Feb. 3, 2025 (EIRNS)—It is now two weeks into the second Presidency of Donald Trump, and the world is in suspense. There are dramatic breaking developments, but the question is, where will they lead? Will it be toward solutions, or to a greater slide into chaos and danger, even to the point of nuclear holocaust?
Today in Europe was what participants called an “informal” meeting of the leaders of the 27 member nations of the European Union in Brussels, on the subject of strengthening defense, joined for the first time since the Brexit by U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer, and by NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte. You could say they were meeting in the “open space” until the anticipated meeting between U.S. President Trump and Russian President Putin takes place one of these days. The Global NATO war party is trying to keep Europe on a permanent warpath.
In Washington, D.C., the Trump Administration today shuttered the offices of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). Staff were told early this morning not to show up for work. The USAID website was taken down Feb. 1. This is a direct blow against the flow of funding and perpetration of color revolution interventions into many countries, from Ukraine, to Slovakia, to Georgia, and many more. USAID was established in 1961 under President John F. Kennedy, and originated as a decent idea for foreign food aid and economic capacity building, under President Dwight Eisenhower. Then over the years, USAID turned into a monster.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio, as of today, is Acting Administrator of USAID. The issue is to sort out genuine and important food and humanitarian aid functions, from what has come to be mainly regime-change functions under USAID. President Trump, at a press conference today in the Oval Office covering many topics, said that the USAID was “a good concept” but that “radical left lunatics” had taken it over.
Tomorrow the Senate committee votes take place on Trump nominees Tulsi Gabbard for Director of National Intelligence and Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. for Secretary of Health and Human Services. There are frantic moves against the nominees from the bowels of the Deep State. But on the other side, there are moves in favor of a deep-cleaning of U.S. filthy networks. Newsweek, for example, yesterday ran the transcript of Gabbard’s opening address to the Senate Intelligence Committee’s Jan. 30 hearing.
Helga Zepp-LaRouche, leader of the Schiller Institute, commented today on what’s at stake in the Gabbard, RFK, Jr. and Patel votes by pointing out how their taking office threatens the Deep State, which she said should better be termed, “the permanent bureaucracy for most of the last 50 years at least” of crimes and dirty deeds.
In the realm of the economy, today saw the pause for 30 days in the tariff wars between the United States and Mexico, and the U.S. and Canada. This was the outcome of rush phone calls between Trump and Mexican President Claudia Scheinbaum, and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. One consequence—not intended—of the combative tariff-weapon used by Trump—which at a press conference today, he defended as a “rough” style he does not like to use, but works—is that a spotlight is shining on the underlying border-defying production and trade patterns in North America, that serve neither Canada, the U.S., nor Mexico, but only the interests of the agro-industrial-financial complex that imposed them over the last few decades. For example, of the 4 million light vehicles made in Mexico last year, 20% were produced by General Motors. In 2023, of the 3.3 million cars produced in Mexico, 77% were exported to the U.S.; most of the others were shipped to Canada. This is the result of the designs of Wall Street/City of London and the auto corporations. The U.S. and Mexico have been forced to become extremely interdependent on food, for the profit of the food transnationals. Mexico, where corn (maize) originated, is dependent on U.S. imports. The U.S. needlessly depends on horticulture imports from Mexico for over 30% of its consumption. There are many everyday examples: over 90% of the frozen broccoli, and fresh avocados consumed in the U.S. come from Mexico.
Trump indicated at his press conference today that he or an Administration official will be speaking with Chinese leaders on tariffs in the next 24 hours. He also threatened the European Union with a commitment to re-balance trade.
Amidst all this, comes the very important visit Tuesday evening, Feb. 4, to the White House by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. He had meetings in Washington today, including with Trump’s envoy Steve Wittkoff. Will the outcome of this Netanyahu-Trump meeting lead toward a resolution of the terrible situation in Southwest Asia? Or the opposite?
Israeli forces escalated their attacks in the West Bank over the weekend. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas yesterday called for an emergency session of the UN Security Council, which this month is chaired by China. Chinese Ambassador to the UN Fu Cong this morning met with the Palestinian Ambassador to the UN Riyad Mansour, and at today’s press conference announcing China’s plans for the UN Security Council in February, Fu Cong said that “the situation in the Middle East remains a priority.” The timing and format of the requested meeting on Israel’s attacks on the West Bank is being worked out. Fu said there will be UNSC sessions on Yemen and Syria as well. China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi will personally chair a session on Feb. 18 on “Practicing Multilateralism.”
Now is the time for the “Oasis Plan” approach to development and peace to be in the forefront. A glimpse of the technology involved comes from Egypt, where recent satellite “before and after” photos near Alexandria, west of the Nile Delta, show how the desert can be turned green with crops, from new water projects. The photos show how land in the “New Delta Project” has been transformed from 2018 to 2024.
Join in mobilizing for the Oasis Plan with the International Peace Coalition.
