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Actually woke up and saw he TACO'd. Republicans in Congress told him that if he took Greenland by force, he'd be impeached. Also saw that NATO basically told him they would allow US to build up military bases. That's the 1951 agreement. He likely didn't know about it (or remember it) until they told him. They might throw in a few extra things, but overall wasn't worth pissing off Europe over.
tldr; Bitcoin prices rebounded above $90,000 after President Donald Trump announced he would not impose tariffs scheduled for February 1, following a framework deal with NATO on Greenland and the Arctic. This reversal in geopolitical tensions caused a shift in market sentiment, with gold and silver prices retreating as risk-on assets like Bitcoin surged. The announcement led to over $1 billion in liquidations across crypto markets, highlighting Bitcoin's sensitivity to macroeconomic and geopolitical developments as a high-beta risk asset. *This summary is auto generated by a bot and not meant to replace reading the original article. As always, DYOR.
The US military has begun bombing Greenland in preparation for a land invasion against NATO. The whole of Europe and Canada have begun retaliation against the US. Canada is attempting to take over Montana. Russia has gone publicly defending the US takeover of Greenland saying "how else are they going to defend themselves against us?" while joining the US in the war against Western Civilization.
Trump risking war with NATO and the entire Europe, which was suposed to be its greatest allie and buying market. The chinese must be hosting daily parties.
You think Harris would have gone to war with red states and kidnapped a president and threatened to invade a NATO ally and sent US citizens to torture prisons in other countries and put tariffs on the entire world (except for Russia) and cut off healthcare and witheld funds for states over personal vendettas and created a masked police force out of the proud boys with carte blanche to murder people and be revealed to have sent mysterious poems to her good friend Epstein and alienated every single ally, you think Harris would have done that?
If the US attacks Greenland which is a part of NATO they can invoke Article 5.
Post is by: s1ngletrashboy and the url/text [ ](https://goo.gl/GP6ppk)is: /r/CryptoMarkets/comments/1qhyzpw/trumpgreenland_escalation_will_btc_dump_first_or/ This is not a politics post — it’s a market scenario analysis for BTC/crypto. Markets price **probability shifts**, not headlines. If Greenland rhetoric escalates (even without invasion), I see 4 paths: **1)** **Pressure/negotiation (most likely)** Volatility spike, defense/oil up. BTC may grind higher as uncertainty hedge. **2) EU sanctions / financial war** Risk-off at first (BTC dumps with everything), then BTC can rebound as “outside asset” if freezes/controls narrative grows. **3) Accident / NATO crisis (low prob, high impact)** Everything sells off hard, liquidity shock. BTC sells first, then could recover faster. **4) Quiet deal / soft takeover** Uncertainty fades → most bullish for risk assets. **What I’m watching:** • US Treasuries (stress) • USD vs gold divergence • EU language (“sanctions”, “asset freezes”) • BTC dominance (fear vs casino) **Question:** which path is most realistic — and what breaks first: stocks, USD system, or BTC? *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/CryptoMarkets) if you have any questions or concerns.*
He's going ro be good for crypto. Did you see BTC go Parabolic against the Iranian Rial? Gonna do the same thing for the USD once Europe and China simultaneously dump US treasuries over Greenland/NATO.
Who has ever won a war by itself....lol? America is NATO and without us, you would already be speaking Russian. So, yeah, USA USA USA 🇺🇸. Cry harder, euro trash.
My argument is more that to avoid a TNT explosion he drops a nuclear bomb. It does not make sense. NATO is more important than what ever is in those files. Also we all already know he is in them.
USA USA who never won a war by itself and always asked Europe's help, the only country who actually had to trigger NATO article 5 for help and now "threatening" to leave it USA USA
You must be dense. Epstein files were in possession of Biden administration for nearly 4 years before Trump took office. If there was something legally incriminating it would have come out. This Greenland thing is something entirely different and not a distraction. I liked Trump but I am not a fanboy. Personally, I dislike this movement to acquire Greenland. I think it’s destructive to our NATO alliance and unnecessary. We already have the ability to build defense bases as is. We risk the bases we already have across Europe for a small gain. The way he goes about it is not ideal.
I am honestly so tired of this argument. What he is doing to greenland and the NATO alliance is far bigger deal than the epstein files.
He’s doing Greenland to dismantle NATO and he’s causing chaos because that’s where oligarchs thrive.
How do some of y'all still believe we are in a bull market, wake up ffs. We have a psychotic demented orange man as the most powerful man on the planet that wants to destroy NATO, and you think the world economy, and more importantly crypto, is gonna thrive on this embarrassing chaos? Not to mention we haven't even gotten back over 100k in over two months now. Have fun living in fantasy land.
How given all the bad national and international news we have cooked up in this that has just been built up all of 2025, including the most recent Greenland and NATO versus the United States statement by our president of basically saying to our allies “I’m going to put a 10% tariff if you don’t agree with me” Even with that absurdity to still be holding 95k is weird af
Agree with that. I told a large amount towards the top and want to repurchase but have a hard time thinking Trump won't do something to make it drop more so Baron can short the market. Plus he takes over more countries or ends NATO that will be a good buy maybe after the dip. Trump is so toxic to everyone and everything. Only cares about his own wealth.
This Greenland thing is nothing. Trump is not going to take it by force. Do you really think NATO is just going to fall apart over a piece of land that is mostly under 1000 feet of ice?
The difference is that NATO will be broken if USA invades Greenland, which would be an absolutely huge deal that we have never seen before. And since he has gone megalomaniac mode and already invaded Venezuela I don't see why he can't do it with Greenland
Or until they attack NATO. Or until all the military is bound in a civil war... This would have sounded like a bad joke 1 year ago. And yet: here we are.
impending dollar default after dissolution of NATO
They wouldn't take it without starting a major war. Unless Trump ends NATO first.
nah btc has to be at least 2M$+ with inflation and BRICS under developement. Also potential europe cutting ties with USA due to greenland thing and leaving NATO by france, italy.
Like the childfucker cares about what judges or court rule. If he wakes up steps on a Lego he's one phone call away from cancelling NATO and sending nukes to Greenland.
You really think that will happen? End of NATO, end of cooperation with US. China and Russia will probably help Europe, not the US. It would be a very stupid move.
The only option would maybe be Cuba, they'd put up slightly more of a fight than Venezuela though. Too much warmongering will undoubtedly start causing sanctions though. Oddly, he's been stepping up the threats against greenland. Attempting to take greenland would be a complete fuckup, since it would mean declaring war on all of NATO. So attempting to occupy greenland would immediately force America to also attempt to occupy Canada (which is just way too big,) and that's all while skirmishing with the entirety of the EUs navy. A surprise WW3 would initially look like it's going in favor of the US, but resources would get spread too thin fairly quickly.
