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the art of the deal: donald cheated before....

United States President Donald Trump has proposed talks with China and Russia to discuss reducing all three countries’ nuclear stockpiles and slashing their defence budgets in half.

Speaking to reporters at the White House on Thursday, Trump said he hoped to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin “when things calm down”.

“When we straighten it all out, then I want one of the first meetings I have [to be] with President Xi of China, President Putin of Russia. And I want to say, let’s cut our military budget in half,” Trump said ahead of a summit meeting with Indian President Narendra Modi.

“We’re going to have them spend a lot less money,” Trump added. “We’re going to spend a lot less money. And I know they’re going to do it.”

Trump said that there was “no reason” to build new nuclear weapons when Washington’s existing arsenal could destroy the world “100 times over” and public funds could be spent on “other things that are actually hopefully much more productive”.

Speaking a day after discussing negotiations to end the war in Ukraine in a phone call with Putin, Trump said he and the Russian leader had agreed to pursue arms reduction “in a very big way”.

“And here we are, building new nuclear weapons and they’re building nuclear weapons and China is building nuclear weapons and China is trying to catch up because you know, they’re very substantially behind, but within five or six years, they’ll be even,” Trump said.

Trump said that it would be a “sad day” if the US ever needed to use its nuclear weapons.

“That’s going to be probably oblivion,” he said.

Global nuclear stockpile

The US and Russia account for the vast majority of the world’s nuclear weapons stockpile, possessing an estimated 10,805 warheads between them, according to the Arms Control Association, a US-based nonprofit.

China is estimated to possess 600 warheads, according to the nonprofit, while France, the United Kingdom, India, Pakistan, Israel and North Korea are believed to have about 1,000 between them.

The US spends more on the military than any other country by far, though estimates of other countries’ military budgets often understate their size due to their weaker purchasing power.

The US Congress allocated $895bn in defence spending for the fiscal year 2025.

China’s expected military spending is expected to reach $185bn this year, according to an estimate by the RAND Corporation.

Russia’s military spending last year totalled $145.9bn, according to an estimate by the International Institute for Strategic Studies.

On Monday, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov warned that the circumstances for renewing the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, which places limits on the deployment of strategic nuclear warheads, did “not look very promising” ahead of its scheduled expiry in February next year.

The pact is the last remaining arms control agreement between the world’s two biggest nuclear powers after the first Trump administration withdrew Washington from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF) over alleged violations by Moscow.

Trump later unsuccessfully sought to seal a three-way arms control deal with Putin and Xi.

While Moscow expressed interest in the idea, Beijing rejected the proposal, citing, among other reasons, Washington’s decision to exit the INF.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/2/14/trump-floats-summit-with-xi-putin-to-discuss-halving-of-military-budgets

 

YOURDEMOCRACY.NET RECORDS HISTORY AS IT SHOULD BE — NOT AS THE WESTERN MEDIA WRONGLY REPORTS IT.

 

         Gus Leonisky

         POLITICAL CARTOONIST SINCE 1951.

 

SEE ALSO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dieR2OEAxG0&t=79s

good cop, bad cop....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQDHvTxQGS

JD Vance Playing 'Bad Cop' with PUTIN

 

The presentation explores whether U.S. President Donald Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance are using a "good cop, bad cop" negotiation strategy with Russia over the Ukraine war or if there is simply a shift in how negotiations are being handled.

 

Key points include:

 

Vance’s Position at the Munich Security Conference

 

Vance suggested that the U.S. has economic and military leverage to pressure Russia.
However, he provided no details on an actual peace deal and instead focused on democracy and free speech in Europe.
His speech signaled a departure from the typical stance of seeing Russia as the biggest threat.
Lindsey Graham’s Aggressive Stance

 

Senator Graham took a "bad cop" role, advocating for heavily arming Ukraine with F-16s, tanks, and long-range missiles.
His approach assumes that overwhelming military aid will deter Russia, despite Ukraine’s ongoing heavy casualties and loss of experienced troops.
The presenter criticizes this position as unrealistic and detached from battlefield realities.
War Realities and U.S. Perspective Shift

 

Some U.S. officials, like Pete Hegseth, acknowledge that restoring Ukraine's pre-war borders is unrealistic.
The presenter argues that Russia has already won the war and that continuing to fight will only increase Ukraine’s losses.
Western leaders still struggle to accept this, leading to prolonged conflict.
Ukraine’s Reaction

 

Ukrainian President Zelensky expressed concerns that Trump could negotiate a deal that compromises Ukraine’s position.
Zelensky invoked the 1938 Munich Agreement (associated with appeasement of Hitler) to warn against a settlement that benefits Russia.
He insists he will only negotiate with Putin if the U.S. and EU are involved.
Western Delusions About Russian Losses

 

The presenter disputes claims by figures like General Jack Keane, who argue that Russia is suffering massive losses and will weaken in 2025.
He argues that Western analysts exaggerate Russian casualties while ignoring Ukraine’s far greater struggles.
Overall, the presentation suggests that while the U.S. is signaling a shift in approach, unrealistic perspectives and political agendas continue to prolong the war. The speaker criticizes Lindsey Graham’s call for more military aid as futile and argues that the war is already decided in Russia’s favor.

 

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YOURDEMOCRACY.NET RECORDS HISTORY AS IT SHOULD BE — NOT AS THE WESTERN MEDIA WRONGLY REPORTS IT.

