As US President Donald Trump continues with his rantings about “America First” and, while in the process of imitating Adolf Hitler's “Germany First,” he appears to be hell bent on collapsing the global capitalist economies with his tariffs, and the world looks on in somewhat disbelief.
Just like the Nazi German Fuhrer who in 1938 annexed Austria and in 1939 invaded Poland the Don of America is threatening to make Canada the “fifty-first state” of the USA which is effectively annexing the country. He appears to be prepared, at some point, to invade Greenland and the historical similarities with Hitler and the Nazis should be apparent to all but the most naïve and gullible. Among this number appear to be most western politicians who constantly talk of “doing a deal” with Washington despite the fact Donald Trump does not appear to be in ‘deal’ mood! These politicians who are elected to look after the affairs of the capitalist class of their respective countries are scratching their arses as what to do. Do they impose tariffs or sanctions in retaliation? If they do, will it upset the profits of the rich and powerful tiny minorities of their countries? Could Donald unleash his, albeit untested with a compatible army in recent years, military machine in defence of “America First” policies? Or do these so-called leaders of western capitalism eventually make up an excuse for doing nothing and allow the Don to do as he pleases? Maybe British Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, could go over for another meeting with the President and bring back a ‘piece of paper’ declaring ‘peace in our time’ meaning British bourgeois profits will be safe.
However these are all questions to be answered in the near to middle future? It has been said by leading politicians in Britain after the Prime Minister had a meeting with Trump; “we have been rewarded with having only ten percent tariffs as opposed to the twenty percent imposed on the EU. This is a reward for Keir Starmer’s meeting”. Such rhetoric is akin to giving a dog a pat on the head with a dog biscuit for behaving well. Unbelievable! Trump, after imposing tariffs on many countries on 9th April almost immediately allowed a ninety-day respite to all countries he had imposed tariffs on except China, and it is China who Trump appears hell bent on antagonising.
These “America First” speeches are not the first time such utterings have been voiced in the USA. Back in the 1930s such a right-wing movement existed in the US brought to the fore initially by Charles Lindbergh who had gained aviation fame by flying from New York to Paris a distance of 3,600 miles (5,800 km) in his aircraft Spirit of St. Louis on May 20th 1927. In the months before the outbreak of World War II Lindbergh’s statements about Jews and race gave rise to him being suspected of anti-Semitism and many believed he was a Nazi sympathiser. He did meet with senior Nazis adding more fuel to the claims he was in league with the Third Reich. Lindbergh was well known for his support given to the isolationist ‘America First’ Committee forcing his resignation from the US Army Air Corps in 1941 after President Franklyn D. Roosevelt rebuked him for his opinions. Even so, the progressive, to a point, Roosevelt did find it expedient to adopt some of this committee’s more moderate views during the presidential election campaign of 1936 stating; “your boys will not fight in foreign wars” meaning US troops would not be sent to Europe to fight Hitler and later Mussolini. When Japan bombed Pearl Harbour on 7th December 1941 Roosevelt refused to reinstate Lindbergh’s rank of Colonel, effectively ruling him out of combat duties in the war which the US now found herself in. Roosevelt did not trust the aviator and certainly did not agree with his far right-wing views.
Whether President Roosevelt agreed with Lindbergh’s views or not there were those who certainly did. Joe Kennedy senior, father of future president John Kennedy, agreed wholeheartedly with Lindbergh’s isolationist views and was an admirer of Adolf Hitler and the Nazis hoping for a German victory over the allies. Unbelievably this man was the US Ambassador to London during World War two! Another prominent supporter of the ‘America First’ movement was pro-Nazi, Henry Ford, the car manufacturer. He was the only person outside Germany to be given the highest civilian award presented personally by Hitler. Ford never made secret his hatred of the Jewish people and agitated against them. He thought Hitler a great man and public orator. I doubt very much a Jewish person applying for employment at Fords factory would have been successful! An organisation which gave support to the ‘America First’ movement was the US Bund. The Bund was an American Nazi organisation and paraded in uniforms as if New York was Berlin and they sang the Horst Wessel anthem as sang by the SS. The Bund supported the Holocaust and all Nazi party crimes and what passed for policies. Their numbers were boosted by Lindbergh and his cronies almost giving them credibility. Roosevelt could have well done without this gang of Nazis in his own back yard. After the German-American Bund advised its members not to submit to the ‘draft’ in 1940 Roosevelt finally outlawed the organisation which then effectively disbanded. The ‘America First’ movement and the Nazi Bund were very close and dual membership was common. Henry Ford, for example, in all probability would have held dual membership and perhaps but for the war the two organisations may have fused. The idea of ‘America First’ goes back many generations and possibly further.
