they want to happen, to happen. It wouldn't even matter if he was gone.

16

I think a lot of the problems with the current administration wouldn't change if Trump was Luigied. Dismantling our federal institutions, consolidating power in the executive branch, stripping away human rights - all those things would continue.

However, I think that the support for Putin nearly exclusively comes from Trump himself.

6

It is being denied. Had some chud on here mocking me the other day (at about a 4th grade writing level) for saying as much.

1
sh.itjust.works

Palestine. Maybe not successfully, but note that the idea that Palestinians have the same natural right to armed self defense as any other group is completely absent from mainstream political discourse. Most simply cannot even comprehend that the Palestinians should have just as much right to kill to defend themselves as Israelis do. Partly this is due to colonialism. Part of it is classism. The violence of the Israelis is clean and high tech. The violence of the Palestinians is crude and performed with simple weapons. We judge the morality of violence based upon the wealth of the people committing the violence.

41

Is it a third country if the one punishing is a proxy of said country?

16

Finland had to accept responsibility for being invaded by Russia. Also, they had to give away land mass that Russia failed to grab. Also, they had to give up some sovereignty. Also, they had to pay ginormous reparations and sign deals to buy army stuff from Russia.

Nice army stuff, though. I've been in a 1995 KRAZ with a wood frame for the driver. Also they don't have a tap for draining motor oil, because who would expect them yo return from the frontlines?

11

Yeah that shit happens all the time throughout history, actually. Especially when colonized countries dared to fight back against colonizers.

11

The peace agreement between Napoleon and Austria included Napoleon taking independent (but in the coalition) Venice.

It was kind of an awful elitist place but it was also the oldest democracy in the world at the time. Napoleon destroyed that, and all the monestaries. You can see the ruins of them around the lagoon if you visit.

7

Economic sanctions on the early RSFSR after the Bolsheviks defeated the English, French, Italian, USA coalition that invaded them in the Russian Civil War.

-2
lemmy.world

The US wouldn’t stop military aid to Israel while the IDF destroyed hospitals and killed children and journalists among many other war crimes. They will freeze aid to Ukraine as it defends itself in a war of conquest. Evidence suggests the USA would rather align with criminals like Putin and Netanyahu than war victims.

137
Spzireply
lemm.ee

That really is a stark contrast. What do the apologetics say about this?

28
Blackmistreply
feddit.uk

Probably "we won, you lost, get over it" as if that's how any of this works.

18

In my limited exposure to the ramblings of conservative acquaintances, they now consider Zelensky to be a "little dictator" who was rude to their favorite douches.

Regarding Israel, I think it's something along the lines of "judeo-christian values" good, brown savages bad, and OH LOOK SOMETHING SHINY!! Sorry, you were saying?

3
feddit.nl

until Trump determines that Ukrainian leaders are making a genuine effort toward peace.

They are literally shooting every Russian they spot on their soil, how is that not making a genuine effort toward peace?

133
indexreply
sh.itjust.works

They are literally shooting every Russian they spot on their soil

There are 8 millions russian speakers living in ukraine i hope these don't count as "russian"

-35
sudneoreply
lemm.ee

Only the Russian imperial narrative is so that Russians speaking people are considered Russians. There are Russian speaking people in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Belarus, Ukraine and in many -Stans, they are not Russians.

Not a very useful remark. The Ukrainian army is full of Russians speaking people.

29
indexreply
sh.itjust.works

There are ethnic russians there. What i'm pointing out is that "shooting every russian they spot" sounds racist.

-24
sudneoreply
lemm.ee

I saw you around, and I know also you are Italian, so I will tell you in a way you understand. You are being a "puntalcazzista" to throw shade on Ukraine with vague racism claims. Anybody with a pulse will understand that "shooting every Russian on the spot" means "shooting every invader", and that roughly would include also north Koreans or other ethnicities, should those set foot in Ukraine to assist Russian invasion. You are trying to claim an interpretation that doesn't make sense, because - as I told you and you can easily verify - the Ukrainian army itself is full of Russian speaking people, who you might call "ethnic Russian" - whatever you think that means. So unless you are honestly suggesting that OP was suggesting Ukrainian army is also shooting on the spot to members of its own army, we both know what you are doing.

21
indexreply
sh.itjust.works

I saw you around, and I know also you are Italian, so I will tell you in a way you understand. You are being a “puntalcazzista” to throw shade on Ukraine with vague racism claims. Anybody with a pulse will understand that “shooting every Russian on the spot” means “shooting every invader”

You must be new here, people have been racist toward russians for a good time.

https://sh.itjust.works/post/27157199

How exactly i'm throwing shade on ukraine by pointing out a racist generalization in comment?

-24
sh.itjust.works

You’re either not understanding the intent of their message or you’re willfully twisting it.

That’s what is being pointed out.

They’re clearly referencing the invaders, you misunderstood and took umbrage where you didn’t need to. Having been corrected you’re still pushing the idea that they were being racist.

