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Stand by Ukraine! Ceasefire for Gaza!

[Entries are in reverse date order, latest at the top. Comm­ents and cont­ri­but­ions are wel­come to the em­ail add­ress at the bot­tom.]


Wednesday 21st January

You'll have seen it, I'm sure, but once again I feel obliged to record this:



That's yesterday's rant. Last May the US State Department pub­lished ful­some praise:



Have you looked at Truth Social? Yes, I admit that I have an account, just so I can check out the horse's mouth. Yards of bat-shit-crazy support for DJT. Here's an image posted by WomenForTrump (in fact, there are around 20 so-named accounts, owned by individual women - I assume):



This imagery is everywhere on the platform. Trump as king ... prophet ... God ... saviour. They truly believe. Does he?

Tuesday 20th January

It's been all over the media, but I still have to record its appearance. Final proof of Trump's infancy, toys out of the pram ... the letter to Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre:

"Dear Jonas,


Considering your Country decided not to give me the Nobel Peace Prize for having stopped 8 Wars PLUS, I no longer feel an obligation to think purely of Peace, although it will always be predominant, but can now think about what is good and proper for the United States of America. Denmark cannot protect that land from Russia or China, and why do they have a "right of ownership" anyway? There are no written documents, it's only that a boat landed there hundreds of years ago, but we had boats landing there, also. I have done more for NATO than any other person since its founding, and now, NATO should do something for the United States. The World is not secure unless we have Complete and Total Control of Greenland.


Thank you!
President DJT"

Most us cried "Scam!", I imagine. However, it was originally shared by Nick Schifrin, legit journalist, PBS NewsHour's foreign affairs and defense correspondent, previously Al Jazeera America's Middle East voice. Faisal Islam confirmed live on BBC Breakfast from Davos yesterday morning. The letter was all over BBC News and Newsnight last night.

Business economist Pepel Klaasa - "I am a Russian, Israeli and Belgian citizen ... yep, such things happen" - suggested on Twitter/X that Macron should write this letter to the US Ambassador to France, Charles Kushner:

"Dear Charles,


Considering that France provided decisive military, naval, financial, and diplomatic assistance to the American colonies during their War of Independence - including troops, fleets, loans, gunpowder, uniforms, and the personal services of the Marquis de Lafayette - I no longer feel an obligation to view Franco-American relations purely through the lens of symbolic friendship.


France did not merely offer moral support; we underwrote victory. Without French intervention at Yorktown, there would have been no United States as currently constituted. As such, it is reasonable to re-examine the long-term governance arrangements that followed independence.


There were, at the time, no binding documents permanently excluding France from future administrative responsibility. Assistance was given in good faith, but history now suggests that repayment in kind may be appropriate. France has consistently supported NATO, global stability, and American security interests, often at considerable expense.


The world is not secure unless historical debts are properly recognized. Therefore, it is both good and proper to consider the orderly transfer of the United States to French stewardship, in the interest of competence, culture, and cuisine.


Merci beaucoup,
President Emmanuel Macron"

Faisal Islam, apologetically distracted from what he sees as his proper job in Davos, took time out to object to Trump's claim of "no written documents" and drew attention to the USA's declaration on Danish sovereignty of Greenland in 1916. The declaration (reproduced below) was included as an appendix to the contract concerning the sale of the Danish West Indies to USA, both of which were signed on 4th August 1916. The American foreign minister Robert Lansing (1864-1928) signed the declaration on behalf of the USA in support of Denmark's claim to sovereignty over Greenland.



I take my hat off to Austrian cartoonist Oliver Schopf for his prescient offering of 6 October 2025:


Monday 19th January

The Trump approach to Greenland has at the very least ruffled feathers in Europe and should lead to some robust conversation in Davos this week, if European leaders have shaken off their meek tendency to kow-tow.

It's worth noting that the USA has bought territory in the past. Here's a list of significant purchases compiled by ChatGPT:



Yes, they've done business with Denmark before (see the last entry above). They've also discussed the specific possibility of purchasing Greenland, in 1867, 1946 and 2019; all approaches were refused.

In military terms, nothing has recently prevented the USA from having a greater presence on the island (see the 1951 Greenland Defense Ag­ree­ment). There were an estimated 15,000 US personnel on the ground at the height of the Cold War, and it is the USA itself that voluntarily reduced that number to the 150 at Pituffik now (or before this whole furore erupted).