In more recent times Donald Trump has resurrected the slogan ‘America First’ during his Presidential speeches. First in 20016, this right-wing jargon was shouted by Trump sending his half-wit supporters into a frenzy. In 2020 he was ceremoniously kicked out of office by the ageing and apparently suffering from the early stages of Alzheimer’s Disease (for the not so medically clued up that is Senile Dementia) Joe (thinks he’s Irish) Biden. Trump refused, and still does, to accept the result and his street thugs; the ‘Proud Boys’ invaded Capitol Hill in an attempt to have Biden's presidential election victory reversed and Trump put back in the White House. These Proud Boys were, and probably remain, Trump’s private army similar to Hitler's SAs and then the much more sinister SS. These ‘Proud Boys’ could be described as the modern inheritors of the German-American Bund without the uniforms yet! Trump's updated ‘America First’ has all the hallmarks of the 1930s version and like the original (or was there one before it? Remember the Monroe doctrine?) attracts people with far-right even openly Nazi views. Just as ‘America First’ of yesteryear which attracted the businessman of the day, such as the very wealthy Henry Ford, so too does Donald Trump attract the 21st century equivalent in Elon Musk and the likes of. Musk did a Nazi salute on stage before dancing around waving a chain saw in some sort of macabre ritual! The question is; could this trend in US politics, despite the election on four occasions of the slightly progressive Presidents, Franklyn D. Roosevelt and much later Bill Clinton and the first black president Barak Obama, have been dormant within the US ruling classes for generations? Could the US bourgeoisie have been waiting for a modern-day fascist (or at least para-fascist) to come their way? First elected in 2016 then kicked out in 2020 when perhaps the US ruling class were not really ready for him now, in 2025 this maniac is back in the White House and this time, it would seem, the kid gloves are off with the rest of the world who appear so far clueless as what to do about him, if they dare do anything! Just like the 1930s with the Nazis the rest of the world appear hell bent on appeasing Trump!
It is the capitalist economic system which allows people like Trump to act as they do. This would be a perfect time for the Marxist revolutionaries, if they exist, to stop waving papers around and organise to replace capitalism and all its uncertainties with socialism. Bring an end to profits and private property, the private ownership of the means of production, distribution and exchange, get rid of dangerous men like Trump, Putin, Zelensky, Netanyahu, and organisations like Hamas. If they don’t, one thing is for sure, the far-right and fascist right certainly will organise blaming immigration and ‘foreigners’ for the global problems which they have nothing to do with. It appears these fascist global organisations would have the support of the US President who has already voiced a liking for the neo-fascist Britain First movement who have links to Six-County loyalists.
Could this psychotic narcissist sitting in the White House change his mind over tariffs, perhaps realising they will not necessarily fit in with “America First” policies? He has already given a ninety-day respite to all countries affected bar China. Or could this nutter come out in the coming months or years and say something along the lines of: ha, ha, suckers I was only kidding you all over tariffs. I wanted to test your responses in economic crisis which is why I created one? Could Trump come out with this ‘boy who cried wolf’ trial of the world’s leaders? After all he promised a wall between the USA and Mexico - how many bricks have been laid? Answer, none! He claimed he could end the war in the Ukraine in 24 hours and he has failed to do so! Could he continue with these possible strawmen policies until everybody ignores him and then do something which affects all of us like declaring war on China? Because of the rubbish connected to “America First” he has espoused in the past we all ignore him, could this President do this? Nothing is impossible with this fella. The problem is, one bad move by this nutcase and we are all stuffed. What an unstable world, led by unstable leaders, headed by Trump we live in. Get rid of them and their system before they and their system get rid of us!
These “America First” speeches are not the first time such utterings have been voiced in the USA. Back in the 1930s such a right-wing movement existed in the US brought to the fore initially by Charles Lindbergh who had gained aviation fame by flying from New York to Paris a distance of 3,600 miles (5,800 km) in his aircraft Spirit of St. Louis on May 20th 1927. In the months before the outbreak of World War II Lindbergh’s statements about Jews and race gave rise to him being suspected of anti-Semitism and many believed he was a Nazi sympathiser. He did meet with senior Nazis adding more fuel to the claims he was in league with the Third Reich. Lindbergh was well known for his support given to the isolationist ‘America First’ Committee forcing his resignation from the US Army Air Corps in 1941 after President Franklyn D. Roosevelt rebuked him for his opinions. Even so, the progressive, to a point, Roosevelt did find it expedient to adopt some of this committee’s more moderate views during the presidential election campaign of 1936 stating; “your boys will not fight in foreign wars” meaning US troops would not be sent to Europe to fight Hitler and later Mussolini. When Japan bombed Pearl Harbour on 7th December 1941 Roosevelt refused to reinstate Lindbergh’s rank of Colonel, effectively ruling him out of combat duties in the war which the US now found herself in. Roosevelt did not trust the aviator and certainly did not agree with his far right-wing views.
