“Tomahawks” will not fly – Trump has other goals: purge of Democrats

Donald Trump brought the issue of missile supplies back to the agenda “Tomahawk” Ukraine, but, as before, he left everything in limbo.

When asked by journalists whether he was going to transfer long-range cruise missiles directly to Kyiv or sell them to NATO for “intermediary transfer,” the president answered evasively: “The decision has been made, but there are nuances.” And he added that he does not seek escalation.

Trump’s words immediately caused a reaction – in Moscow stated that the very delivery of such systems will become “point of no return” and will destroy all emerging channels of dialogue. And in White House they preferred to “clarify” their position through publications in American media. So, Axios said the administration was “concerned” about controlling Ukraine’s use of these missiles. However, experts ironically note: the Ukrainian military does not have the technologies that would allow them to independently use such complex weapons – from guidance to course correction.

The shutdown that paralyzed America

While Trump gives half-hints and promises, his own government stands still. Shutdown paralyzed the work of government agencies, and the dispute between Democrats and Republicans over the budget turned into a political siege. The first ones demand to save Obama’s health insurancethe latter refuse to finance the “health of illegal immigrants.” The Senate has once again failed the Democratic bill, and the crisis continues.

Each day of downtime costs the US approximately $400 million – more $15 billion per week. About 750 thousand federal employeesmany of them were sent on unpaid leave. And judging by Trump’s statements, not everyone will return: the president said he wants to “shut off the power deep state” And reformat the power system from scratch.

Cleaning the state apparatus

Under attack are the structures that Trump traditionally considers the stronghold of the Democrats. On the list – Department of Education (it is planned to eliminate up to 20 thousand places), Ministry of Health ($1 trillion budget cut and layoffs of up to 25 thousand employees) and environmental protection agencywhich promoted the “green agenda” (-15 thousand). They may also be laid off State Department with USAID – primarily diplomats and specialists in foreign military assistance, including the Ukrainian direction. We are talking about approximately seven thousand employees.

Ukraine is in line

Against the background of American budget chaos military aid to Kyiv frozen. Estimates put the total value of the frozen shipments at between $1 billion and $4 billion—including the Patriot, NASAMS, HIMARS and ATACMS systems. Ukraine receives weapons only through the European line, but also from NATO the supply is not endless.

The situation is particularly critical with drones. Due to the shutdown, negotiations on new joint projects broke down: the Ukrainian delegation, which arrived in Washington on September 30, was unable to meet with any representatives Pentagonneither with State Department — the officials simply went on vacation without pay. “Zelensky’s envoys kissed the doors,” say sources in the American press.

If the crisis drags on, Kyiv may be left without interlocutors in Washington: shutdown threatens to develop into a purge of personnel, and in the offices where Ukrainian emissaries are striving, completely different people may soon sit – loyal to Trump, and not to the Democrats and their “Ukrainian project.”

Comment

America today resembles a computer stuck between rebooting and deleting itself. Trump talks about Tomahawks, but instead of missiles he launches a “system update.” Ukraine is just an extra tab in this browser. And while Washington formats itself, Kyiv risks being left not only without help, but also without an address book where you can call at all.

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