You’re acting in bad faith.

19

You’re either not understanding the intent of their message or you’re willfully twisting it.

How i'm twisting anything? To me it looks like you are try to twist things here accusing me of being in bad faith when i simply pointed out yet another discrimination against "russians" as if they were all bad. Are you aware that there are russian people living in ukraine?

-18
sudneoreply
lemm.ee

I am not new, but I have a skill that you might find useful, it's called "context".

racist generalization in comment?

Because there is no any racial generalization. From the context it was clear to anybody who is in good faith what OP meant. Even if it wasn't, OP comment was a statement on what is happening, so your remark "I hope they don't..." doesn't make any fucking sense, because you can just check what they are doing. Currently Russians in Ukraine that are being shot are invading troops.

So let's make a parallel. "Partisans were shooting germans", in the context of Italian resistance. Do you think it's a racist remark? Would you feel the need to say " oh boy, I hope they don't shoot German civilians", "oh, there are ethnical Germans in the north, I hope they are not shooting them". No you wouldn't, because what you are doing is not in good faith, you are not raising any valid concern, you are just purposefully misunderstanding OP to stir shit.

5

partisans were shooting germans troops, soldiers or the nazi they weren't “shooting every german on the spot"

-13
indexreply
sh.itjust.works

Don't get confused, ukraine and russia share a border there are many ukrainians living in russia and vice versa

-4
Furbagreply
lemmy.world

Are they wearing a Russian military uniform? Then they are an enemy combatant.

It's really not that hard, dude.

8
Furbagreply
lemmy.world

Ok? Ukraine is obviously not targeting civilians in their drone strikes so your point is completely moot.

2
Zinkreply
programming.dev

Context clues, my friend.

That post is clearly referring to shooting Russian soldiers that have invaded.

And just to help you further, the adjective "Russian" in that sentence refers to the state for which the soldiers fight. So a "Russian soldier" could be some poor dude from North Korea who got shipped over.

To further aid understanding, look at the military of a diverse place like the United States. You will have "American soldiers" working side by side who have different ethnic backgrounds and were even born on other continents.

2
indexreply
sh.itjust.works

If USA were to invade mexico and someone would come up with the quote "they are literally shooting every american they spot on their soil" wouldn't it sound odd?

-1

Only if you ignore the context.

If I said “Mexico isn’t even trying to end this war” and you said “they are literally shooting every American that steps across the border!” it would not sound odd at all.

And it certainly wouldn’t sound bigoted against an ethnicity.

0

I hope every English sepaker doesn't count as "English". Wouldn't want to have a king.

1
fedia.io

This is what I hope happens next: Ukraine wins anyway. European politicians that still weren’t sure about defending themselves without the US will be emboldened not to rely on America anymore. Europe as a whole becomes stronger and much less willing to tolerate Trump’s obnoxious demands, and see him as the weak puppet that he is.

120
floofloofreply
lemmy.ca

At some point, Europe has to start wondering whether it's really such a good thing to have US military bases all over their continent.

67

Weak puppet with strong army. What makes anyone think stopping aid to Ukraine is all he can do. The sanctions against Russia are going to be lifted next, and if necessary, the aid is going to Russia. Europe has enough power against Russia, but not against Russia + the US.

23
taiyangreply
lemmy.world

Look, stranger things have happened but I get the sense it's more likely Putin dies and the whole thing kind of crumbles. That's the likelier, although still entirely unlikely scenario.

It'd still be pretty nice to see less reliance on the US except global peace relies on more trust, not less. The US might need systemic reforms to get there, but even Russia looked like it could be an ally to EU prior to Putin, just all countries need better safeguards to avoid backsliding into authoritarianism. I'm not sure what those would be, but you can't have global peace without addressing these countries.

9
Ronnoreply
feddit.nl

To be honest, I think we are well passed that scenario. Even if Putin dies today, his puppets in Russia will grab for power. Meanwhile, they still own the president of the US. They know they have the support needed to win in Ukraine, they will use it to build trust with the citizens of Russia and show strength. Even better, the US will be weakened in supporting Russia, but that's not really a bad scenario for Russia either.

5

I'm taking very long term, honestly. Germany is a fine example, except we had to have WW2 to undo it. I hope the US and Russia don't need WW3.

3

Can we, as a society, label anyone who things otherwise as a traitor? Any politician against, or even dragging their feet, immediately written off, perhaps even deported from yhe continent?

Please?

1
lemmy.world

So the record currently stands at...

Zelensky - Let's try a deal, we just need security guarantees

Trump - Why are you so Disrespectful?

Zelensky - Let's try a deal, we just need security guarantees

Trump - Putin is a victim we're undoing sanctions

Zelensky - Let's try a deal, we just need security guarantees

Trump - Why won't Zelensky do a deal?

Zelensky - Let's try a deal, we just need security guarantees

Trump - We're stopping Aid.