This is like the 5th time I’m responding to this thinking with this copy paste reply in this thread. Not from Russia Last year, according to NATO sources cited by Reuters, Ukrainian attacks reduced the capacity of Russian refineries by 15 percent, forcing the government to impose a ban on gasoline exports in March 2024 to “protect the domestic market.” According to experts interviewed by RFE/RL, this meant that the amount of gasoline produced was only sufficient for domestic consumption –- in 2023, 13 percent of Russian gasoline was exported and the rest was used inside the country. A 14 percent reduction in production capacity made it impossible to sell fuel abroad, and the United States asked Ukraine to stop hitting Russian refineries to avoid a rise in global oil prices. Due to the latest attacks, experts say, Russian authorities have extended the fuel export ban until at least the end of summer 2025. https://www.rferl.org/a/ukraine-strikes-russia-economy-oil/33361997.html
Honestly can’t believe the number of times I need to post this reply to people. Copy and pasted again. Not from Russia Last year, according to NATO sources cited by Reuters, Ukrainian attacks reduced the capacity of Russian refineries by 15 percent, forcing the government to impose a ban on gasoline exports in March 2024 to “protect the domestic market.” According to experts interviewed by RFE/RL, this meant that the amount of gasoline produced was only sufficient for domestic consumption –- in 2023, 13 percent of Russian gasoline was exported and the rest was used inside the country. A 14 percent reduction in production capacity made it impossible to sell fuel abroad, and the United States asked Ukraine to stop hitting Russian refineries to avoid a rise in global oil prices. Due to the latest attacks, experts say, Russian authorities have extended the fuel export ban until at least the end of summer 2025. https://www.rferl.org/a/ukraine-strikes-russia-economy-oil/33361997.html
Not from Russia Last year, according to NATO sources cited by Reuters, Ukrainian attacks reduced the capacity of Russian refineries by 15 percent, forcing the government to impose a ban on gasoline exports in March 2024 to “protect the domestic market.” According to experts interviewed by RFE/RL, this meant that the amount of gasoline produced was only sufficient for domestic consumption –- in 2023, 13 percent of Russian gasoline was exported and the rest was used inside the country. A 14 percent reduction in production capacity made it impossible to sell fuel abroad, and the United States asked Ukraine to stop hitting Russian refineries to avoid a rise in global oil prices. Due to the latest attacks, experts say, Russian authorities have extended the fuel export ban until at least the end of summer 2025. https://www.rferl.org/a/ukraine-strikes-russia-economy-oil/33361997.html
They can’t get oil from Russia. They can’t get oil from Venezuela either now. So that leaves OPEC oil, which is much more expensive then what they were getting it from Russia and Venezuela. Last year, according to NATO sources cited by Reuters, Ukrainian attacks reduced the capacity of Russian refineries by 15 percent, forcing the government to impose a ban on gasoline exports in March 2024 to “protect the domestic market.” According to experts interviewed by RFE/RL, this meant that the amount of gasoline produced was only sufficient for domestic consumption –- in 2023, 13 percent of Russian gasoline was exported and the rest was used inside the country. A 14 percent reduction in production capacity made it impossible to sell fuel abroad, and the United States asked Ukraine to stop hitting Russian refineries to avoid a rise in global oil prices. Due to the latest attacks, experts say, Russian authorities have extended the fuel export ban until at least the end of summer 2025. https://www.rferl.org/a/ukraine-strikes-russia-economy-oil/33361997.html
Last year, according to NATO sources cited by Reuters, Ukrainian attacks reduced the capacity of Russian refineries by 15 percent, forcing the government to impose a ban on gasoline exports in March 2024 to “protect the domestic market.” According to experts interviewed by RFE/RL, this meant that the amount of gasoline produced was only sufficient for domestic consumption –- in 2023, 13 percent of Russian gasoline was exported and the rest was used inside the country. **A 14 percent reduction in production capacity made it impossible to sell fuel abroad, and the United States asked Ukraine to stop hitting Russian refineries to avoid a rise in global oil prices.*^ Due to the latest attacks, experts say, Russian authorities have extended the fuel export ban until at least the end of summer 2025. https://www.rferl.org/a/ukraine-strikes-russia-economy-oil/33361997.html
Do things look more chaotic? Here is what I see happening... This, what we've seen in Venezuela, is US strategic pacing to match the buildup of forces in the South China Sea. China is quickly approaching a demographic cliff, and their window to take control of Taiwan is rapidly closing. If they are going to make a move, the time is sooner rather than later. China can no longer afford to put of this invasion. And, we've seen this sentiment echoed in Chinese military operations, and the pace at which they are conducting these operations, is quickening. Now, the *world* needs to position its self against this conflict in the South China Sea, the *world.* How has it done that? NATO has, for the first time in decades, met spending goals. In 2014 only 3 of 32 member states met the military spending requirement. As of 2014, all but 3 countries have been the requirement, and in June, voted to increase spending from 2% to 5% by 2027. In 2017 and 2025, the two biggest arms sales in history took place, from the US to Saudi Arabia. Israel has been spending similarly for years. Additionally, in 2025, the largest ever arms package from the US to Taiwan was issued amidst heightened regional tensions. And, Japan is rearming rapidly, on pace to become one of the biggest military spenders in the world. NATO/EU holds down Russia in Europe (ever wonder why this war is still going on? That is by design.) Saudi Arabia and Israel hold down Iran. US, Japan, Australia, India, and the First Island Chain take the Pacific theatre. Battle lines are being drawn for this conflict. What does Venezuela have to do with all of this? What we are seeing now, is the US secure central and south American shipping lanes and oil production. China is oil poor, importing almost all of their oil. With Iran, Russia, and now Venezuela locked down, the Western alliance supporting Taiwan can starve China of oil. In March of 2025 BlackRock acquired major Panama Canal port operations from Hong Kong. China no longer controls the Canal. America now controls this shipping lane, the only other source of oil for China outside of Russia and Iran. Additionally, taking Venezuela puts American enemies out of range of American oil refiners. Chinese (and Russian) weapons in Venezuela would be within range of 90% of American oil processing facilities, which are almost all located in the Gulf. Now, this move might look like it takes us closer to a global conflict. That may be true, but that conflict was coming no matter what. The US controlling the entirety of Western hemisphere shipping lanes, and the largest known oil reserve in the world, greatly strengthens the Western position against an aggressive China. It doesn't take us closer to a global conflict centered around Taiwan, but it does better strategically prepare the *world* for that conflict. This is good. If I were the markets, I'd pump too.
I think the only time bitcoin will correct from a war is if US, NATO, or China gets into a conflict directly in their own territory. Otherwise it's just a powerful country bombing a random poor country on a weekend and that's not really disruptive for those not involved.