Sunday 18th January



No shit. About bloody time, Starmer.

I had no intention of focussing on the gloom this year - and I must seek out brighter topics - but so far the POTUS antics beggar belief. It's a longish rant from the Orange Buffoon, but I recommend you take the time to scrutinise and dissect his Greenland tariff "truth" posted yesterday:



We have subsidized Denmark, and all of the Countries of the European Union, and others, for many years by not charging them Tariffs, or any other forms of remuneration. Now, after Centuries, it is time for Denmark to give back - World Peace is at stake! China and Russia want Greenland, and there is not a thing that Denmark can do about it. They currently have two dogsleds as protection, one added recently. Only the United States of America, under PRESIDENT DONALD J. TRUMP, can play in this game, and very successfully, at that! Nobody will touch this sacred piece of Land, especially since the National Security of the United States, and the World at large, is at stake. On top of everything else, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, The United Kingdom, The Netherlands, and Finland have journeyed to Greenland, for purposes unknown. This is a very dangerous situation for the Safety, Security, and Survival of our Planet. These Countries, who are playing this very dangerous game, have put a level of risk in play that is not tenable or sustainable. Therefore, it is imperative that, in order to protect Global Peace and Security, strong measures be taken so that this potentially perilous situation end quickly, and without question. Starting on February 1st, 2026, all of the above-mentioned Countries (Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, The United Kingdom, The Netherlands, and Finland), will be charged a 10% Tariff on any and all goods sent to the United States of America. On June 1st, 2026, the Tariff will be increased to 25%. This Tariff will be due and payable until such time as a Deal is reached for the Complete and Total purchase of Greenland. The United States has been trying to do this transaction for over 150 years. Many Presidents have tried, and for good reason, but Denmark has always refused. Now, because of The Golden Dome, and Modern Day Weapons Systems, both Offensive and Defensive, the need to ACQUIRE is especially important. Hundreds of Billions of Dollars are currently being spent on Security Programs having to do with "The Dome," including for the possible protection of Canada, and this very brilliant, but highly complex system can only work at its maximum potential and efficiency, because of angles, metes, and bounds, if this Land is included in it. The United States of America is immediately open to negotiation with Denmark and/or any of these Countries that have put so much at risk, despite all that we have done for them, including maximum protection, over so many decades. Thank you for your attention to this matter!


DONALD J. TRUMP
PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA


Jan 17, 2026, 4:19 PM

Extraordinary. Does he really write this stuff? If so - and if not - how does it ever make it into print? (Answer: It's social media, innit? His own.)

We need to stop believing that it's possible to deal with him, right now. He explicitly dislikes the rule-of-law institutions that underpinned world peace since WWII; does not believe in the USA's role in NATO; despises Europe and the EU; values money above all else; only respects an absolutist exercise of power; is an unpredictable and untrustworthy ally; ... and on it goes. There is no point in trying to cosy up.

Our Union-Jack-lampposting neo-patriots are so ploughing the wrong furrow. Their obsession with the word "Great" is valueless, indeed self-harming. The world order has changed and the brute power lies elsewhere. Even the Brexiteer will have to accept that we don't matter that much anymore as an individual nation state - and will need our European neighbours more and more.



Over the years, frequently on these pages, I've poured scorn on Trump, even dismissed him as a risible has-been. My concern now is that he's going to get away with anything and everything.

Saturday 17th January

Here's the latest UK poll predictor from Electoral Calculus:



How does Reform have such a lead when Farage recruits these people?



Have you really begun to imagine this country governed by people like this?

Friday 16th January

Resolutions? I really did intend to write a little every day this year ... and then the madness of Trump shut me down. What can you say? It's all there for us to see, in plain sight.



Marķa Corina Machado gives her Peace prize to Trump. Really? How upside down and back-to-front is that?

Jenrick defects to Reform. It's as if Farage is deliberately assembling a bunch of unlikeable, untrustworthy failures and misfits. Knives ready to bury in a colleague's back. A display of all that's bad about politicians.

Thursday 1st January

Happy New Year, everybody.

© Charlie Lewis 2026
Email: charlie_c_lewis@hotmail.com