99
alkbchreply
lemmy.ml

The US won’t provide the security guarantees Zelenskyy is asking for. He can try getting them from European countries though, but they do not seem willing to provide them either.

2
Maggotyreply
lemmy.world

At least count I'm pretty sure the UK, Sweden, and Australia have all said they'd be willing to put troops into Ukraine for peacekeeping.

2
alkbchreply
lemmy.ml

UK has stated in no uncertain terms that they require US involvement in order to put troops into Ukraine for peacekeeping. I'm not sure about Sweden & Australia.

2
Maggotyreply
lemmy.world

I hadn't heard that. Nice to know we can still count on the UK to follow us down the rabbit hole of insanity.

1
lemmy.world

How much more do we have to witness before we accept, as a society, that Donald Trump and the GOP are enemies of the United States of America, and act accordingly?

We are suffering and losing our position as a world leader because of a felon rapist traitor. When are we going to stop this?

80
zarkanianreply
sh.itjust.works

When are we going to stop this?

When congress starts impeachment proceedings. Call your representatives. Listening you complain is their job.

27
zarkanianreply
sh.itjust.works

You can be impeached more than once. I think this would be his third time.

2
zarkanianreply
sh.itjust.works

It sounded like you were saying "You already impeached him, and he's still president (so impeaching him again is a waste of time)", but I could've misread you.

1
Tamo240reply
programming.dev

That is also my point. Don't worry though, you keep impeaching him until he dissolves congress.

You're response being 'yeah but you can be impeached multiple times' exactly demonstrates the weakness of that action.

1

What do you think "impeachment" is? That's like saying "You can't sue him a third time. You already sued him twice, and nothing happened."

1
  1. Joining and organizing within your local community to create connections with others is incredibly powerful, will lay the groundwork for effective resistance.
  2. We can effect things drastically with a general strike. This can massively impact their income streams, and can bring a government to its knees if done on a large enough scale.
  3. Join the IWW and attempt to unionize your workplace, so that the general strike is even more effective.

If we put in the work, we can resist this and we can win. Join up with allies while we still can easily!

22
Match!!reply
pawb.social

Have you decided what means are acceptable for resistance for yourself yet

7
lemmy.world

Each time I read "Trump orders", "Trump does X", I always ask myself: "Wait, can he do that? Congress? House? Judiciary? Cheks? Balances? Hellooooooooooo...?"...

... but this is still the first few months of his second term. At this pace, he will be a literal king in a few more months.

A scary prospect to say the least, and I hope it's not too late for America to do something about this. This should not be normalized. This cannot be normalized.

68
sh.itjust.works

The average us citizen doesn’t have a solid grasps of how our government actually works.

Defunding education and gutting curriculum and removing civics education has … been impactful.

18
reddthat.com

I'd say the average republican does have a solid grasp of how the government works, seeing the extremely high activity of Trump's government. Turns out the "checks and balances" and the "branches of government" and all of that shit only serves to slow down progressive policy. When it's about bombing brown kids or defending healthcare, policy can speed through the fucking system

4
JackbyDevreply
programming.dev

Checks and balances are only are good as the morals of the people enforcing them.

3
reddthat.com

So they don't formally exist and the entire political game is just about whether you choose the good or the bad representatives, and all knowledge and legislation about institutions is liable to be simply ignored without penalty

-2

I mean, yeah, if everyone stopped enforcing laws then there are no laws. It's not like there is a machine that does it.

3

Even through speaking of theoreticals, I firmly believe that no societal system can ever work if the vast majority of people are shallow and cruel. The closest thing would be a benevolent monarchy, but that benevolent monarch would still need soldiers to enforce rulings, and then some of those enforcers would end up being shallow/cruel, etc...

1
lemmy.world

Laws only have value as long as someone is willing to enforce them. It's all a social construct.

I'm not from the US and am far from being a legal expert, but your country appears to be close to being lawless (or is getting there at an accelerated pace).

10

I mean it's really not close to lawless, it's just we've decided one man is king and can't do anything illegal

2
Dr. Moosereply
lemmy.world

This just proves that american gloating over their "checks and balances" was bullshit all along. US will never live this down.

8
Zinkreply
programming.dev

The shitty thing is, the checks and balances kind of still exist but the people in charge of them approve everything Trump is doing.

And then the constituents who are in charge of voting those people out ALSO approve of what they are doing and/or are too ignorant to notice. (Any illegal tampering with voter rolls and ballots notwithstanding)

How does one fix the culture of an entire nation? Ugh.

3
Dr. Moosereply
lemmy.world

I'm not an American but considering only 22% or so of population actually voted for trump I'm not sure you're right that entire US culture is just broken. Maybe the attack is just so effective that even with 80% resistance it's successful. I mean dudes wrote an entire plan book on in.

Maybe it's time to come to terms that the system is simply vulnerable. I come from infosec background and it seems quite clear to me that US democracy is just incredibly vulnerable to attacks despite the "checks and balances" memes.