You're missing the entire point. The US is abandoning it's post WWII strategy of being the defenders of Liberty across the world and has aligned itself with the Monroe doctrine of focusing on controlling our own spheres of influence in the Western Hemisphere. They have basically outlined this in their new national security strategy and have said countless times that Europe needs to fight its own battles. How strong is NATO without the US? The US will not come to the aid of NATO countries if Russia keeps advancing. Eastern European countries like: Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania could be next after Ukraine. Trump and Russia's interests are currently similar - take and conquer lands in your own region. Trump has talked about annexing the Panama Canal, Greenland, and Canada. They want control and occupation of all of the western hemisphere. Venezuela is a test to see what they can get away with. If Trump's stated desire is to invade sovereign nations and abandon NATO and our allies, it's a free for all for everyone else too.
•Valuations are stretched vs history (especially US). When multiples are already high, future returns rely on even higher multiples or perfect earnings delivery, both fragile.  •Market leadership has been unusually narrow (index up, but a smaller set of mega-caps doing most of the work). That’s often a late-cycle feel: great until it isn’t.  •The 2025 narrative was AI + liquidity vibes. If the AI trade slows even slightly (capex fatigue, monetisation lag, regulation, competition), the same “story premium” can compress fast.  •Earnings expectations for 2026 look optimistic, and optimistic expectations are a risk in themselves: if growth comes in merely “good” rather than “great,” downside repricing happens.  •Rate sensitivity still matters. Even if cuts happen, you can get a bad mix like “cuts because growth is rolling over,” which historically isn’t automatically bullish for equities. (Macro regime risk remains.)  • The S&P 500 already had a strong 2025 (mid-teens-ish depending on measure/source). After big back-to-back years, forward returns are statistically harder unless earnings accelerate materially. • Geopolitics & policy risk are materially higher under Trump: his track record points to trade wars, tariff escalation, and erratic foreign policy rather than predictable markets. Renewed tariffs (esp. vs China/EU), threats to NATO commitments, pressure on the Fed, and a willingness to use economic policy as a political weapon all increase policy volatility, inflation risk, and supply-chain disruption. Markets generally struggle when rules change suddenly and institutions are publicly undermined, this is not a backdrop that supports sustained multiple expansion or a smooth bull market into 2026. •people wont like this point but trump being a pro crypto president isn’t really true as he fleeced everyone with trump coin and that only harms the market and novice investors. He also is a moron so it doesn’t matter if he’s pro-anything. Also despite what America-tards think, he’s very clearly backing what is a a GENOCIDE in Palestine which is so obvious to other socially and politically intelligent big Time asset management firms who are usually very risk averse and morally corrupt. Which means there is an uptick and safer reliability in investing in the military complex right now shitty things like bitcoin right now. Which is the narrative I’m also seeing at work.
Sure bro, comparing Venezuela to europe... seems legit. I'm sure Russia will try to invade a continent with nukes and NATO. Truth is no one cares about Venezuela and this has barely impacted the markets.
I mean do you mean its marketcap growth which is 25x higher than it was last bear, dispite nearly every other token going down in growth. Or the fact that it is now the leader if open sourced tech since it has been adoption by the linux foundation with heiro, Or maybe partnerships? with nivida for AI verifiable compute, the us govt, with quantum security for low orbit satalites, araxhax rwa tokenization for 5.4T in daily flow, Neuron/4dsky being adopted by NATO for aircraft/drone surveillance, and about 1000 other govt and enterprise use cases Or do you mean on its tech stack, where it legitimately has unlimited tps, architectural immunity to front running, and is the mathematically highest grade of fault tolerance which is abft? Or do you mean how its shards can be infinitely reconciled even from a private network, making it legitimately the only network capable of hosting privacy required use cases? Im confused on which of these you mean.
RU is engaged in a proxy conflict with a NATO weapon and technology funnel. Maybe search for how much have been drained from the EU and US budgets and arms stockpiles. And, they're winning lol Their economy is doing fine, they are only sanctioned by western countries, and only in some areas. The world's top superpower is their ally, they are even still selling to the EU despite sanctions....
That is great and all but how would a bitcoin replace the properties of these metals? I am working in the defense industry we need both of those elements to manufacture components used for NATO countries. There is 150k of scrap silver in a cardboard box that will soon be recycled.
Not like Ukraine was a part of Russia at one point. I'm sure corruption and talk of joining NATO had nothing to do with it.
That was another USA idiot. Stop dreaming the USA doesn't mean anything for Europe anymore. Betrayed of Ukraine and NATO.
At that time they were home though to illegal server farm operations, which basically means no one will care as long as you don't mess with Russia or the criminal group who runs them. Russia being Russia, also meant that you don't have to worry as much about boots on the ground "extraordinary means" being used against the servers you rent, just the risk of "extraordinary means" cyberattacks against your stuff. Basically, its of no surprise that if you are gonna do something that might piss off NATO nations, or might be ground breaking and you didn't want it to be traced back to you, for you to rent servers in Russia as one of the points you would use. You would also pay in gift cards, LibertyReserve, certain game GP/currency's for these services to remain untraceable. Wow, its actually kind of interesting, its been a long time since I mentioned LibertyReserve and the services they provided as crypto wasn't a thing, and there was a need for anonymous one way financial transactions and how they filled it (till they didn't and got their offices raided and C-suite arrested).
1. You sure about that? Russia is on the verge of collapse, which will leave a power vacuum in Eurasia like nothing we've seen in modern times. This will go one of two ways, 1) Russia collapses, Putin loses control, the Western world calls for war crime trials, demands reoperations, continues to seize Russian state assets, and expands NATO westward. At the same time, China will be looking to expand influence eastward, and we'll get heightened tensions between China, NATO, and the US, as each power clamors to get hold of Russian natural resources and exert influence over the region. Or 2, as Russia begins to collapse, we'll see a dramatic escalation in the current conflict, which, will involve rattling the nuclear saber, again. So to your first point, there is absolutely a world conflict happening right now. And there is no clear resolution. As Russia and Putin continue to weaken, the likely hood of a dramatic escalation increases. It's like a cornered and injured animal, it will lash out. This is not isolated to Ukraine. This conflict, and it's resolution, will 100% involve all major world powers, and no one has any idea how it will shake out. This, is uncertainty. 2. Well, no. But, we should have had higher interest rates over the last few years. The markets have been overheated for years. Pretty much since COVID. The Fed, has propped up this market with low interest, in hope of keeping the rally going. Typically, when the market is hot (which has been for years) we see high interest rates in an attempt to cool the market. Then, when the market turns down, we see interest rates lowered to cushion the landing. Here, we are seeing interest rates lowered to keep the market hot. It is backwards. 3. I am skeptical here, at best. The Employment Situation Summary has been stagnant for months. We haven't seen any real growth since May, and even then, it was insignificant. The jobs market was stagnant through Q3, and we'll not get the November report because the government is shut down. Oh, and by the way, the fucking government is shut down... In summation, we have a significant world conflict on the horizon. It will likely be a soft conflict, but depending on how the Russian collapse unfolds, it could turn hard very quick. We've also got a macroeconomic slingshot pulled *all the way* back right now. The market has been overheated for damn near 5 years, and right now, the Fed is throwing fuel on this fire. All of my non-crypto holdings are in buffered positions right now. Over the next two years, I would not be surprised to the see the SP500 close at a 5 year low. Crypto will do the same.
