ALT "The American demand is of an extraordinary scale. In Kyiv and again in Munich, the Americans proposed that Ukraine concede half of the profits from its mineral rights in perpetuity and from other national resources and from its ports in perpetuity with a lien on everything important -- in exchange for essentially nothing. This is not really a monetary proposition, let alone a 'deal,' but rather the demand that Ukraine become a permanent American colony." Timothy Snyder, "Recoup the costs" Link to full essay in profile

ALT "Trump is a strongman in the sense that he makes others weak. He is strong in a relative sense; as Musk destroys institutions, what remains is Trump’s presence. But other sorts of power meaning vanish, as Musk takes apart the departments of the American government that deal with money, weapons, and intelligence. And then the United States has no actual tools to deal with the rest of the world." Timothy Snyder, "The Weak Strongman" Full essay via link in profile