Trump making a deal with Ukraine around its minerals and this whole USAID thing: it's like the mask is coming off and all these things that were already happening are now being laid bare for what the real purpose was. When Israel began the latest genocidal attack, October 7, 2023, within a couple of days, they were in talks with British Petroleum to sell the [gas] that was in the [Mediterranean Sea]. Those kinds of things are behind the scenes, usually. What are the real motives? But then Trump comes along, and it's, like, “Well, to put Trump Tower hotels on the beach in Gaza and to get the minerals out of Ukraine, of course, and we want control of Greenland, and we might as well have Canada.” The imperialist drive, the colonial drive, the capitalist drive: they are no longer hidden. It's just more blatant. It's not even pretending to be a far right, Christian thing or we need to go back to tradition … This is just blatant, naked money: “We want the money, we want the power, we want the region, we want the resources, and we don't need to pretend anymore.”
And USAID, as well, has quite a reputation for pressuring countries into doing things that the US wants. So they give things in exchange for the goodwill or letting our military be there, or all kinds of things that they can control. And so now they have taken USAID away, probably because, “We don't need to pretend to help people. Let's just dominate them to get them to do what we want, rather than a facade of supporting AIDS treatments or LGBTQIA+ stuff.” It's just a lot more in your face. It's a lot more honest. I'm not complimenting them, but it is true that not much has changed in terms of motivations. It's just how it's been. But the PR around it? It’s like they're not trying to pretend anymore.
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Image credit: Bigballerbandli. (2019, June 25). “Scooby Doo Mask Reveal” HD Remake (face removed in second panel for easy png placement) [Online forum post]. Reddit. Retrieved February 26, 2025, from link. Based on the Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! episode “Hassle in the Castle” aired September 27th, 1969, according to link.