The tariff war, his stand on China and EU/NATO led to political and economic uncertainty. He is unpredictable and volatile. Nothing came through he promised.
Wake up and take 15 minutes to familiarize yourself with current events. Give you an example from yesterday, Ontario government decided to doctor an old Ronald Reagan speech which led to all US-Canadian trade deals being ended. Heightened tensions between US & India over Russian oil imports, Lithuania (a NATO state) is accusing Russia of violating their airspace, etc…. Plenty of events taking place that have a far larger impact on price action than hopium.
Lol, so nobody is talking about QuStream which is about to get adopted for real with their first client being one of the top UK telco provider. And them successfully wrapping off their PoC with NATO sequel. Not your typical quantum resistant chain larp, but more of encryption key delivery as a service for QKD last mile problem. I don’t wanna type anything further about it as it will start looking too good to be true, but dyor and will be fun to have a convo around it. Some useful links if any techies out here, 🔗 Academic Paper: https://eprint.iacr.org/2024/1145 Proof of Concept on the NATO SEQUEL: 🔗 https://research.oxfordscientifica.com/qustream/qkdvisual.html
I constantly hear how they are winning against NATO. I hate war. I hate this war. It breaks my heart. You can downvote me but I really wanted the Ukraine to hold out
Silver is going to rip hard ass gains once NATO starts their rearmament I believe. A Ballistic Missile has roughly 30 pounds of silver in each one.
Whales preparing for Russia vs NATO war.
Need a good dip today so I can sell my MSTR puts. Rather not hold over the weekend, but things seem to be spicey around the world right now with NATO/Russia tempted to buy even more lol
As a non-American; stop blaming every red day on Trump. AFAIK, he didn't say or do anything this time. I think it's just because the rate cuts didn't really do or went like most people expected. Also (allegedly) Russia non-stop sending drones into NATO territory, sabotaging several European airports, etc.
NATO and Russian jet conflict probably
China lol. Xi yin ping wouldn't do shit if Putin messed up and attacked the NATO. Dude is way to smart. North Koreans are incapable of holding a gun straight why do you think they are cannonfudder in ukraine
Uhm if NATO was actually getting active in this war Russia would melt faster than you can say "Gorbatschow Vodka tastes like testicle"
and you still think Europe/US matters, when is obvious the West is falling. It hurts, but is just as things go. Every country has a period where it shines the brightest, and then go into the shadows. if the entire NATO comes for Russia, China/India/North Korea would follow, in a conventional WW3. NATO army is 3.4 millions. AT MAX. North Korea alone is over 1.7 million. half of that, ALONE. You want to speak about numbers? what if entire US and Europe go to war? (kids, women, elderly and so on) Population wise Europe/US combined is 1.07 Billion. China alone is 1.40 Billion. You just don't understand how much things changed since ww2 to today standards. You got no production line, No materials, no Know-how, is all in Asia/Africa for cheaper costs. But people aren't dumb there, they improved, like all humans do, and now they are on the high ground.
Conventional, meaning non nuclear. Russia would be a skidmark from Kherson to Crimea if 'entire ' NATO got involved. There is no point arguing with you. You have drunk way too much kool-aid.
I like your analysis, but nobody has felt much pain for AI and Covid money printing. While some people are in pain, this isn't it yet. A crypto crash will coincide with equities. I'm laughing at the NPCs whose heads are spinning at the idea Russia might not be losing. Pretty incredible. Even the most hardened Russophobes in Europe know NATO aggression started this and it isn't going well.
What you smoking bruh? Been main-lining a little too much Channel One Russia? 'Entire' NATO would obliterate Russia in a conventional war before you could say beyond-visual-range.
The Entire NATO literally is losing vs Russia, you just need to check war footage (Yes, is gore, but freely available). We have outdated tech, bad economies, and no production line/resources. How much you pay for groceries? fuel?. How many skilled workers you know?. The problem is, the lack of all of them. In a war of attrition (like Russia is famous to do), you will lose. They no need "territories" they can't defend properly. They take you when you are tired. and, it works. There is a reason why the US or Israel attack only the neighbors, or do hit and runs (look at IRAN for example). They know they wiill lose badly. Why Russia don't attack first? Well, why attack and risking major problems, when your enemy is bleeding out?. There is no reason.
Understanding the dollar: Here in the US, the government can objectively no longer function without a deficit. The federal government has run a deficit every year since 2001. The last surplus was in FY 2001. Beyond the debt figure typically used, The Federal Reserve estimates of the latest federal financial report published by the US Department of the Treasury in February finds that federal liabilities, when including obligations from entitlement programs, currently exceed $100 trillion. Unfunded future Medicare obligations account for almost 47 percent of that total. USPS reported a $9.5 billion net loss in fiscal year 2024, following a $6.5 billion loss in FY 2023. Social Security isn’t projected to be able to pay out full benefits in another several years. You’re paying into a Ponzi scheme so don’t count on it for retirement. 2032 to be exact is when benefits are expected to be cut. Interest on the federal debt is projected to surpass 1 trillion dollars by 2026 which is more than half we even bring in via federal income tax revenue and is perpetually rising… The “money” allocated to programs such as federal SNAP program (food stamps) and LIHEAP (Federal utility assistance) has been essentially fabricated out of thin air since 2022 as the federal governments revenue isn’t enough to sustain due to the perpetual deficit (Hence why they’re being cut now). In 2024, the US made up roughly 65% of all NATO members’ defense spending. This doesn’t account for other “allies” subsidized defense spending and the raw foreign aid. Also, this isn’t factoring in the collective current realized and unrealized debt of the state governments and corporations that will inevitably need more bailouts in the future. This is what happens when: A - Congress (a brach of government collective voting on their own term limits, audits, salaries, lobbying regulations, stock trading regulations, etc…) vote in favor of “amending” the constitution to essentially surrender their authority to coin currency to a collection of their “too big to fail” banking donors (The Fed). B - Abandons the gold standard to allow artificial and infinite “money” to be printed and funneled to the top while virtue signaling for votes, funding wars and suppressing the lower classes with taxation and inflation. C - Legalizes the 0% fractional reserve ponzi scheme that allows banks to privatize their gambled earnings while socializing their losses with a “tax dollar funded” safety net. www.wtfhappenedin1971.com —— Understanding Bitcoin: That said, the point is that BTC is essentially an insurance policy against the inevitable failure of your government’s fiat currency, a hedge against inflation and even a bypass for totalitarian monetary controls. For example, I personally knew a guy that would regularly send BTC to his family in Venezuela. No US or Venezuela central authority permitting the transfer necessary. I remember him telling me about how his family would transact with local sellers via BTC to prevent their government from knowing. I’ve even sent BTC to family in the Philippines. I remember reading a similar story about some guy regularly sending BTC to his family in Cuba. Keep in mind, 1 “whole” Bitcoin is completely arbitrary. For example, only 380,000,000 people can possibly hold .05 BTC assuming it’s divided equally and supply is 100% mined. .05 alone will be incredibly significant one day if you’re playing for generational wealth. —— Your question: You should leave it with Cashapp for now until you build a holding that you can no longer afford to lose. When that happens, you need to invest in a Ledger (hardware wallet).