 

         Gus Leonisky

         POLITICAL CARTOONIST SINCE 1951.

 

 

stock crashing....

US defense stocks took a sharp dive this week after President Donald Trump announced that he could slash military spending in half. The announcement came amid a wider cost-saving push by his administration.

Companies which saw share prices fall this week include aerospace manufacturers Lockheed Martin (-4.86%) and Northrop Grumman (-6.58%) as well as General Dynamics (-5.30%), according to Friday’s trading data.

Speaking at a White House press conference on Thursday, Trump said he planned to discuss a potential reduction in defense budgets with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese leader Xi Jinping.

“At some point, when things settle down, I’m going to meet with China and I’m going to meet with Russia… and I’m going to say there’s no reason for us to be spending almost $1 trillion on the military... and I want to say let’s cut our military budget in half,” Trump said.

Defense firms have enjoyed increased demand for weapons and military equipment since the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in 2022. Lockheed Martin, the primary producer of the F-16 fighter jets and Patriot missile systems used in Ukraine, posted a 21% year-on-year increase in revenues in 2023.

The new US administration has so far sent mixed messages on military spending. Trump has tasked Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency with cutting federal costs, including at the Pentagon. The president has also pushed for a quick resolution of the Ukraine conflict, announcing imminent talks with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin.

READ MORE: DOGE to audit Pentagon

The current $1 trillion in annual US military spending accounts for about 3.4% of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP). Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said during his confirmation hearings at the US Senate in January that he wouldn’t want to spend less than 3% of GDP on defense.

Russia has criticized the US arms sector for fueling global instability. Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova claimed in September that soaring profits prompt defense firms to provoke new armed conflicts.

Meanwhile, claims have resurfaced in recent months about NATO weapons and ammunition being put on sale on the dark web. Conservative commentator Tucker Carlson alleged earlier this month that the Ukrainian military was selling American weapons systems on the black market, including to drug cartels.

READ MORE: Pentagon rules out Ukraine joining NATO

In January 2024, a US Department of Defense Office of Inspector General report revealed that the Pentagon was unable to fully account for over $1 billion worth of military aid to Kiev. In 2023, CNN reported that criminals and arms traffickers in Ukraine had stolen some Western-provided weapons and equipment intended for troops.

https://www.rt.com/news/612780-trump-defense-stocks-crashing/

 

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YOURDEMOCRACY.NET RECORDS HISTORY AS IT SHOULD BE — NOT AS THE WESTERN MEDIA WRONGLY REPORTS IT.

 

         Gus Leonisky

         POLITICAL CARTOONIST SINCE 1951.

 

military ruse....

 

Trump’s Defense Budget Proposal to Russia & China Aims to Give US Military Edge – Ex-US Marine

 

BY Svetlana Ekimenko

 

President Donald Trump floated offering Russia and China to join the US in slashing their defence budgets in half when speaking to reporters at the White House on earlier in February, adding that he hoped to take this up with President Vladimir Putin and President Xi Jinping “when things calm down”.

Washington hopes to drag Moscow and Beijing into “deceptive” 50% military spending cuts, staking on their desire to “avoid appearing disinterested in peace overtures by the US,” geopolitical analyst Brian Berletic told Sputnik.

The proposal is a ruse by Donald Trump aimed at rectifying the “disparity between the bloated US military budget” and the “more efficient ones of Moscow and Beijing,” noted the former US Marine.

"A genuine agreement would not be based on a percentage cut, but an equal reduction in [...] explicitly capabilities the US has used for decades to project power abroad, including its global-spanning network of military bases, its membership in aggressive blocs like NATO, its sea and airlift capabilities, and various types of missiles and drones (both naval and aerial) the US is right now developing to menace nations like Russia and China along, and within their own borders," he said.

Even if the US, Russia, and China were to slash military spending by 50%, proportionately America would "still enjoy greater overall spending than both nations combined, speculated the pundit.

Despite this proposal sounding promising at face value, he added, without further details from the US government’s side, it "appears to be an attempt to provide the US an overwhelming military advantage all while appearing to pursue global peace."

US President Donald Trump proposed that the United States, Russia, and potentially China each reduce their defense budgets by 50%, saying: "One of the first meetings I want to have is with President Xi of China, President Putin of Russia. And I want to say: 'Let's cut our military budget in half.' And we can do that."

Putin: it's a good idea for both the US and Russia to cut defense spending by 50% pic.twitter.com/CijBtAYC7y

— Sputnik (@SputnikInt) February 24, 2025

Following this proposal, Russia’s President Vladimir Putin indicated Moscow’s openness to negotiations: “We are not against it. The idea is good: the US cuts by 50%, we cut by 50%, and if China wants, they can join later.”

China’s defense spending “is completely out of the need of safeguarding national sovereignty, security and development interests, and the need of maintaining world peace,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian stated at a press conference on February 25.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20250226/trumps-defense-budget-proposal-to-russia--china-aims-to-give-us-military-edge--ex-us-marine-1121601199.html

 

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YOURDEMOCRACY.NET RECORDS HISTORY AS IT SHOULD BE — NOT AS THE WESTERN MEDIA WRONGLY REPORTS IT.

 

         Gus Leonisky

         POLITICAL CARTOONIST SINCE 1951.