Chicago – October 15, 2025
Donald Trump has his finger in an awful lot of global pies for a president who was supposed to put America first.
Trump on Tuesday threatened to disarm Hamas if it didn’t give up its weapons in Gaza, raising speculation about a US military role, and crowed about obliterating another speedboat off Venezuela in his legally dubious war against drug cartels.
In the middle of a US government shutdownthat he claims forced him to fire hundreds of federal workers for lack of funds, he dangled a $20 billion economic bailout for Argentina — but only if voters there shore up his scandal-hit populist pal President Javier Milei.
Trump also publicly tossed around Ukraine’s desire for him to send Tomahawk cruise missiles that could strike deep inside Russia. This might risk the direct US clash with Moscow that he spent months warning against on the 2024 campaign trail. But the threat might repair his crumbled prestige after President Vladimir Putin has mocked his peace efforts.
Trump’s new zeal for global entanglements might surprise MAGA voters who thought the president meant to exclusively take care of business at home.
It’s often hard to trace a logical through line in Trump’s endless assaults on convention. And world leaders who are usually an afterthought when they brave the press alongside him frequently look mystified by his ramblings.
On Tuesday for example, Trump treated Milei to one of his classic weaves. In a pell-mell stream of consciousness, he lambasted “nasty, horrible” Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren and slammed the “communist” New York mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani. He boasted about a $15 million settlement he received for his presidential library in a defamation settlement involving ABC’s George Stephanopoulos. He mocked former President Joe Biden’s use of an autopen; ridiculed ex-Vice President Kamala Harris; rebuked Spain for its low defense spending; and hyped the forthcoming World Cup and Olympics in Los Angeles.