Here in the US, the government can objectively no longer function without a deficit. The federal government has run a deficit every year since 2001. The last surplus was in FY 2001. Beyond the debt figure typically used, The Federal Reserve estimates of the latest federal financial report published by the US Department of the Treasury in February finds that federal liabilities, when including obligations from entitlement programs, currently exceed $100 trillion. Unfunded future Medicare obligations account for almost 47 percent of that total. USPS reported a $9.5 billion net loss in fiscal year 2024, following a $6.5 billion loss in FY 2023. Social Security isn’t projected to be able to pay out full benefits in another several years. You’re paying into a Ponzi scheme so don’t count on it for retirement. 2032 to be exact is when benefits are expected to be cut. Interest on the federal debt is projected to surpass 1 trillion dollars by 2026 which is more than half we even bring in via federal income tax revenue and is perpetually rising… The “money” allocated to programs such as federal SNAP program (food stamps) and LIHEAP (Federal utility assistance) has been essentially fabricated out of thin air since 2022 as the federal governments revenue isn’t enough to sustain due to the perpetual deficit (Hence why they’re being cut now). In 2024, the US made up roughly 65% of all NATO members’ defense spending. This doesn’t account for other “allies” subsidized defense spending and the raw foreign aid. I can easily go on with several more examples off the top of my head… Also, this isn’t factoring in the collective current realized and unrealized debt of the state governments that will inevitably need more bailouts in the future. —— This is what happens when: A - Congress (a brach of government collective voting on their own term limits, audits, salaries, lobbying regulations, stock trading regulations, etc…) vote in favor of “amending” the constitution to essentially surrender their authority to coin currency to a collection of their “too big to fail” banking donors (The Fed). B - Abandons the gold standard to allow artificial and infinite “money” to be printed and funneled to the top while virtue signaling for votes, funding wars and suppressing the lower classes with taxation and inflation. C - Legalizes the 0% fractional reserve ponzi scheme that allows banks to privatize their gambled earnings while socializing their losses with a “tax dollar funded” safety net. www.wtfhappenedin1971.com —— So here’s the thought experiment: If we can afford to subsidize the world, function consistently of a deficit to the point that taxes aren’t even paying for our spending (everything is paid for with unsustainable and perpetual debt) then why even pay taxes at all and why cut anything? If something is a “service”, we have infinite money to afford it and there’s no such thing as a budget deficit to be concerned about? Where’s the line drawn? Why can’t we just collect $1 from everyone as a flat tax and provide universal healthcare? As of now, our realized national debt is about 36% of the global GDP and will keep rising indefinitely. —— That said, the point is that BTC is essentially an insurance policy against the inevitable failure of your government’s fiat currency and even to bypass totalitarian monetary controls. For example, I personally knew a guy that would regularly send BTC to his family in Venezuela. No US or Venezuela central authority permitting the transfer necessary. I remember him telling me about how his family would transact with local sellers via BTC to prevent their government from knowing. I’ve even sent BTC to family in the Philippines.
> America fought for independence and won against the European over lords. Look at the state of the US currently, does that feel like winning to you? The US has no own identity or culture, its all based on European culture and values. >Currently nato and Europe are the cucks literally calling Trump daddy. Currently NATO and Europe realize that the US is not a realiable partner anymore and they are arming up. Not per se against Russia, but they are also disconnecting from the US with a lot of new investments.
You know I hope you’re right but I’m a betting man and I’ll bet that the billionaires win again. And majority of companies in the world depend on the American market. Without the American market many banks and corporations will go bankrupt. Pensions will lose large amounts of wealth because they’re invested in American market and bonds. Plus where do you turn ? Russia ? China ? (They’re the same people lol) If you’re Canadian, nothing you can do, you’re small time fish, If you’re European, you already lost 1/3 of your super power when the uk left the EU. UK is deeply connected to the American market. I don’t think there’s anything that splits the 2. Spain is already talking about leaving NATO. You have all these countries in Europe with their own crisis. The alliance will fracture. Plus if you really push america away maybe they do team up with someone else. If America falls, Europe will fall with it.
Yeah, but given Trumps hostility towards countries on Tariff’s and NATO fees do you really think these countries are going to want to hold their funds in USD backed Stablecoins that Trump can just freeze/take to pay what he perceives as debts? I don’t think that will hold up for very long tbh so I don’t see much of a future for USD backed Stablecoins overseas in the not so distant future.
Ukraine will probably surrender in August or September deeply embarrassing NATO. Soon after the EU will start to break up causing the EUR to tank. The us has it's own problems with the dollar losing reserve status and will be forced to rely on severe tarrifs to control the trade deficit. All the instability will break a lot of banks and financial assets become unsafe - pushing everyone into crypto and Bitcoin specifically as a safe haven.
tldr; A cryptocurrency betting market, Polymarket, is embroiled in debate over whether Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky wore a suit during recent appearances, including at a NATO summit. Zelensky's military-style attire, often chosen to symbolize his role as a wartime leader, has sparked confusion among bettors wagering on his wardrobe. Despite some appearances in formal-looking outfits, the market remains divided on whether these qualify as suits, reflecting the political and symbolic weight of his clothing choices. *This summary is auto generated by a bot and not meant to replace reading the original article. As always, DYOR.
pretty wild real life story for anyone who hasn't been following it. $100m worth of bets on it and multiple creditable sources reported on his NATO meeting appearance saying he was wearing a suit so seems pretty ludicrous that it's been voted as 'no' for the outcome. It's currently in an appeals process so let's see what happens. Definitely feels like a gamestop 2.0 situation
Zelensky, attending the [NATO](https://www.newsweek.com/topic/nato) summit in The Hague earlier this week, looked to choose a military-style yet formal blazer with a buttoned-up black shirt, including for his arrival to a formal dinner hosted by Dutch royalty on Tuesday. He also appeared alongside world leaders in the Netherlands in a black utility-style collared jacket, a noticeable departure from his wardrobe choices prior to his now-infamous and disastrous White House meeting in February. Zelensky chose a similar jacket for a meeting with British Prime Minister [Sir Keir Starmer](https://www.newsweek.com/topic/sir-keir-starmer) in London just ahead of the NATO summit. \--- From what I understand he wore a blazer but not an actual suit.
