Trump

Trump has either lied, is lying or is incompetent. That is the view of an increasing number of prominent MAGA supporters.

The reason? The Jeffrey Epstein files. The so far secret activities of the late convicted paedophile is one of the key conspiracy theories that put Trump in the White House.

One of Trump’s election promises was to publish the Epstein files and prove that key Democrats were implicated in Epstein’s under-age sexual orgies. Now he says there are no files, they are a Democrat fabrication and MAGA supporters should shut up about them.

To be precise he posted on Truth Social this week:

What’s going on with my ‘boys’ and, in some cases, ‘gals?’ They’re all going after Attorney General Pam Bondi, who is doing a FANTASTIC JOB! We’re on one Team, MAGA, and I don’t like what’s happening. We have a PERFECT Administration, THE TALK OF THE WORLD, and ‘selfish people’ are trying to hurt it, all over a guy who never dies, Jeffrey Epstein.

For years, it’s Epstein, over and over again. They wrote documents written by Obama, Crooked Hillary, Comey, Brennan, and the members of the Biden Administration—they created the Epstein Files and if there was something bad in them for MAGA, the Radical Left Lunatics would have already released it.

LET PAM BONDI DO HER JOB — SHE’S GREAT!

The 2020 Election was Rigged and Stolen, and they tried to do the same thing in 2024—That’s what she is looking into as AG, and much more. We are saving our Country and MAKING AMERICA GREAT AGAIN.

They problem is that the MAGA crowd has become fixated on conspiracy theories. They are the glue that holds them together. For Trump to simply dismiss one of the most prominent conspiracy theories that he propagated is raising serious questions about his credibility.

Mike Cernovich, a prominent Trump supporter, wrote on X: “No one is buying it. No one is dropping it.”

Natalie Winters, one of Steve Bannon’s protégés, wrote: “I just think it’s frankly very grifty to have spent your entire career promoting…the idea that there is this deep state, the idea that there’s this unelected class of. You know, bankers, corporations, countries, intel agencies, blah, blah, blah. And then finally, you have the power to expose it, and either you’re not, because there’s nothing there, in which case it makes you a liar—and I don’t believe that—or you’re ineffective, or you’re compromised.”

Trump responded to his latest critics with what must rank as one of the all-time great insults. He called them “weenies.”

Dalai Lama

The Dalai Lama turned 90 this month. The world loves this wise old Buddhist monk. Except the Chinese. They hate him.

To Beijing, the 90-yeard-old saffron-robed monk represents Tibetan independence. In fact, he is—for many Tibetans—the spirit of independence reincarnated.

Tibet has been in and out of the Chinese orbit for centuries. During the 19th and first half of the 20th century, Tibet was free of Chinese control. During that interregnum, two-year-old Tenzin Gyatso, was declared the reincarnation of the previous Dalai Lama and carted off to Lhasa to be taught how to be a theocratic ruler,

In 1950, Mao’s communist troops started to reassert control over Tibet and by 1959 the 24-year-old Dalai Lama’s position had become untenable and he fled to India where he established a government-in-exile.

In the intervening years, the Dalai Lama has travelled the world n his fight for Tibetan independence, and over the years, has tempered his positions. He no longer advocates full independence from Beijing. Instead, he proposes that Tibet become an autonomous region within China.

He has also abandoned his role as absolute ruler. Tibet’s government-in-exile now has a democratically elected prime minister.

But, the Dalai Lama refuses to relinquish his role as Tibet’ spiritual leader. And in a country of 3.6 million devout Buddhists that is as important—if not more so—than the political role.

The Chinese know this and—as the death of the current Dalai Lama grows ever nearer—they are determined to control the selection of his successor. Gone will be the procession of senior monks scouring the Tibetan countryside with oracles in tow, searching for the infant reincarnation of the previous Dalai Lama. Instead, Beijing wants to revive the 18th century “Golden Urn” ceremony which ensured Chinese control.

Under this system, a short-list of approved candidates was sent by the Chinese to the senior monks. They wrote the names on bamboo or ivory slips and placed them in a golden urn. After due ceremony one name was withdrawn and—after a final approval by Beijing—was declared the reincarnation of Dalai Lama.

No way, says the 14th Dalai Lama from his headquarters in India. He is uncertain about how his successor will be chosen. But he completely rejects the Golden Urn. The 15th Dalai Lama may be selected before the current spiritual leader dies. He may choose to reincarnate outside of Tibet, probably among the exile community in India. He may even choose not to reincarnate at all.

Iceland

Iceland is literally split between Europe and America. It straddles two tectonic plates—the Eurasian and the North American.

Ever so slowly half of the island is moving closer to America and the other half to Europe, spewing lava as the plates grind away.

Iceland’s political tensions mirror its geology.

More than half of its trade—52 percent—is with the European Union. Iceland toyed with the idea of joining the EU after the economic crash of 2008-2009 brought the island to its financial knees. Accession talks were held, but after a 2013 election returned the Eurosceptic Independence and Progressive parties to power Iceland pulled out of negotiations with Brussels.

The Euro sceptics main concern was the fear that they would have to throw open their hard-fought fishing grounds to European trawlers. Fish exports have dropped from 90 percent during the Cod Wars of the 1970s to about 40 percent today. But the fishing industry remains economically and culturally important. It is a national symbol of Icelandic independence.

The current three-party government (Social Democrats, Liberal Reform and People’s Party) are again toying with the idea of EU membership. They see it as a way of bringing 4.2 percent inflation under control and reducing interest rates which are currently too high at 7.5 percent.

The government is also unhappy with its dependence on America for security. Iceland has been dependent on the US military since World War Two. It is a symbiotic relationship. Iceland’s geostrategic location straddling the gap (Greenland-Iceland-UK GAP) means that it controls the passage through which Russian ships must travel to reach the vital North Atlantic sea routes.

The GIUK Gap was the main reason that Iceland was a founding member of NATO in 1949.

At the height of the Cold War up to 6,000 US troops were based at airfields and listening posts on Iceland. With the collapse of the Soviet Union they were withdrawn. In the first Trump Administration a few hundred returned, but nothing like the heady days of 1950-1990.

That does not mean that the Icelanders want thousands of American soldiers back. They are growing wary of becoming overly dependent on an increasingly unreliable Washington, especially given Trump’s designs on neighbouring Greenland.

At the same time, they are as concerned as the rest of Europe by Putin’s attack on Ukraine.

So, what the Icelanders appear to be aiming for is a balance of an improved relationship with the EU, less dependence on the US and a more self-reliant security apparatus. For the first time in their history, government ministers are seriously talking about creating an Icelandic military. They have plans to increase defense spending from 0.2 percent of GDP to 1.5 percent.

The government is not thinking about a huge military. That is impossible with a population of just 400,000. But it is discussing building airport and port infrastructure for American and European submarines, ships and planes which would be manned and protected by Icelandic forces.

EU membership would be one factor in the emerging Icelandic political equation. To that end, the government is planning another referendum to be held in 2027. Not on EU membership as such, but on whether or not to resume talks on EU membership.

* Tom Arms is foreign editor of Liberal Democrat Voice. He also contributes to “The New World” magazine and lectures on world affairs. He is the author of “America Made in Britain,” two editions of “The Encyclopaedia of the Cold War” and “The Falklands Crisis.”