The Times They Are A-Changin’; Hate and War the US Way

 

 

“Yankee dollar talk to the dictators of the world In fact, it’s giving orders, and they can’t afford to miss a word”

 

 

Following-on from “Hate and War” which considered the ongoing culture war in the UK, we look to Trump’s US who, typically, do it bigger and better, or worse depending on your viewpoint.

 

As Trump’s vagabond team continue to export their authoritarian fascism around the globe, Europe’s democracies and their hated EU are prime targets, resulting in anti-US, or, more accurately, anti-Trump sentiment.

A survey published on Wednesday by the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR), showed that only 11% of respondents viewed the US as an ally “sharing our interests and values”. ⁽¹⁾

In addition, the Iran war is becoming an ongoing humiliation, appearing to be ill-conceived, based on confused objectives, with bad planning and misplaced assumptions.

 

‘Trump’s vagabond team continue to export their authoritarian fascism around the globe’

 

The overarching reason given for the war was that Iran must never have a nuclear weapon. Clearly, Trump had forgotten that Iran had agreed to this in the deal signed in 2015 from which Trump withdrew during his first term. There is also the fact that, after the US attacks in June 2025, Trump told everyone that Iran’s ability to create nuclear weapons had been completely and totally obliterated.

Besides Europe, other countries are reappraising their geopolitical relationship with the US, including a number of Gulf who are questioning whether the existence of US bases brings the security required for their economies to diversify.

Whilst Trump appears confused by many things, one of his biggest failings is underestimating one of liberal democracy’s defining strength; the resilience it is afforded by pluralism and institutional acceptance of legitimate opposition.

 

‘the Iran war is becoming an ongoing humiliation’

 

In Trump’s eyes this explains why Europe is a decrepit civilisation in the death throes of cultural suicide caused by immigration and liberal degeneracy.

Trump, like all authoritarian strongman, sees no difference between his will and the nation’s destiny. Dissent as an assault on his authority, loyalty is preferred to the truth, and reality is whatever he wills it to be.

It isn’t only Europeans who distrust him, a recent YouGov survey of US voters showed 71% of independents disapprove of his handling of the job.

His current net job approval is at around -26, the lowest seen across either of Trump’s terms in office.

 

Trump’s polling averages as of June 2:

 

• New York Times: 38% approve, 58% disapprove
• Silver Bulletin: 38.4% approve, 57.8% disapprove
• RealClearPolitics Poll Average: 40.1% approve, 57.2% disapprove

 

Source: https://eu.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2026/06/02/trump-latest-approval-rating-poll/90376663007/

 

Turning to the economy, a poll by Fox News poll, found that only 29% of Americans approve of Trump’s handling, while 71% disapprove. Proving that love is blind, 60% of Republicans still approve.

There is, however, a schism, between white rural and non-rural Republican voters; only 32% of rural whites approving of Trump’s handling of the economy, with 68% disapproving.

This importance of this, is that, in 2024, whilst Trump only won the popular vote by 1.5 percentage point margin, he won rural areas by 30-points.

Their dissatisfaction centres around Trump’s trade war, which has hit farmers especially hard due to their dependence on imports such as farm machinery, chemicals and fertilizer.

There is also the loss of foreign markets to rival agricultural exporters such as Brazil.

 

‘Trumps policies led to a 46% increase in farm bankruptcies’

 

In 2025 Trumps policies led to a 46% increase in farm bankruptcies, a figure that is likely to increase due to the Iran war adding.

Whilst Trump’s original tariffs were outlawed by the supreme court in February, the administration is now proposing a new round on the grounds of forced labour.

The US trade representative, Jamieson Greer, said: “The failure of our most important trading partners to address the importation of goods made with forced labor is unacceptable. This creates a dynamic where American workers are forced to compete globally on an unlevel playing field. We will no longer tolerate this disparity.”

It is expected that the EU, Canada, Mexico, Taiwan and the UK will face 10% tariffs, with 12.5% levies imposed on China, Japan, India, South Korea, Brazil and Switzerland. There is also the threat of a 25% levy on Brazil.

 

‘the S&P 493, are falling’

 

For every loser there is a winner, although, in this case, they are concentrated at the top.

Trump’s tech bros continue to benefit, with the Magnificent-7 revenues rising whilst profits for the rest, the S&P 493, are falling, and there is no signs of AI boosting revenues or profits outside the 7.

Energy costs and sources have become a hot topic for voters due to the impact of the Iran war.

Fossil fuel interests were and still are key Trump supporters and donors. Leading the list are the Koch Brothers, who are being rewarded for their loyalty by Trump’s anti-renewable, pro-fossil fuel policy.

Ironically, this comes at a time when the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s estimates for utility capacity additions show that renewables are the most cost-effective way to generate electricity, whereas coal is completely unviable.

Defence is a similar story, the administrations defence budget request for 2027 requests to Congress is for $1.45trn, the main beneficiaries of this will be the big defence contractors. Interestingly, what we are seeing in the Ukraine war, highlights how their products are becoming obsolete. A $4 million Patriot missiles, that take years to build, are being used to shoot down by $35,000 Shahed drones that can be manufactured in months.

 

‘This might, however, have passed Trump by, as he appears to have trouble staying awake’

 

This might, however, have passed Trump by, as he appears to have trouble staying awake.