3

Ok. Part 1 is done. Part 2 & 3 (order doesn't matter) is that Trump ends sanctions and then stages a massive false flag attack that they then blame on Ukrainian Extremists upset over the ending of support to enact a full police state.

Part 4: ???

Part 5: profit

64
Azalreply
pawb.social

I've been wondering where the US Tiananmen Square is going to be.

11
reddthat.com

The US already bombed black neighbourhoods and murdered unionists, and the police kills "nonwhite" people at astonishing rates, it's just those things aren't talked about in the US at all.

0
Azalreply
pawb.social

Not talked about, but I can talk about the Tulsa Race Massacre and the Ludlow Massacre without retribution from the US. I am able to.

I'm concerned when the US military is given full "The people are the enemy" attitude and to protest it becomes illegal.

1
reddthat.com

Not talked about, but I can talk about

Freedom to speak, not to be heard. Good luck saying those things on TV and ever being invited again. Good luck talking about these issues in a book and getting it published.

-1

I mean... I lived close to Tulsa and learned about the Tulsa Race Massacre years later through NPR.

Oh, right, Trump's trying to get rid of woke stuff like that.

2
jacksilverreply
lemmy.world

I think the counterpoint is that when something like Kent state happened, the government backed down. The question will be if they're willing to use live rounds in the future and not back down (not that less lethal munitions are much better, but it is different).

1
reddthat.com

Kent state happened as a massacre against unarmed students. Tiananmen Square happened after several weeks of protests, in which protestors murdered and burned some soldiers and took their weapons. Only then did the military intervene.

-1
jacksilverreply
lemmy.world

So the military was justified in their actions at tiananmen square?

My point is that the US has not been willing to escalate by using live rounds or military intervention in over half a century (at least to my recollection) against its citizens.

2

Not justified, but the western version of the event is extremely falsified. Hakim has a good video on the topic.

My point is that the US has not been willing to escalate by using live rounds

Police violence aside

-1

I'd say that fighting off Russian invaders so your country can return to the peaceful state it was in is working towards peace.

Alternatively, has he asked Russia if it would just go home? Seems like another pretty efficient way to achieve peace.

57
reddthat.com

the peaceful state it was in

Was it though? Wasn't the Ukrainian government at war with separatist militias in Eastern Ukraine prior to 2022?

-2

Yes, there was no peace for quite some time. They were indeed at war with separatist militias in Eastern Ukraine financed by Putin. The difference is just that in 2022 Putin got into the war openly. Well, openly, it was a "special military operation" at first, of course.

1

And then finally we will build a memorial building in their honor? One where all their carcasses are placed in a viewing chamber protected by glass at the basement of the building where as the first floor and subsequent other floors are all subdivided in public toilets and urinals. You stop there waiting for a bus, but you need to go. So you get into urinal #275. You do your business, then you either flush or you pay $0.50. Then you go to the basemen if you paid. There you press in your urinal number to watch a beautiful yellow fountain splash on their graves. Putin will land there first. Then after every nazi will end up in there. All profit goes the LGBTQ+A community. Anyhoo, I'm not the first to propose this instead of a library. We could have an LGBTQ+A library on the 2nd floor?

9
commanderreply
lemmings.world

We can blame the people who voted for hillary clinton in the 2016 primary for why we have 2 trump presidencies.

We can blame the people who voted for Biden in the 2020 primary for why we essentially have 12 years of trump.

Democrats have shown repeatedly they'd rather have trump over someone who tries to reduce the disparity in wealth, so that's what we get.

Now they can all order doordash from their quarter-of-a-million-dollars suburban homes while complaining they don't have enough money. (and get mad at anyone who criticizes them for it)

-22
FatCrabreply
lemmy.one

No, i think I'm primarily going to blame the people who voted for Trump for Trump being elected.

15

You can blame both!

It's just expected that republicans will work against the working class at this point. The "lesser evil" is seen as good because of how weak, greedy, entitled, and pitiful liberals are.

-1
Paddzrreply
lemmy.world

Wait, you guys are getting houses at quarter of a million.???

5

For sure, you just need to travel back in time thirty years for any place you would want to live.

2
Tjareply
programming.dev

What suburb are you in that you get a whole house for 250k AND doordash still delivers there???

1
lemmy.world

I have not a lot of knowledge how American politics work, but isn't this for congress to decide? how is Trump so powerful? (sorry for my daft question)

56
chiliedoggreply
lemmy.world

It's very illegal. He has already been impeached once for withdrawing military aid to Ukraine in his first term.

And you see where that got us.

47

Yeah indeed, but now he has got the full backing and more Trump tronies?!

11
lemmy.ml

It isn't daft. The Republicans since Reagan have pushed a fringe legal theory called the Unitary Executive Theory. Basically, they want the president to fully control the executive branch and military such that theirs is the only voice that matters for much of the government. Not unlike a king, but partially checked by congress and the courts. They have been taking (illegal) actions to try to get sued, and also have been suing others/other branches of government, to try to get the Supreme Court to hear cases that will support this fringe legal theory so that it becomes the law of the land.

