Dear John,
Should the UK *really* roll out the red carpet for Donald Trump, as Nigel Farage desperately wants us to?
First, there’s the simple fact that a majority of the British public are unhappy with Trump’s return, and most think it will be bad for the UK.
But more fundamentally, beginning on January 20th, we’ll be dealing with an extremist oligarchic government in the United States. If you think those claims are overblown, just look at what’s been happening in Washington.
Loyalist Government: As I predicted in an OB newsletter before the election, a lead architect of Project 2025 (the Heritage Foundations theocratic plans to demolish US democracy) is being tapped to lead a key government admin office. It suggests those dangerous plans to pack the government with loyalists are going ahead.
Attacks on Civil Liberties: A Republican-led bill passed the US House yesterday which gives Trump the unilateral power to censure non-profit organisations, creating massive concerns over freedom of speech and freedom of association – basic civil liberties. Trump has previously threatened to go after the “enemy within.”
“A Battalion of Buffoons”: Elon Musk will advise on the federal budget, despite the fact that his companies rely on federal contracts. Tulsi Gabbard, a known Putin apologist, is highly likely to undermine European security as the new intelligence chief. Speaking of which, the new Defence secretary is a former Fox News television pundit. I’m sure that will go well. (In the last email, by the way, I mistakenly said Matt Gaetz had been convicted of sexual assault. He’s merely been investigated for multiple instances of it, and decided to withdraw from his Attorney General appointment in relation to one of those investigations yesterday)
Obeying in advance: In addition to the newspapers that refused to endorse Harris out of fear of a Trump victory, movie studios too are now in fear of Trump’s wrath. Those involved with The Apprentice, a Trump origin movie, are reportedly disassociating with the film over fears of recrimination from Government. It’s what Timothy Snyder called “obeying in advance.”
The incoming US Government is set to make things very difficult not just for many Americans, but for those of us in the UK as well. They’ve proven without a doubt that their main concern is stripping the state for parts, and persecuting anyone – in both government and civil society – that won’t pledge fealty to Donald Trump.
It’s true that we have an important relationship with the United States, beyond any one leader, but we’re under no obligation to lend credence to such an administration with a red carpet roll-out.
Farage shows us once again that his priority, above his constituency or anything in the UK at all, is to promote Donald Trump and his oligarchic agenda.
We won’t let that go unchallenged.