Meme government. I'd like to say I don't care, but unfortunately the US is a huge part of NATO, so we have to put up and sanewash this shit for 3.5 years more.
Poetin who is going to test the NATO treaty
I know this is Reddit, but your TDS is showing bud, it's preventing you from seeing things objectively. Trump already announced yesterday at NATO that the framework for a trade deal with China is already in place.
well it seems that "daddy" worked for NATO [https://www.politico.com/news/2025/06/25/nato-chief-calls-trump-daddy-00423485](https://www.politico.com/news/2025/06/25/nato-chief-calls-trump-daddy-00423485)
Yeah it's hard to predict what effects a US involvement would have, it is the centre of markets indeed. So let me correct, markets would take a HUGE hit lol. And with crypto being the first asset class to get sold off? Alts would get nuked probably. So let's hope there won't be a "direct" US involvement, just like with russia-ukraine and the whole of NATO
Stop watching the news. Seriously. This has been going on forever and it's always the same saber rattling and posturing -- empty threats without substance. The reality is both sides are two scared of all-out nuclear conflict, so they'd never take it that far. Didn't happen during the cold war, so it's unlikely it happens now. Assuming Iran really doesn't have nukes, could Israel get the US into a war with Iran? Maybe, but I don't think Russia or China would get involved. Case in point, Russia did nothing after the collapse of the Assad regime and Syria, so it's likely they'd do nothing here, as well. Iran would be defenseless against a joint strike by NATO and Israel. The S&P 500 (and Bitcoin) would probably dip initially like in the First and Second Gulf Wars, but it'd likely recover relatively quickly as Iran's military infrastructure gets neutered. Wars are inherently inflationary, so I wouldn't even be surprised the ensuring money printing would help Bitcoin's network effect over the long term: as price inflation erodes consumers' standard of living, Bitcoin increasingly presents itself as a viable savings vehicle.
Rules of engagement don't mean shit - it's just another way of making a non-credible threat. They're not going to attack any NATO ally when they're this weak.
Correct. Europe is committing economic suicide over Ukraine and its obsession with joining NATO. It used to have access to the cheapest energy market on earth and enjoyed 30 years of economic expansion because of it. Its absolute madness.
QST is a Layer 1 blockchain focused on quantum-safe encryption, with claims of a patented algorithm by Adrian, who has received a NATO security award. However, there is no verified public record confirming Adrian's NATO award or the patent. The project appears to be a standard blockchain with a focus on quantum security, but its claims should be scrutinized further for legitimacy. * [Photos - Incirlik Air Base](https://www.incirlik.af.mil/News/Photos/igpage/3/igcategory/Leadership/igsort/PhotoDate/?igtag=39th%20ABW%20CC) * [NRFC News Archive - NATO's ACT](https://www.act.nato.int/opportunities/national-reserve-forces-committee-nrfc/nrfc-news-archive/) ^(This is a bot made by [Critique AI](https://critique-labs.ai). If you want vetted information like this on all content you browse, [download our extension](https://critiquebrowser.app).)
How much out of a vending machine? I live in an epicenter of expensive places to live in the USA, and you can't compare our nations because just Texas could fit a dozen Switzerlands. I actually love lots about your country and admire everything from your jails to the general pride you take in running an orderly nation, but it's a ridiculous comparison. There's also a lot of sketchy stuff you guys do which explains why most sales of antiquities from auction houses-even those based in the USA like Heritage auctions go through CHF. Kinda gaming the system. Like enjoying most NATO benefits without spending a dime. Warehousing billions in fine art because you allow everyone to dodge taxes. Good for you I guess. Except for the fact the hottest places in hell are reserved for those who remain neutral in times of great moral crisis.
Does it seem ridiculous to anyone else that people are talking about the value of the USD in light of the current chaos?! Even WITH this nonsense, we pulled out of a nosedive and are steadily climbing despite the fact that nothing really has changed. I'm not a fan of the politics, but it could very well be the wakeup call we needed. Out of curiosity, do those who live in other countries notice that like 75% of people you know buy absolutely useless crap from "dollar stores" & Chinese trash sites like Temu and Shein? I mean, a few years ago only like 3 of the NATO countries paid their bill. This year it was like 20/32,but it bugs me to see people piss on our economy while depending on us like little chickies under mama's wing.
It's already war, you think Ukraine Russia war has nothing to do with the dominance of the dollar ? It's just another proxy war setup leveraging NATO as a threat. Biden and Kamala basically instigated this with all the talk about Ukraine joining NATO, why? Control and dollar dominance
there were rumors when the invasion started back 3 years ago that Ukraine will be NATO playground for modern warfare tactics and when it's destroyed and the people are desperate, they will use ISO20022 cryptos like xlm to rebuild that society and push it towards prosperity. I guess it wasn't so far off the truth.
80% of crypto related articles are either bullshit or misleading from the real facts More likely, banning third-party exchanges and only allowing regulated ones that can be KYC and registered. Even if true, it's France, this is also a founding member of NATO yet dependent on Russian energy. Not the brightest leaders, otherwise ridiculously corrupt.
That's rich the original slave drivers calling us the slave drivers. 400 years is your history. You seem to not know how things are run. It's no secret allies are freeloading on American military while spending on their economy what they should have spent on military. What do you think NATO is. Those are sovereign militaries, not some rag tag convention restricted defense force. https://www.cato.org/blog/america-has-dependents-not-allies
What if Herman Johann Xennt created Bitcoin after his Cyberbunker 1.0 burned down, as some side hobby. this guy is an IT genius and should be capable of doing this. Is deep in privacy culture and anti establishment. Then around 2011 he “started to do other things” a.k.a. thinking on continuing CyberBunker 2.0. Where at around 2013 he bought a NATO Bunker in Traben-Trarbach in Germany at around 2013 and brought that clandestine operation in full effect. Hosting numerous bad actor and dark web websites like Silkroad and WallSt Market. All supporting and receiving payments in BTC. Due to this operation he may not have needed his initial (cold) wallet as he had a hot wallet from his operations. And in September 2019 he was ambushed and arrested in the same town the bunker resides in. He would know better not to expose himself as Satoshi as it would break what he believes in.. Could I be on to something? Check out the CyberBunker documentary on Netflix and let it fuel your thoughts…
>Putin has shown that he is a fanatic and will not change course no matter the cost to his country Your post is pure fantasy. Watch any of Putin's speeches or interviews—he doesn't come across as fanatical in the slightest. In fact, he often appears far more composed and intelligent than most Western puppet politicians. If you believe he’s a “nut,” then post a single interview or speech that supports that claim. Ukraine is run by a puppet regime. The 2014 Maidan uprising was a US-backed coup, and the tragic result has been the deaths of over a million Ukrainians. Russia has made it clear it doesn’t want NATO or the US right on its doorstep—just as the US wouldn’t tolerate Russian military bases in Cuba or Mexico. This kind of tone-deaf narrative won’t change the geopolitical reality: Russia spans the largest landmass on Earth and is rich in natural resources. That’s not going to change because of Western propaganda.
