If we thought the 30,000 plus lies uttered by President Trump in his first term would be hard to beat, the President is outdoing that pace bigly.
His recent address to Congress showed how he is picking up the pace with such a blitz of falsehoods that it has kept fact checkers working overtime.
Although the choice of which lies to address is challenging as there are so many to choose from, foreign policy is an appropriate initial consideration in light of some notable action in that arena.
What has become obvious in foreign policy is that Trump’s buddy/buddy relationship with Putin is going to play a huge role in transforming this country on the international stage.
Baldfaced lies such as Ukraine starting the war with Russia or falsely calling Ukrainian President Zelensky a dictator while not agreeing to the same label for Putin are startling. These lies are upsetting not just to those that are aware of facts but to our alliance with Europe under NATO.
Some may think - who cares about Europe or Ukraine for that matter? They have been freeloading on the US for defense purposes for decades.
These folks may even believe Trump’s lie about the amount of money spent on military, financial, and humanitarian aid to Ukraine. Trump stated that the US has spent $350 billion and the Europeans less than $100 billion in support of Ukraine.
There are multiple calculations regarding the actual amounts but none come close to what Trump is saying. The Kiel Institute (a German Research Institute) calculates the Europeans have spent 49.5% ($138.7bn), the US 42.7% ($119.7bn), and other countries 7.8% of the total outlay.
But what about the freeloading? It is important to remember that we have bases in Europe and the alliance with European nations to defend us - not just Europe. In exchange, per Article 5 of our NATO agreement, the European allies will come to our aid if attacked just as the US agrees to do likewise. The only time that Article 5 was enacted was after the US was attacked on 9/11.
The European allies sent troops to Afghanistan to help the US. When we consider the war casualties in Afghanistan, the US lives lost is the equivalent of 7.96 deaths per million of our population.
For Denmark in this war, it was 7.82 deaths per million of their population. For the UK, it is 7.25 and for Estonia, it is 6.92. 31 countries responded to help the US and suffered casualties and expenses in the war in Afghanistan. It is hard to consider that to be the action of freeloaders.
Fracturing the alliance with Europe (and Canada) does not bode well for nuclear proliferation concerns.
If the US essentially pulls its nuclear umbrella from its allies, those countries are backed into having to develop or increase their nuclear stockpiles.
The only European countries with nukes are the UK and France with a total number deployed of 400. The US has deployed 1,770. With the US seemingly not on their side, the Europeans will look at adding to their nuclear deterrent potential. We already know that these weapons are on a hair trigger with lots of room for error and miscalculation.
Another aspect of foreign policy we see unfolding is a 19th century style bullying approach.
We now get to consider Canada and Mexico as countries that are taking advantage of us in trade plus allowing illegal immigration and fentanyl into the US. According to Trump, they therefore should be subject to tariffs and in Canada’s case, be absorbed into the US.
It is typical for Trump to state that these countries are taking advantage of us - per the USMCA trade deal he developed with them. Trump is showing how he is quite the “dealmaker” to now say the US is being taken advantage of.
Additionally, Canada is nowhere near a major source of illegal immigration or fentanyl. Trump apparently feels by bullying our 2nd largest trading partner with tariffs (maybe adding in the loss of shared security), they will acquiesce to becoming part of the US. Dream on! Reports from Canada show such a degree of outrage that Canadian patriotism is burgeoning like never before.
Let’s add to the list that, per Trump, we want to take back full control of the Panama Canal, buy (or take over) Greenland, take control of Gaza and establish a Riviera like resort, plus change the name of the Gulf of Mexico.
Trump clearly demonstrates his idea of free speech by ostracizing any organization (the Associated Press in this case) which does not go along with his name change.
Foreign policy related priorities coming out of this administration include gutting and eliminating government departments’ funding and programs that will hamper US international strength and leadership.
To add insult to injury, the civil service workers that are being fired by Trump (and Musk) in not just foreign policy but in multiple government functions are being done in a demeaning and likely illegal way. 30% of US civil servants are veterans - the highest percentage of veterans in any single line of work. Do we think these are really bad people that need to be treated this way?
When you add up the chaotic thrust of this administration not just in foreign policy but across the board, what we can see is perhaps the biggest Trump lie - that he will address and fix the cost of living for everyday people Concerns about inflation and health costs got him many votes with the promise these will be a priority.
Unfortunately it seems like we can keep on waiting for action on those Trump campaign priorities. The Lyin’ King is roaring in the wrong direction!
W Laurence Doxsey, Retired, Former Director of Office of Sustainability for City of San Antonio, former Environmental Officer for US Department of Housing and Urban Development, former Sustainability Officer for City of Austin, resides outside Medina.
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