Following the reveal of JD Vance as Trump's VP candidate about six months ago I expressed my concerns about the appointment and its possible consequences. In fact, his opinions about Europe and the war in Ukraine voiced at the time were so out of touch with reality that they made me pull back my support for Trump in the election.
Putting people this dumb so close to the pinnacle of executive power is extremely dangerous.
Unfortunately, my worries are being proven correct before our eyes as Trump's second in command, as well as his bizarre Fox News appointee to lead the Pentagon, Pete Hegseth, have just shown us the depth of ignorance in America's new administration.
I sympathise with Trump's desire to rid himself of career bureaucrats, following his first term in the White House, but the solution to staffing problems is not appointing a couple of imbeciles, no matter how loyal they are.
Making ’Murica Great Again
The two of them have just had the chance to introduce themselves to Europe and the world, ahead of and during the ongoing Munich Security Conference.
Needless to say, both have only confirmed the initial, stereotypical impressions of dullard conservatives from the American interior, poorly acquainted with the world atlas and sourcing their understanding of international relations from Hollywood action movies.
Hegseth and Vance represent what we know as 'Murica – the worst of the ignorant, self-righteous American right.
The former – who failed to name a single ASEAN country during his confirmation hearings – has just publicly capitulated to Vladimir Putin before any peace talks about Ukraine's future could even take place.
The man who vowed to bring 'warrior culture' back to the Pentagon, has decided to wave the white flag, pre-emptively surrendering to Kremlin's expectations – that is no return for Ukraine to pre-war borders and no entry of the country to NATO. Oh yes, and no American troops on the ground.
The secretary of defence is clearly living up to the job's name...
Vance later stepped in to attempt and save the situation by spinning the official narrative by 180 degrees and threatening Putin with American soldiers in Ukraine, should the Russian president not want to negotiate peace fairly.
That didn't really help assuage the concerns of European partners, especially as the US VP decided to use the Munich conference to lecture them on freedom of speech and how Europe is facing greater threats from within than the outside.
He brought up the annulled Romanian election as an example – conveniently ignoring the fact that it was manipulated by none other than Putin himself and the democratic institutions of the country acted to preserve the integrity of its political system.
The US Vice-President came to Europe to discuss security but didn't waste a minute openly parroting stories manufactured in Moscow.
Vance droning on about the value of free speech is doubly hypocritical considering that his boss' best pal in the EU is Viktor Orban – the man who gutted domestic private media while turning the public outlets into a state propaganda tube and sits deep in the pocket of Putin himself.
Comments like this are usually voiced by people more or less clandestinely supported – or even sponsored – by Russia, but given that they came from an American raised in a family of junkies, who has had zero experience in managing anything in his life and was elevated to prominence by a book about his tough upbringing, we can be quite sure that he is simply as dumb as he seems to be.
United States of Bark (but no bite)
So far, Trump's appointees make a lot of noise but it is not very consistent with their intentions of leaving other countries to fend for themselves.
Of course, when they talk about Europe pulling its weight and contributing to common defence, they are absolutely correct. But how do they imagine the US is going to retain global influence if it is unwilling to use its strength against someone as battered as Putin is today?
You can't talk about greatness and strength, and then kowtow to a broke dictator while chastising your own allies.
Hegseth and Vance duo is quite rapidly dismantling global trust in America.
It's one thing to demand partners honour their past commitments, it's something else entirely to force invaded countries (that the US once pledged to defend) to accept defeat and humiliation, because it's convenient for Washington.
The way they treat Ukraine and Europe is going to have knock-on effects in places like Taiwan or the Middle East, where existing and potential allies are simply going to hedge their bets, seeing that they cannot rely on the States for the guarantees they expect.
This opens up the field to China, Russia or even Iran, that the Saudis decided to normalise relations with under Chinese auspices, in the absence of American support.
As Trump tries to get Mohammed bin Salman to invest hundreds of billions in the US, his own people are eroding the value of the commitment to Saudi security that he can offer.
Unlike the two boy scouts he employed, the US president understands power quite instinctively, having spent decades in cutthroat real estate business. That is his strength which he has been able to put to productive use many times.
But as they now go around contradicting each other (and their boss), they're becoming a liability to Trump for when he wants to finalise any of the deals that he's hoping for.
They only got their jobs because they're rookies without robust networks in DC – grateful and loyal to the president.
Now he just has to rein them in before his decision to bring them on board blows back right into his face, derailing his plans for the second term in the Oval.