I am not a lawyer, but this is possibly something Trump can legally do since he is Commander in Chief of the armed forces. However, this seems more like an apportionment thing, which is Congress' responsibility. Congress has allocated funds to send military aid to Ukraine. So, even if Trump as Commander in Chief could say "no more weapons to ukraine", it seems doubtful to me that he could (legally) stop weapons shipments currently en route.

But, by the time whatever government office sues the office of the president to get a judge to enjoin them to send the agreed upon weapons that were already apportioned, it will already have hurt Ukraine somewhat. Trump often weaponizes inefficiency. And these sort of illegal acts aren't crimes per se - they're just procedural breaches - the legal remedy is just to reverse the action.

So, probably not legal. But Trump gets to weaponize his administration's incompetence (or feigned incompetence) to at least delay aid. More competent people may support these actions, knowing they're illegal, to try and strengthen the president's role even further.

45
Lanskereply
lemmy.world

Wow! Thanks so much for this reply! this is very helpful, thnx a lot

11
reddthat.com

The answer is simpler than that: the "checks and balances" system is a facade created to prevent meaningful progressive policy from passing. There's a reason why Trump can modify a billion laws from day 1, but poor Biden couldn't possibly do anything to codify abortion as a right or prevent the bombing of children in Gaza.

10
lemmy.ml

This isn't quite right. Trump didn't really modify laws. That isn't even something he can claim to do since he is the head of the Executive branch, not the Legislative one. He issued executive orders, many of which were illegal, and he had some cronies who enacted some of them anyway - others did not enact some of these, and others were not really actionable (like when he declared that no one has a gender). He did rescind many policies, but he can't just make laws go away on his own. There are literally hundreds of court cases currently challenging these executive orders - seeing as how the judiciary is the primary check on the executive branch, that is the system working to check presidential power.

However, I am not a liberal, I am a socialist and do not think this is working well - there are many problems here. The highest levels of the judiciary have been largely captured by far-right judges, many of whom are specifically aligned with Trump's goals and support the unitary executive theory. Also, this method of checking presidential power is extremely slow. For every illegal action Trump's administration takes, a court case has to be crafted, filed, heard, and adjudicated. Every one. And invariably, some will not reach the correct outcome and others will never actually be taken to court - there are just too many.

Basically, the administration is using the fact that they control every branch of government to dismantle or capture core government agencies and to provide cover for various illegal actions - forcing them through if only temporarily for various political and structural ends. A soft coup, basically. So yeah, the fact that something like this is possible is proof of the flaws inherent in this system of government.

6

That's a lot of words to say that I'm right in practice even if not in principle lmao.

I'm a commie too, BTW. You're way too charitable to the US institutions IMO.

1

So it turns out that what matters most in the end is less the intricacies of the system, and more what type of people get elected

0
Soulgreply
ani.social

Republicans hold the majority in congress, so they're refusing to push back and are just allowing him to usurp power from them.

33
Lanskereply
lemmy.world

Thnx for your reply! i understand that, but it seems nothing goes via congress?!

8

And they don't care because the White House is occupied by someone on their team. This country fucking sickens me.

4

It is for Congress to decide such matters. It says so right in our constitution, but our Legislative branch has been ceding their ability to check Executive overreach for decades. Now, with a complicit Congress as the majority, they will never challenge Trump on anything he does, no matter how unconstitutional or illegal it might be. Same goes for the Judiciary as well, chock full of partisan hacks who bend and twist their interpretation of the language of the constitution to cherry pick a favorable ruling for anything that Trump does.

Basically, our system of checks and balances that are meant to keep one aspect of the government from becoming too powerful has been completely subsumed by ideologues who prefer monarchy to democracy. The executive now essentially has unchecked authority and is in full control of the government apparatus.

31

how is Trump so powerful?

The Republican party controls Congress and they have abdicated their responsibilities to our Constitution and, by extension, the American people in favor of an authoritarian because they have accepted him as their leader, thus giving away their own power.

Our forefathers never expected Congress to give away its own power. Because it doesn't really make any sense in the long term for them to do so.

We are experiencing a coup. Most Americans are too uneducated to understand this.

27

We are entering a "yeah and who's going to stop me era of US politics"

18

The president was always able to stop aid under certain conditions. Trump is just going to certify that one of those conditions exist no matter how ridiculous it is.

7

Kind of. Last time he was trying to get them to say they were investigating Hunter Biden, so somethithathat would more directly benefit himself. This time I guess he wants the US to have the rights to all their minerals, which I don't even understand how that would work, but I guess that could be seen as benefitting the US if you're a total psychopath.

16
lemmy.world

Just as his master told him.

The US media still does not dare to call Trump a Russian agent, despite him showing all symptoms.