Cant wait what that HBO (Head of Burger Office) will say today. Yesterday Japan was in NATO and nobody knows Japan as good as him.
Its not just about this redneck conman behaviour he and his goons have. Every day he say some extremely dumb shit. Every. Single. Day. Like basic knowledge he should have as US president. Today he was blabling something about NATO and in same sentence he mentioned that Japan will not defend US that it is in some contract. He basically showed that he has no clue Japan is not member of NATO and I doubt he would put 5 NATO countries together. Thats how dumb he is. Tesler. Its all computer.
You continue to believe in a "just" global settlement system. And without a global government coercion and/or backed by physical force (which the USA/NATO has been defacto for +70 years), there is no means to enforce honoring of "just" contractual settlements. Just ask Putin about this for the last 4 years. And the USA's new isolationist foreign policy approach just broke the +70 years global system of trust . So, the global financial economy has just pushed off the trust cliff with Trump's economically ignorant sweeping tariffs. It's not at terminal velocity, yet. But you can see it from here.
In the space of 80 days he has: - destroyed generational alliances with dozens of friendly countries and the USA's standing on the world stage - destabilized NATO - backstabber Ukraine to the betterment of Russia (without being able to broker his "peace deal in the first day of office"!) - dumped world stockmarkets by Trillions and Trillions, trashing people's investments and retirement savings - collapsed the USD and its position as the world's reserve currency - created massive ongoing uncertainty for any US businesses importing anything from raw materials to finished products... because they don't know what he'll say in his next "tweet"! Only about 1400 days to go. How much more damage can he do in the name of "make America great again"?
I can't believe Americans are not rioting everywhere. This guy threatened to invade NATO allies aka implying there might be a new world war (Greenland, Canada, Panama etc...), he fired thousands of government workers including park rangers keep national parks a safer and cleaner place, he hired richest man in the world who is constantly on ketamine and is probably a Nazi to ransack their social security with his 19 year old edgelord buddies, he is sending random latino people with completely normal tattoos without any due process to toughest El Salvadorian prison filled with 50+ people per cell, he is for no reason crashing all markets by literally waging trade war against the whole world except Russia and North Korea, threatening and pulling into action tarrifs of 50-100% which will make US consumer's prices of imported good like 100-150% higher in just few weeks. Like how are all these insane things in few weeks not a reason for them to riot?
What is an overreaction? I do not think it is an overreaction at all for stock market to go -10+% in 2 days for a guy that is just implementing craziest tariffs on everyone. Not to mention not-at-all subtly implying potential invasion of territories of NATO ''allies''.
Their military budget relative to their GDP expenses is nonexistent. That’s where NATO comes in. They’ve been relying on the protection of NATO rather than spending on their own defense. If the golden age for EU is upon them because they’re actually going to use more of their GDP for defense, then good! It’s about time.
NATO is designed to keep Germany de-militarized. You're not much of a student of history, are you?
It’s down actually, like your odds of speaking whatever language you currently do should we pull out of NATO 😂😂😂
I still have no idea how Americans are not mass protesting all this crazy shit happening right now, at least in big densely populated cities. These crazies are constantly implying invasion of NATO allies, guess Americans living comfy lives won't care until nuke drops on their territory.
If we had 100% transparency in US administrations and NATO, I think you change your mind quickly. None of them are perfect, but it’s about choosing the least smelly turd.
- **Normalization Push (G7 and beyond):** As discussed, Trump’s repeated call to invite Russia back to the G7 ([Trump says Russia should be at G7 meeting, Moscow not so sure | Reuters](https://www.reuters.com/article/world/trump-says-russia-should-be-at-g7-meeting-moscow-not-so-sure-idUSKCN1J41O4/#:~:text=,told%20reporters%20before%20leaving%20Washington)) is not mentioned by Brookings. This was a glaring divergence from the official stance that Russia was ostracized until it changed course. Also, Trump’s general approach to international forums often seemed to advocate for Russia: he would note Russia was “out there doing things” and should be in the room for big issues (even though it was Russia’s aggression that got it kicked out). - **Undermining Alliances and Ukraine:** Brookings doesn’t mention Trump’s **open skepticism of NATO’s Article 5** (until pressured to clarify) or his **denigration of smaller allies** (e.g., in 2018 he questioned defending Montenegro, calling Montenegrins “very aggressive” and saying their NATO membership could cause World War III). Such comments delighted Moscow, which aims to erode NATO’s credibility. And of course, the **Ukraine aid freeze** and attempt to conscript Ukraine into a U.S. domestic political scheme is entirely absent from Brookings’ straightforward list of “actions,” yet it’s arguably the single most important event relative to Trump’s true orientation on Russia vs. Ukraine. It showed Trump was willing to sacrifice Ukraine’s security (which directly serves Russia’s war aims) for personal benefit ([White House acknowledges strings attached in Trump withholding Ukraine aid | Reuters](https://www.reuters.com/article/world/white-house-acknowledges-strings-attached-in-trump-withholding-ukraine-aid-idUSKBN1WW1C8/#:~:text=WASHINGTON%20%28Reuters%29%20,House%20acknowledged%20such%20a%20connection)) ([White House acknowledges strings attached in Trump withholding Ukraine aid | Reuters](https://www.reuters.com/article/world/white-house-acknowledges-strings-attached-in-trump-withholding-ukraine-aid-idUSKBN1WW1C8/#:~:text=In%20a%20July%2025%20call%2C,determined%20was%20done%20by%20Russia)). The Brookings format can’t capture that because it wasn’t a declared “policy action” but a secret one (until exposed). But historically, it looms large. - **No Mention of Trump’s Personal/Financial interests:** While Brookings focuses on policy, it omits any discussion of potential motives or conflicts – for instance, Trump’s longstanding efforts to do business in Russia (like the pursuit of a Trump Tower Moscow during the campaign) or his campaign’s interactions with Russians (which, while beyond policy, color his approach). These aren’t policy decisions, but they form part of why many view Trump as “broadly pro-Russian.” Brookings steers clear of that, which is understandable in a timeline of official actions, but it means the reader doesn’t see the backdrop that made Trump’s stance so suspect to many in Washington. Given these omissions, we should evaluate **the overall framing of the Brookings article**. Does it provide an accurate, comprehensive portrayal of the administration’s Russia policy, or is it distorted? Brookings clearly set out to document **“policy actions, rather than rhetoric”** ([On the record: The U.S. administration’s actions on Russia](https://www.brookings.edu/articles/on-the-record-the-u-s-administrations-actions-on-russia/#:~:text=The%20Trump%20administration%E2%80%99s%20policy%20actions,Russia%20from%202017%20to%202019)), explicitly separating Trump’s words from deeds. In that respect, they did catalog the vast majority of concrete steps the U.S. took to counter Russia under Trump. The list is factually accurate as far as it goes – each entry did occur and can be verified. For a reader who only sees official outcomes, the article demonstrates that **the U.S. government did not turn pro-Russian in policy; it often intensified anti-Russian measures.