During a testimony to the House of Representatives by Secretary of State Rubio, Representative Ted Lieu (D-CA) played a video of Trump sleeping in two Cabinet meetings as Rubio was talking, and asked how the president could make good decisions about war if he couldn’t stay awake even during public events.

Lieu accused Rubio of lying to Congress , after he insisted he had never seen Trump asleep in a meeting, even though the videos showed the president sleeping in a chair directly beside him..

Another feature of the Trump regime, is the continued oppression of immigrants, with the New York Times recently publishing an article with the headline, “Trump squeezes immigrants by cutting them off from jobs, health care and housing.”

According to the Times, Stephen Miller, Trump’s immigration czar, “has asked White House officials to work with federal agencies to make sure they are using regulations against immigrants throughout the areas of American life they oversee.”

This policy includes people born there, including American-born children, with “Federal officials are planning regulatory changes to prevent American-born children from receiving federal day care subsidies if one or more of their parents are not citizens.”

For clarity, for children born in the US this is a birthright.

Beyond trying to make daily life for immigrants impossible, the Trump administration is trying to terrorize them into leaving.

ICE are also actively making life as unpleasant as possible for detainees, with a guard saying: “It’s part of my job. I have to make your life miserable so that you request your own deportation.”

 

“It’s part of my job. I have to make your life miserable so that you request your own deportation.”

 

This is clearly working, as March Census estimates show falling net immigration across metro areas. This, however, isn’t leading to the promised boom in jobs for native-born Americans; data shows that the employment rate for native-born adults falling from 59.6% in 2024 to 58.2% year-to-date.

It would appear that Trump’s immigration policies have gone too far, with supporters turning against them.

A Gallup poll shows 78% of adults believe that people who immigrated illegally should have the opportunity of citizenship, and 85% support offering that chance to children brought in illegally by their parents.

Not content with openly enforcing white supremacy at home, they continue to export their hate-filled politics.

Their main propaganda tool is social media, which strengthens the case for enforceable oversight to regulate it.

Nick Clegg, the former UK deputy PM, and former head of global affairs at Meta said, Silicon Valley companies including Meta, have decided to embrace Maga politics, some for “rather more self-interested” reasons,.

Chief agitator is rent-a-post Musk, who, this week, used his own “X” own account to share images of the knife attack in Belfast, amplifying far-right messaging about it.

The ensuing violence was so bad that that families were forced families to flee their homes.

 

‘Chief agitator is rent-a-post Musk, who, this week, used his own “X” own account to share images of the knife attack in Belfast’

 

Naomi Long, NI’s justice minister, said: “What distresses and disturbs me is there are those that prior to yesterday would have struggled to find Belfast on a map, who are online, who are sharing incitement and encouragement for people and weaponising the fear that people genuinely have about what happened to try and turn this into some kind of anti-immigration issue or a racist protest.”

Our own white supremacist, Tommy Robinson, along with other right-wing agitators, blogged about how this was all connected, with immigrants and refugees taking houses, imposing alien customs and committing crimes while the police did nothing, thus requiring community action.

 

‘if the clock was turned back to 1940 would Trump’s US have stood alongside us or Nazi Germany?’

 

Robinson then included a list of protest locations posted by, accompanied by a caption describing the attack as “yet another invader attack on our people”. Later, he claimed that they are “not my protests” and said he was “merely passing on information”.

Elsewhere, Pete Hegseth, the US defence secretary, used his D-day commemoration address to criticise Europe, saying: “Sadly, today, different European beaches are stormed by different, dangerous ideologies. Beaches in Spain, Italy, Greece and Bulgaria, boats and men arrive.”

Which makes me wonder, if the clock was turned back to 1940 would Trump’s US have stood alongside us or Nazi Germany?

 

 

“You got swastika eyes” ⁽³⁾

 

 

Notes:

1. The survey was based on polling carried out in May in Austria, Bulgaria, Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the UK.

 

This was planned as a review of where Trump’s America is, or perhaps isn’t. It ended up being a follow-up to “Hate and War,” as we become more and more influenced by their white supremacist culture wars.

I rarely believe we can learn anything worthwhile from the US, and this is especially true of the current iteration. However, this should serve as the perfect warning of what a hard-right government would mean for the UK.

Putting aside, prosecuting overseas wars, which we clearly don’t have the capacity for, our far-right politicians are “mini-me” Trump’s.

For all those feeling disadvantaged, left-behind, and struggling with the cost-of-living, as Trump proves, these charlatans will only make it worse.

Much is being made of the riots in Southampton, and, this week, in Belfast.

Firstly, in the case of Belfast, riots are nothing new.

That aside, these are encouraged and organised by right-wing politicians and agitators sewing the seeds of discontent to further their racist agenda. In the main, rioters are the usual rent-a-mob, who, if tickets were cheaper, would be in the US supporting Engerrrlaaannd!

Turning to the World Cup, I have never looked forward to one less. I fear it will become the footballing equivalent of the 1936, Nazi-inspired, Berlin Olympics.

Lyrically, we start with  I’m So Bored With the USA” by The Clash, and end with “Swastika Eyes” by Primal Scream.

Read it and weep!

Philip.

 

@coldwarsteve

 

 

Philip Gilbert is a city-based corporate financier, and former investment banker.

Philip is a great believer in meritocracy, and in the belief that if you want something enough you can make it happen. These beliefs were formed in his formative years, of the late 1970s and 80s

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