What is one to write about hours after the US president literally scolds Ukraine’s President for gambling with World War III?

In November 2024 — which is to say, only three months ago — it was reported that the Biden administration had ‘allowed’ Ukraine to use American-made missiles to attack deep inside Russia to escalate the war. After this, Reuters ran a report with the headline ‘Biden risking World War 3 with missile decision, says Russian lawmaker’ (the headline was later revised).

The month before that, October 2024, the head of the United States’ largest bank was quoted in a headline which read ‘Western power is at risk and there could be a World War 3, says JP Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon’. He was referring not only to the war in Ukraine but also the genocide in Gaza and the rise of China as being trigger events for something wider.

So the circus that unfolded at the famous Oval Office in the White House on Friday, 28 February, was not the only time that we have been discussing the potential obliteration of humankind.

What is one to make of all this? To begin with, what does Donald Trump want?

On the surface, it is hard to tell, because he talks so much and so casually about so many things. His detractors say this is because he is stupid and mercurial — but it is difficult to square this profile with a person who won the US presidency........

© National Herald