Trump Threatens to Hit Russia with Sanctions
wsj.com
wsj.com
The exact form of government is whatever achieves the goal, and is largely academic. It only vaguely will help understand what’s happening, or what is yet to come. e.g. in some sense right now, the form is diarchy, but also principate. The veneer of republic will make it plausible and normal when one of the diarchs is fired.
Part of the confusion is many things are happening all at once. It might seem whimsical and fickle because of the incompetency, but the largest single component of what’s going on is corruption.
And it’s going to get much much worse, because power is being consolidated. This is 180° from Federalist 51 in which Madison describes (polyarchy) making ambition counter ambition.
Or maybe drop the h to give *astatocracy, like astatine, the unstable element. Easier to say.
"U.S. Suspends Intelligence Sharing With Ukraine. Pause is expected to cripple Kyiv’s ability to target Russian forces".
During his first term they came up with a rule at the Pentagon that a written and signed order from the white house was required before any unexpected action would take place. That rule came about because Trump would be ranting and give verbal orders that were unexpected and arguably dangerous (and given to the wrong people) .... and the next day he would not remember / deny he gave them.
Some members of the armed forces would refuse such orders, others would follow them.
In terms of patrimonialism, Donald is the country and the country is Donald, not just in his mind, but also the true believers.
Therefore, there won’t be a universal sense of 5 USC 3331 preventing the following of such an order. That oath will merely be transferred to Donald in the minds of the committed, and part of what will aid this is principate.
> The tale of Caligula’s horse, Incitatus, being appointed as a senator is one of the most outlandish anecdotes about the emperor’s supposed madness. Incitatus was not just any horse; by all accounts, Caligula lavished him with luxuries typically reserved for Rome’s elite. The horse lived in a marble stable, with an ivory manger, and was the recipient of jewelry and other decadent trappings of wealth. The story goes that Caligula was so enamored with Incitatus that he intended to make a farce of the senatorial proceedings by raising his horse to the high office of a consul.
As a negotiator, every threat he makes is an opening for the bidding war to undo it. Perhaps the threat to Russia (biting the hand that feeds him) is to gain some leverage in whatever negotiations are going on in public and private.
He's completely transactional. I'm just guessing it's a bluff to gain some leverage he doesn't really have.
He usually plays checkers when the opponents are playing 5-dimensional chess. It works on the gullible, whom he courts with racist and misogynist bait.
And his odd and economically harmful fixation on tariffs and isolationism. [2]
I suppose it all makes sense if and when you can track the grift, such as "The Strategic Crypto Reserve" [1]
[0] https://historychronicles.org/caligula-a-mad-tyrant/
[1] https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2025/03/strategic-...
[2] https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2025/03/trump-tari...
1. He says or threatens something outrageous; People get all riled up, take a position of defiant vulnerability.
2. He softens his stance; People thanks their stars that they can at least negotiate something with him.
3. He can then proceed to negotiate from a position of strength
A good way to deal with Trump, unless you strongly depend on him, is just to ignore him outright.