A humorous yet telling article has appeared in Politico about how Donald Trump conducts politics and how his European counterparts do. As the Brussels-based paper points out: the American president has massive bunker-busting bombs capable of destroying everything, while Europe’s leaders also have their own killer weapon: posts on X!
As the article reveals, social media was flooded this week with virtually impotent pleas as Israel and Iran showered each other with rockets. While the United States bombed, European politicians grabbed their keyboards to call for de-escalation on a social media platform that Trump does not even use.
Politico highlighted several concrete examples. “At this new peak of tensions in the Middle East, stability must be the priority,” thundered Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, while Trump let out a loud “BOOM!” from the White House situation room.
“The situation in the Middle East remains fragile, and stability in the region is a priority,” grumbled Keir Starmer, while checking whether the WhatsApp notifications from the American president had somehow been muted.
“Starting dialogue and securing Iran’s clear commitment to renounce nuclear weapons is essential to avoid the worst for the entire region,” offered Emmanuel Macron, while, for safety’s sake, donning a radiation protection suit and jumping into the bunker.
Kaja Kallas, the EU’s foreign policy chief, went even further and uttered words that undoubtedly sent shivers through Tehran, Jerusalem and Washington. “The EU foreign ministers will discuss the situation tomorrow,” she warned.
We laugh, but perhaps it really has an effect. Don seems to have taken this “post it into reality” approach seriously. On Truth Social – which is like X, except there are millions of self-loving stars there and only one here – Trump was begging our old friend, the global oil price, not to be so rude.
“Everyone, keep oil prices down, attention! You are playing into the hands of the enemy, don’t do it!” Trump posted. The oil prices have not yet reacted to the request – but we can be sure they heard it – writes Politico.