** This is an important corrective to any notion that “Trump did nothing” or “gave Russia everything it wanted.” Clearly, he did not give them Ukraine, he did not lift sanctions (in fact he signed more into law), he did not recognize Crimea, and he did (eventually) arm Ukraine – all things a truly pro-Putin president might have done or tried to do more overtly. However, **Brookings’ framing can be misleading by omission of context and motive.** By excluding Trump’s rhetoric and the behind-the-scenes resistance he often showed, the article might leave an uninformed reader with an impression that Trump was staunchly leading a charge against Russia. In reality, many of these actions were **initiated by Congress, allies, or by Trump’s officials often *despite* Trump’s personal ambivalence**. The article doesn’t delve into, for example, Congress forcing CAATSA or Trump’s tantrum over the expulsions. It presents the administration as a monolithic actor. The truth is more nuanced: it was a tale of two tracks – the administration minus Trump, and Trump himself. As one witness put it to Congress, **“if you look at what the administration has done, it’s a pretty traditional deterrent strategy…not unlike what a Hillary Clinton administration might have done – but the profound difference is it matters what the president says” ([Reality vs. Rhetoric: Assessing the Trump Administration’s Russia Policy | Congress.gov | Library of Congress](https://www.congress.gov/event/115th-congress/joint-event/LC58584/text#:~:text=In%20addition%20to%20that%2C%20the,going%20all%20the%20way%20back)) ([Reality vs. Rhetoric: Assessing the Trump Administration’s Russia Policy | Congress.gov | Library of Congress](https://www.congress.gov/event/115th-congress/joint-event/LC58584/text#:~:text=about,matter%20what%20the%20president%20says)).** Trump’s mixed signals *mattered* – they undercut the deterrent value of some actions and shook allies’ trust. In some ways, Brookings’ compilation reads almost like a defense used by Trump’s supporters: “look at all the things he’s done to punish Russia.” Indeed, Republicans during impeachment hearings pointed to lethal aid to Ukraine and sanctions as evidence Trump was actually tough on Russia (even as Democrats retorted that those were done by Congress or over Trump’s objections) ([Trump Resisted Giving Lethal Military Aid to Ukraine, Countering Key Line of Republicans' Impeachment Defense](https://foreignpolicy.com/2019/11/15/trump-resisted-ukraine-sale-javelin-antitank-missile/#:~:text=Trump%20is%20accused%20by%20Democrats,%E2%80%9D)) ([Trump Resisted Giving Lethal Military Aid to Ukraine, Countering Key Line of Republicans' Impeachment Defense](https://foreignpolicy.com/2019/11/15/trump-resisted-ukraine-sale-javelin-antitank-missile/#:~:text=But%20details%20of%20Trump%E2%80%99s%20reluctance,military%20aid%20for%20political%20gain)). The Brookings authors (Polyakova and Letsas) likely intended to set the record straight that U.S. policy did move in a hardline direction, which is true. But without acknowledging **the crucial role of Congress, allied pressure, and Trump’s own attempts to undermine some policies**, the piece can come off as one-sided. For instance, Brookings lists the CAATSA signing in black and white but doesn’t mention the veto-proof vote forcing it ([New sanctions on Russia are not enough](https://www.brookings.edu/articles/new-sanctions-on-russia-are-not-enough/#:~:text=Last%20summer%2C%20the%20U,On%20that%20same%20day%2C%20the)). It lists sanctions implemented, but not the times the administration declined to impose sanctions or delayed them (e.g., the initial CAATSA delay, or the failure to act on the DETER Act after 2018). It lists the massive expulsion but not that Trump had to be dragged into it kicking and screaming ([Trump Wanted to Expel Fewer Russian Diplomats, Did Not Want US to Lead - Business Insider](https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-wanted-to-expel-fewer-russian-diplomats-2018-4#:~:text=his%20daughter%20in%20the%20UK)) ([Trump Wanted to Expel Fewer Russian Diplomats, Did Not Want US to Lead - Business Insider](https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-wanted-to-expel-fewer-russian-diplomats-2018-4#:~:text=The%20president%20was%20furious%20that,and%20feeling%20of%20being%20misled)). It lists summits without noting Trump often used them to cajole or praise Putin. To Brookings’ credit, the introduction (not shown in our excerpts) likely alludes to the rhetoric/policy divergence. They explicitly say Trump’s policy actions “seemed at odds” with his rhetoric ([On the record: The U.S. administration’s actions on Russia](https://www.brookings.edu/articles/on-the-record-the-u-s-administrations-actions-on-russia/#:~:text=The%20Trump%20administration%E2%80%99s%20policy%20actions,Russia%20from%202017%20to%202019)). So the authors are aware, but they chose to stick strictly to the action timeline. That has value as a reference, but it **de-emphasizes how policy is made and executed**. Policy is not just a checklist; it’s also how strongly and coherently those measures are pushed. It was frequently noted that **Trump implemented many of these actions quietly, without fanfare, precisely so they wouldn’t derail his personal outreach to Putin ([Trump Wanted to Expel Fewer Russian Diplomats, Did Not Want US to Lead - Business Insider](https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-wanted-to-expel-fewer-russian-diplomats-2018-4#:~:text=diplomats%20to%20be%20expelled%20from,approach%20toward%20the%20Russian%20government))**. For example, when new Russia sanctions were placed, Trump almost never personally announced them – it was usually Treasury or State via press release. The White House rarely held briefings touting them (contrast with how the White House loudly advertised sanctions on Iran or North Korea). In fact, by 2020, reports surfaced that Trump *forbade* aides from even *mentioning* Russian interference in his presence and downplayed any Russia-related threats in strategy documents.