<
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/jan/11/greenland-venezuela-ukraine-donald-trump-lies-europe>
"Donald Trump made 30,573 “false or misleading” claims during his first term,
according to calculations published in 2021 by the
Washington Post. That’s
roughly 21 fibs a day. Second time around, he’s still hard at it, lying to
Americans and the world on a daily basis. Trump’s disregard for truth and
honesty in public life – seen again in his despicable response to the fatal
shooting in Minneapolis – is dangerously immoral.
Trump declared last week that the only constraint on his power is “my own
morality, my own mind”. That explains a lot. His idea of right and wrong is
wholly subjective. He is his own ethical and legal adviser, his own priest and
confessor. He is a church of one. Trump lies to himself as well as everyone
else. And the resulting damage is pernicious. It costs lives, harms democracy
and destroys trust between nations.
Like US voters, foreign leaders have grown accustomed to the president’s
chronic mendacity. But the price for indulging it, for not calling it out, for
not taking a stand rises exponentially as his behaviour becomes more
dictatorial and erratic. Trump’s lies and deceptions are a common aggravating
factor in three intractable present-day international crises.
He falsely claims, for example, that Chinese and Russian warships are “all over
the place” in Greenland, necessitating a US takeover. Ahoy there! What ships?
asks Denmark’s foreign minister, Lars Løkke Rasmussen – who, unlike
Washington’s empire-builder, has first-hand knowledge of the self-governing
island. Greenlanders dismiss Trump’s comments as nonsense.
Denmark points out it spends billions in Greenland and that a supposed flood of
Chinese investment is another White House whopper. Polls show Greenlanders
oppose annexation or sale to Trump. They prefer independence, which the US,
celebrating 250 years since it rusticated King George III, might be expected to
understand. Trump says he wants to secure Greenland. In truth, he wants to
secure its mineral riches – and make America bigger again."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
