Anne Applebaum, writing for The Atlantic (gift link):
Specifically, they remember that for 14 months, the American
president has tariffed them, mocked their security concerns, and
repeatedly insulted them. As long ago as January 2020, Trump
told several European officials that “if Europe is under
attack, we will never come to help you and to support you.” In
February 2025, he told Ukrainian President Volodymyr
Zelensky that he had no right to expect support either, because
“you don’t have any cards.” Trump ridiculed Canada as the “51st
state” and referred to both the present and previous Canadian
prime ministers as “governor.” He claimed, incorrectly, that
allied troops in Afghanistan “stayed a little back, a little off
the front lines,” causing huge offense to the families of soldiers
who died fighting after NATO invoked Article 5 of the
organization’s treaty, on behalf of the United States, the only
time it has done so. He called the British “our once-great ally,”
after they refused to participate in the initial assault on Iran;
when they discussed sending some aircraft carriers to the Persian
Gulf conflict earlier this month, he ridiculed the idea on
social media: “We don’t need people that join Wars after we’ve
already won!”
Meanwhile, Irina Slav at Oilprice.com writes that oil — which was trading around $75-80 per barrel before the war — might soon be headed $150–200 per barrel. $200! Energy Common Sense reports “This is now a multi-month, likely rest-of-year story of elevated prices and elevated risk.” Axios reports that most Americans will soon be paying over $4/gallon for gasoline, but I walked by Center City Philly’s lone gas station at lunch, and regular gas remains under $4 and premium under $5 — both with an entire one-tenth of one cent to spare.
Although President Donald Trump says he has “destroyed 100% of
Iran’s Military Capability”, the 0% that remains is playing havoc
with the global economy by choking off 10-15% of its oil supply.
This whole dumb fiasco might go down as the canonical example when explaining the phrase “hoist with his own petard”. You just hate to see it.