There has been no single Russian attempt to destroy the US being as successful as putting their own agent into the White House, right into the Oval Office.

50
T00l_shedreply
lemmy.world

Best case they will still share data, they could also just be gathering it up for themselves, worst case is sending it to russia

4
indexreply
sh.itjust.works

worst case is sending it to russia

It was a joke it's not for russia...

-5
fedia.io

He's having a melt-down because the rest of the world is siding with Ukraine (as they should)

50
Fair Fairyreply
thelemmy.club

See, there is a strategy - u just tunnelvisioned and stuck in a cold war

-37
Dorkyd68reply
lemmy.world

I feel like the dumb from reddit is leaking into lemmy more and more. You're a traitor to democracy if you think we shouldn't fund and supply Ukraine

15

How is one a traitor to democracy for opposing unlimited funding and supplying of Ukraine?

0
Fair Fairyreply
thelemmy.club

US is broke, have u seen the debt numbers?
It went into unontrollable territory.
Payments for debt financing alone is as much as military spending. This is dumb.
US has no choice but to radically change

-9

All the military equipment in the world can't make up for their recruitment and morale problems.

It's just reality, regardless of what's upvoted on these forums.

-5

I would love to see everyone just start ignoring Trump and everything he says and just keeps doing their job.

37

And very seriously listen and write down his commands and say of course sir then just not do it. For years and report back to him that he is hailed as the best president ever for his orders, and let him live his fantasy, we can even hold parades and stuff and the fun thing is that people would actually genuinely be glad when he comes because they know it's going to be a festival and their job is just to pretend to be awed by his senile ramblings, which honestly sounds so much fun

4
lemmy.world

It's like appeasement again only worse, because at least the motivation for appeasement was ostensibly to avoid conflict.

35

This time we elected a Nazi as President.

And funny enough, it's also literally true in addition to being metaphorically true.

14
lemm.ee

Since he can't do this and needs congress' help, why aren't they stopping him? Why are they all bending over backwards to please Putin?

32

Because the only meaningful political move for Republicans today is to follow Trump. If they push back they get cut from the pack and lose support.

29

Because congress is dominated by the oligarch sycophants as well.

10
lemmy.world

I kinda wonder what people in the 3 letter agencies are thinking right now. I would hope that enough of these agencies actually view Trump as a fundamental threat to democracy, because he actually is. People have warned for this to happen, for a while now, even though many are surprised at the speed at which it happens. But still, you would kind of hope for some of these agencies to actually stand for the constitution, instead of for the ruling party and his current president.

The US is so much more than just the current political ruling class. It's sad that there seems at least, to be so little visible opposition to their efforts to derail the US geopolitical power and to overthrow the system of law and order. One who the Republicans should hold deep, and definitely the people who pledge their allegiance to the constitution. I wonder if it would have gone different if someone like Saunders or Obama would have tried a similar play.

31
zarkanianreply
sh.itjust.works

Derailing US political power is a good thing. Not good for the US, but good for the world.

1

Are we also derailing Chinese and Russian power, and magically disarming all the nukes? Or are we just shitting on America and hoping nobody realizes that means there's going to be a power vacuum?

7

We will see. Pax Americana has been a hugely stabilizing force in many regions around the world. If an empire falls, fighting over the power vacuum commences. Empires get replaced by chaos and eventually other empires.

4

Giving russia more power won't be any better for the world at large.

3
zarkanianreply
sh.itjust.works

You don't know that, and I'm skeptical that Trump would go to that much trouble to come up with an excuse. He hasn't needed an excuse to do anything else he's been doing.

What I would expect Trump to do is just pull support and if anybody asks him why, say loudly "America First!!!"

-6

It's exactly how trump operates. See the threat he posted this morning to block federal funding to universities that "let students protest" - he's going to block funding anyway, he just needs a plausible way to blame them for it.

Same thing here - a plausible way to blame Ukraine for withdrawing US support.

Plausible to maga anyway.

10

Don't worry guys, I'm sure she's about to get SLAMMED with a lawsuit. That'll show him.

23
lemmy.world

Entire admin is pathetic losers. And thanks a lot to all those geniuses who wouldn't vote for Kamala because of Gaza, this is partially on your hands

21
reddthat.com

For the millionth time: the results are out. The fraction of dem voters who stayed home because of the Gaza genocide isn't high enough to warrant the loss. Stop blaming the people who stood the strongest against genocide.

-3
commanderreply
lemmings.world

You should be blaming the people who voted for hillary clinton in the 2016 primary for why we have 12 years of trump.

They didn't want to give up their greed or entitlement, so this is what we got instead.

-9

Russia has supported Trump and helped him to get elected and become a dictator. They're going to continue the support. The deal is dictatorship in the US for Trump and dictatorship in Europe for Putin.

9
fedia.io

Mineral access after Ukraine falls. Not even like legit access for US companies, but like they do for oligarchs in Russia. Also now they might let him be the one to take out Zelensky to get back at him for not being grateful enough.

