Happy Vassals
Tuesday, January 27th, 2026
Bill Bonner, from Rancho Santana, Nicaragua
The war against ‘terror’ was always destined to blow back on the US. Now, we have ‘domestic terrorists’ on our streets. Or, so they say.
It seems so obvious. At least to those of us who still struggle with old fashioned two-dimensional chess and “first order effects.” Everything the Trump administration does has a coherent purpose.
In the headline news are the first-order effects...the American bishop blunders over to where it can be taken by China’s rook. Oops. ScandAsia:
Finnish prime minister arrives in Beijing for four-day visit to China
Asianikkei.com:
UK leader Starmer set to visit China to boost trade ties
Starmer’s visit — which will include a stop in Tokyo on the way back — is taking place a week after his government approved a controversial plan by China to build its largest diplomatic mission in Europe in London’s financial district, despite espionage concerns raised by local residents and the White House.
The Guardian:
‘Repatriate the gold’: German economists advise withdrawal from US vaults
Shift in relations and unpredictability of Donald Trump make it ‘risky to store so much gold in the US’, say experts
Bart de Wever, Prime minister of Belgium:
So many red lines have been crossed [by Trump]. Being a happy vassal is one thing. Being a miserable slave is another. If you back down now you are going to lose your dignity, probably the most important thing you can have in a democracy.
It used to be that foreigners were ‘happy vassals’ of the US empire, proud and content to do business with the USA, in dollars. Now, they have to be threatened. How? More tariffs, of course. Los Angeles Times:
Trump threatens Canada with 100% tariffs over its new trade deal with China
The first order effects are unmistakable; the American empire grows more isolated...and weaker. But the Trump Team is said to be looking beyond the obvious consequences...it is supposed to be playing ‘three-dimensional chess’ or looking at ‘third order effects.’.
That might be true. But our view — admittedly a small minority view — is that Team Trump is aiming for an outcome of which it is unaware...the destruction of the US empire. That is its true historical mission.
How else would you explain its foreign policy? And what about what is happening back in the homeland?
If you wanted to undermine the empire, what would you do? At home and abroad, you’d count on your deficits, inflation and tariff taxes to weaken the dollar and enfeeble the economy. But you’d also try to create fear, antipathy, and chaos so that neither allies nor citizens would trust your centurions.
Abroad, it would have been a piece of cake to negotiate quietly for more bases — or whatever — in Greenland. And at home, it would have been very easy, and un-provocative, to send out polite agents, properly dressed and properly trained to arrest real, illegal immigrant criminals. (By some counts, the Obama administration deported more illegal immigrants, with none of the hoopla.)
Both efforts would have cost peanuts and had the support of almost everyone. n. Nobody is against deporting violent criminals or setting up forward bases near the north pole, if necessary. Instead, Trump sent out threats and thugs, turned Europe and Canada against us...and much of the US population too. Now the foreigners are lining up to salute the Chinese premier...and back at home, Trump has become wary and restive.
But in his three-dimensional chess world...maybe that was the point?
Gold rose to almost $5,100 yesterday.
Stay tuned.
Regards,
Bill Bonner
Bill you are rather naive I feel. If ICE agents went politely and unmasked to their task they would be doxed by agents of the left and their families attacked. What we are seeing is not the over zealousness of team Trump but the makings of a civil war on our streets by the communist left. These people are not ordinary citizens protesting peacefully...these are paid agitators and agents of destruction. The NGOs that fund them do so using stolen tax dollars thereby ensuring Americans pay for their own demise. The circle of fraud by Somalians has two eventual destinations...Somalia where it funds Al Queda affiliates and The Democrats and their NGOs. They are fighting on the streets in order to hold onto their funding. If the illegals are removed and the fraud shut down then a major source of political funds are lost AND the ruse of putting illegals on the voters roll to rig elections in their favour is toast.
On the international front, adding bases to Greenland and building out their infrastructure and economy without clear ownership or defined American interest makes no sense. The Danes cannot afford to secure nor develop Greenland. It ought to belong to America. It makes no sense otherwise. Imagine for a second what would be going on right now if America didn't have clean and clear title to Alaska and some bases and mineral and oil developments? While Trumps style and approach often upsets the status quo the reality is that America needs stronger guarantees than it has right now for all the military expenses it carries.
Bill, you state Obama deported more illegals without the hoopla, that probably is true but what your TDS fails to mention is the complicit media that rubber stamped everything he did, nor the paid rabble rousers that are there only to disrupt.