Donald Trump holds a signed executive order on Artificial Intelligence, in the Oval Office of the White House, Washington, D.C., January 23, 2025 (PBS)
EA on Dublin NewsTalk: A 3rd Term for Trump? (No.)
The Spectacle of Carnage: Preparing for Trump 2.0
UPDATE, FEB 14:
An extract from my interview with Nigeria’s Info FM about Donald Trump’s ambition to break the US Government:
For so many years, Americans wanted Africa to be like the US.
Donald Trump wants his America to be like those parts of Africa led by a strongman with no effective institutions to check his power.
This was openly laid out in Project 2025.
"Trump, like some African leaders, wants America to be led by a strong man with no effective institutions to check him."
– Prof. Scott Lucas @ScottLucas_EA, Professor of International Politics at the Clinton Institute, University College, Dublin.#HardFacts @mimieyo pic.twitter.com/V3xopSXP76
— Nigeria Info FM 99.3 (@NigeriainfoFM) February 14, 2025
UPDATE, FEB 9:
EA’s David Dunn speaks with China’s CGTN Europe about the effect on US foreign policy of Donald Trump’s assault on agencies such as the US Agency for International Development:
Despite the attempts to stop him, Trump’s executive orders have been quite effective at what he wants to do, which is disrupting, dislocating, and damaging the agencies he is targeting.
He is making good on his promises to “put America first”, if that means abandoning allies, breaking trade rules, and abandoning the poor and the sick in Africa.
Dunn explains, “He regards it as a badge of honor that the international community responds with condemnation.”
UPDATE, FEB 8:
In a 13-minute analysis, I joined LBC’s Matt Frei on Saturday to examine the latest damage from the Trump-Musk effort to dismantle the US Government — and whether they can be stopped.
Listen to Discussion from 35:38
The attempt, not to slim down the US Government, but to destroy the ability of the Government to operate until it was turned into Trump loyalists — that was flagged, that was in plain sight with Project 2025.
The second element, which accounts for the speed of the effort, is bringing Musk in — or Musk bringing himself in — to unconstitutionally, illegally, with no authority whatsoever, go after these agencies by stealing information.
I then detail how Musk and his team are mobilizing the stolen records by converting them into disinformation to destroy agencies, such as the US Agency for International Development, and answer the question, “What do Trump and Musk want?”
Power. Power within the Federal Government and over individuals — to harass, threaten, demand loyalty, and dismiss if they don’t get that loyalty.
UPDATE, FEB 6:
I joined BBC Ulster’s William Crawley on Thursday to detail the destruction wrought by the camps of Donald Trump and Elon Musk on US Government agencies in the past 17 days.
I set out the effective theft of personal and sensitive information from multiple agencies, including the Treasury’s payments system; the harassment, threats, and firing of government staff; the possible dissolution of agencies including the Department of Education and the US Agency for International Development; and the cut-off of co-operation between US experts and international colleagues in fields such as the environment and health care.
Along the way, I take apart the fact-free rhetoric of Trumpist activist Jan Halper-Hayes.
Listen to Discussion from 34.06
ORIGINAL ENTRY, JAN 30: I joined LBC’s James O’Brien on Wednesday to explain how Donald Trump and his inner circle are trying to break the US Government.
Listen to Discussion from 2:29.26
I detail the chaos of the first 10 days of the new Administration with mass firings; threats against those staff who remain; freezes on grants, loans, and programs; and measures curbing rights.
I remind listeners that the Trumpists were open about this plan, setting out in Project 2025 how they wanted to bend agencies to Trump’s will — or shut them down if they did not display loyalty.
I feel like I’m chasing an arsonist on steroids. We can’t keep track of all the fires, let alone put them out.
Asked by O’Brien, “What does this all mean?”, I reply:
He wants to be an autocrat. Let’s just call it what it is.
Trump says US ‘in mourning’ after no survivors from Washington DC plane and helicopter crash: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/cy7kxx74yxlt