8

Not even like legit access for US companies, but like they do for oligarchs in Russia

Our legitimate mining corporations, their evil oligarchic resource exploiters

0
sh.itjust.works

How is this not seen as anything but a massive conflict of interest by anybody with any sort of authority in the current government? How?

20
slrpnk.net

the democrats did nothing in their time to safe guard democracy, hoping to wield fascism as a threat to motivate us to vote for their 2000-2008 era conservatism. it was an extremely dangerous game, and one they lost, because they failed to account for how fucking racist and unhinged one third of this country is. the consequence of them being fine with using fascism as a threat against us is that they are also fine with fascism being used against us. they'll just go along with the fascist coup so long as it's apparently what we want

11
lemmy.ml

Democrats have no more interest in safeguarding democracy than Republicans do. If they did, they wouldn't continue using their ratchet effect that prevents Republican legislation from ever slipping back. And as Republicans keep shifting even further to the right, democrats continue to fill the void that Republicans just left. This is a result of 50 years of incremental fascism masquerading as 'lesser evil.'

7

Because they both benefits from the same sources of income, billionaires and some Ds are actually Dinos

5
Cryophiliareply
lemmy.world

The important thing is we remember that every bad thing that happens is Democrats' fault

7
ricecakereply
sh.itjust.works

Probably, but a judge can't just override the president on matters of foreign policy, and he's the head of the political party in charge of both houses of Congress.

Relying on the system to save us from the people given control of the system isn't going to work.

6

Yeah, I know... I'm just gonna go sit in the corner and silently weep for whatever is left of my children's future.

1
lemmy.dbzer0.com

Nazi traitors gonna do traitorous Nazi shit. God bless Ukraine and its holy fight against evil. They will find a way and emerge victorious.

14
commanderreply
lemmings.world

They will find a way and emerge victorious.

It's delusions like these that send men to die who otherwise wouldn't go.

-5
lostbitreply
feddit.nl

otherwise? they got invaded they have no choice. Its fight and die or not fight and die

1
commanderreply
lemmings.world

Fleeing is an option.

Do you honestly believe that Russia was going to have mass executions if Ukraine gave up without a fight?

-1
lostbitreply
feddit.nl

uh yes they execute ukraine daily.

And fleeing? really? so if somebody takes your house by force and rapes your family you just flee? And then just wait untill they do it again?

yeah sounds like a great solution

-1

Well, there's nothing they can do about the house but fleeing can prevent death and rape.

It's the reality of war.

0
indexreply
sh.itjust.works

How do we know they were for ukraine to begin with? One thing is clear: they aren't for russia so the narrative that USA is helping russia or halting operations against them doesn't old much against the evidence.

-20
T00l_shedreply
lemmy.world

What narrative about helping russia? If they stop supporting Ukraine, they are helping russia....

15

"Narrative" has been an american conservative dog whistle for a while now, as far as I can tell.

It translates roughly to "the reported facts which should not be believed because they don't work for MY narrative." So basically just the usual projection. And it's even a smart-sounding word which really helps it carry weight with dummies.

2
matlagreply
sh.itjust.works

They ARE halting operations against Russia. Factual and official. https://edition.cnn.com/2025/03/02/politics/us-cyber-operations-russia-suspend/index.html

And now, after stopping military aid, they've announced they would no longer provide Ukraine with intel. So these patrol are no longer an action against Russia, given they won't be used in military operations. Another big win for Russia. Again factual and official.

Next step is apparently lifting sanctions against Russia https://www.reuters.com/world/white-house-seeks-plan-possible-russia-sanctions-relief-sources-say-2025-03-03/ This would provide Russia with a desperately needed source of income while economists were speculating that its economy was at risk of a complete collapse in 2025. So Trump is hurrying a relief there.

Do they need to send military aid to Russia directly before we can claim they switched side?

0
matlagreply
sh.itjust.works

index

Ok, let's make sense out of this

  • The US gov announced very officially they stopped providing military aid to Ukraine.
  • The US gov announced very officially they stop provivding intelligence to Ukraine.
  • Trump asked very openly for a draft on lifting sanctions on Russia.

But they got some planes flying over the black sea, that collect intel, the same intel they said won't be shared with Ukraine therefore will not be used against Russia interests whatsoever, and that's your evidence to claim their actions are ambiguous?

I was wrong. They CAN supply Russia with weapons and you'll claim it's still ambiguous. Actually, they can probably bomb Ukraine themselves as much as a certain individual can shoot someone on the 5th avenue without losing a single supporter.-

1
indexreply
sh.itjust.works

How many times US government announced they were working to stop the genocide in gaza but were actually fueling it?

But they got some planes flying over the black sea

They have been flying fleets of planes near russia since the war started, probably even before that but not many were watching.