Whether President Roosevelt agreed with Lindbergh’s views or not there were those who certainly did. Joe Kennedy senior, father of future president John Kennedy, agreed wholeheartedly with Lindbergh’s isolationist views and was an admirer of Adolf Hitler and the Nazis hoping for a German victory over the allies. Unbelievably this man was the US Ambassador to London during World War two! Another prominent supporter of the ‘America First’ movement was pro-Nazi, Henry Ford, the car manufacturer. He was the only person outside Germany to be given the highest civilian award presented personally by Hitler. Ford never made secret his hatred of the Jewish people and agitated against them. He thought Hitler a great man and public orator. I doubt very much a Jewish person applying for employment at Fords factory would have been successful! An organisation which gave support to the ‘America First’ movement was the US Bund. The Bund was an American Nazi organisation and paraded in uniforms as if New York was Berlin and they sang the Horst Wessel anthem as sang by the SS. The Bund supported the Holocaust and all Nazi party crimes and what passed for policies. Their numbers were boosted by Lindbergh and his cronies almost giving them credibility. Roosevelt could have well done without this gang of Nazis in his own back yard. After the German-American Bund advised its members not to submit to the ‘draft’ in 1940 Roosevelt finally outlawed the organisation which then effectively disbanded. The ‘America First’ movement and the Nazi Bund were very close and dual membership was common. Henry Ford, for example, in all probability would have held dual membership and perhaps but for the war the two organisations may have fused. The idea of ‘America First’ goes back many generations and possibly further.
In more recent times Donald Trump has resurrected the slogan ‘America First’ during his Presidential speeches. First in 20016, this right-wing jargon was shouted by Trump sending his half-wit supporters into a frenzy. In 2020 he was ceremoniously kicked out of office by the ageing and apparently suffering from the early stages of Alzheimer’s Disease (for the not so medically clued up that is Senile Dementia) Joe (thinks he’s Irish) Biden. Trump refused, and still does, to accept the result and his street thugs; the ‘Proud Boys’ invaded Capitol Hill in an attempt to have Biden's presidential election victory reversed and Trump put back in the White House. These Proud Boys were, and probably remain, Trump’s private army similar to Hitler's SAs and then the much more sinister SS. These ‘Proud Boys’ could be described as the modern inheritors of the German-American Bund without the uniforms yet! Trump's updated ‘America First’ has all the hallmarks of the 1930s version and like the original (or was there one before it? Remember the Monroe doctrine?) attracts people with far-right even openly Nazi views. Just as ‘America First’ of yesteryear which attracted the businessman of the day, such as the very wealthy Henry Ford, so too does Donald Trump attract the 21st century equivalent in Elon Musk and the likes of. Musk did a Nazi salute on stage before dancing around waving a chain saw in some sort of macabre ritual! The question is; could this trend in US politics, despite the election on four occasions of the slightly progressive Presidents, Franklyn D. Roosevelt and much later Bill Clinton and the first black president Barak Obama, have been dormant within the US ruling classes for generations? Could the US bourgeoisie have been waiting for a modern-day fascist (or at least para-fascist) to come their way? First elected in 2016 then kicked out in 2020 when perhaps the US ruling class were not really ready for him now, in 2025 this maniac is back in the White House and this time, it would seem, the kid gloves are off with the rest of the world who appear so far clueless as what to do about him, if they dare do anything! Just like the 1930s with the Nazis the rest of the world appear hell bent on appeasing Trump!
It is the capitalist economic system which allows people like Trump to act as they do. This would be a perfect time for the Marxist revolutionaries, if they exist, to stop waving papers around and organise to replace capitalism and all its uncertainties with socialism. Bring an end to profits and private property, the private ownership of the means of production, distribution and exchange, get rid of dangerous men like Trump, Putin, Zelensky, Netanyahu, and organisations like Hamas. If they don’t, one thing is for sure, the far-right and fascist right certainly will organise blaming immigration and ‘foreigners’ for the global problems which they have nothing to do with. It appears these fascist global organisations would have the support of the US President who has already voiced a liking for the neo-fascist Britain First movement who have links to Six-County loyalists.
Could this psychotic narcissist sitting in the White House change his mind over tariffs, perhaps realising they will not necessarily fit in with “America First” policies? He has already given a ninety-day respite to all countries affected bar China. Or could this nutter come out in the coming months or years and say something along the lines of: ha, ha, suckers I was only kidding you all over tariffs. I wanted to test your responses in economic crisis which is why I created one? Could Trump come out with this ‘boy who cried wolf’ trial of the world’s leaders? After all he promised a wall between the USA and Mexico - how many bricks have been laid? Answer, none! He claimed he could end the war in the Ukraine in 24 hours and he has failed to do so! Could he continue with these possible strawmen policies until everybody ignores him and then do something which affects all of us like declaring war on China? Because of the rubbish connected to “America First” he has espoused in the past we all ignore him, could this President do this? Nothing is impossible with this fella. The problem is, one bad move by this nutcase and we are all stuffed. What an unstable world, led by unstable leaders, headed by Trump we live in. Get rid of them and their system before they and their system get rid of us!
 |
| Caoimhin O’Muraile is Independent Socialist Republican and Marxist. |
V 2 designer Werner Von Braun was key to the Yanks reaching the moon as soon as they did . The manner in which the Americans spirited so many German scientists to the US was shameful .
ReplyDeleteBuild 30,000 homes a year , allow 200,000 foreigners to enter . What happens to the cost of housing ? Building more than 50 k new properties a year isn't feasible based on ( recent past experience ) cost push inflation & shoddy workmanship ( ahem ) .
ReplyDelete