1

Gaza and Ukraine are 2 totally different cases, using one to assess the other makes no sense. In Gaza, under Biden, they barely announced they would hold on deliveries to Israel, and they did to a bare minimum. There was no secret hidden delivery, it was in plain sight for all to see. One of the reasons is some high profile donors of the Dems are supporting Netanyahu.

Under Trump, the position has changed for a full support of the ethnic cleansing of Gaza, and they resumed the delivery of larger bombs, that Biden had indeed been withholding.

The US collect intelligence in many different places worldwide. They didn't say they would stop collecting intelligence, they said they would stop sharing it with Ukraine. The goal is not hidden, it's been announced and the acts are consistent: it's to force Zelensky to surrender to Russia, what Trump calls a "peace plan" in exchange of… well nothing, really. Ukraine loses, as simple as that.

There is no secret chess play here. If you ask why Trump supports Russia against pretty much all of the US (former?) allies now, then we venture into speculation, though many of us have an idea. But is he supporting Russia? Yes, definitely, the evidences are compelling. That's no longer a question. It's more than time to accept it.

1

Russians agent, we are all witnessing soulles pigs destroy democracy and the lifes of millions for their own gains

12
midwest.social

If the stock market crashes and doesn't recover, that money will be worthless regardless of where you store it.

15
sh.itjust.works

Might want to wait till the fort Knox audit. Might turn out the gold you buy doesn't exist :p

1

Trump will say it doesn't exist to push more crypto for another pump and dump.

1

US apparently also quit providing intel to Ukraine. Sorry for the Dutch link as source, best to use a browser translator on it.

Article

7
eviltoast.org

Doesn't really matter most European tech is way ahead of the US anyway, it's just they the US pay stupid amounts to their own companies. I kinda feel most US tech is a super expensive in comparison honestly.

I feel a cupholder on a US jet would be valued at something like 50,000. I'd honestly be really curious how a Rafale fared against say a f-35 I suspect it would win

My suspicion is an European jets would own and devestate an American ones while being a small fraction of the price.

Yes I am honestly saying while America spends stupid amount off Defense they don't hold the slightest advantage tech wise.

-1

In that specific match up the F-35 would win the majority of the time. The Rafale would win when it was able to get inside the F-35's missiles. The problem is a modern fighter versus fighter engagement starts with long range missiles launches. So the side that sees first launches first. Then they go into tight S turns to keep radar tracking on their missiles while maintaining range. At some point the enemy also acquires them on radar and does the same thing. They will keep doing this until the enemy missiles reach a minimum distance and they will dive and turn away with chaff. This breaks the radar link but you're hoping the missiles are close enough to acquire targets on their own. So the side that sees the other one first and launches first, even by a few seconds gains a massive advantage. That's what stealth tech is about.

Now that said, there is a Euro stealth fighter in the works, but it's not expected until 2040.

4

to add in, european scientists often move to US for more income, i see the reverse happening down the line, fleeing back to thier countries. the only reason why us tech is ahead because scientists from other countries are moving here.

1
T00l_shedreply
lemmy.world

Guess what. War is gonna happen regardless. Except now the Ukrainians are going to have a harder time fighting back, while the russians start their pogroms.

6
lemmy.world

Right then why fund them and send people to their deaths?

Why not just succeed a little land and sign a cease fire

0
T00l_shedreply
lemmy.world

Russia will keep killing Ukrainians, so they need be forced to stop. Letting russia next it's neighbours is a fucking stupid take. Appeasing the colonial fascist has never gone well before, and it won't now. Ukrainians are fighting for their homes. Succeeding land like Crimea didn't stop russia from invading so it won't stop it again.

0
lemmy.world

It's better to try something. What your idea is to do nothing. Great idea, let's just continue letting people die.

0
T00l_shedreply
lemmy.world

It's better to try something. What your idea is to do nothing. Great idea, let's just continue letting people die.

No, my idea isn't to "do nothing". It's to fund and support Ukrainian sovereignty lol. No clue where the fuck you are pulling that from. You want more people to die, let russia have it's way, way more people will die. I'm glad your comfortable with the thought of other countries just annexing territory on a whim. Fucking shit tier take

0
lemmy.world

Oh sorry, your supporting Ukraine, so they can continue the killing. What a moronic route.

So just continue with the killing.

That's not doing anything differently.

Succeeding land will stop the war.

Make Russia sign a peace treaty with America and Ukraine for the land.

It's infinitely better than your idea of just continue the killing. "It's fine"

Brain-dead.

0

Oh sorry, your supporting Ukraine, so they can continue the killing. What a moronic route.

Nah, I'm supporting Ukraine to defend their sovereignty. The killing can stop, russia needs to fuck back off to russia

Ceeding the land to russia won't stop any war, at best it will put a temporary pause until they want more, causing more pain and suffering and death.

Make russia fuck back off to russia is the only viable option, unless you think appeasing fascist dictators is a good idea.

Brain-dead.

That is the only explanation as to why you said the things to say. Hey being self aware is step one. Maybe don't victim blame.

0