Nato leaders have informally agreed not to mention the football World Cup to Donald Trump for fear of irritating the US president at a crucial time for the military alliance.

Further below…

In the first open acknowledgment of the strategy, the Belgian prime minister, Bart De Wever, told reporters in Ankara he would not be discussing his country’s 4-1 win over the US earlier this week.

Look, can everyone please do their best not to annoy the bumbling pedophile? Thank you - your cooperation is appreciated.

    • FukOui@lemmy.zip
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      6 hours ago

      That deranged child diddler is in charge of the the world’s greatest nuclear / military superpower. Anything can happen with him with a literal press of a button

      • betanumerus@lemmy.ca
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        6 hours ago

        I’d rock his cradle until he tries to. Using that excuse as a lever against his allies would be a great new low for his supporters to think about. Spell it all out donny chump.

  • CAVOK
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    23 hours ago

    I think they should be subtle about it.

    “Do you want a soda Mr Trump? I have 1-4 you here”.

  • motruck@lemmy.zip
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    1 day ago

    If people have to use kid gkoves with you it is because you have the fortitude of a child.

  • Thebeardedsinglemalt
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    1 day ago

    NATO Leader A: Don’t mention any of his failures as it would trigger him

    NATO Leader B: So we have sit in complete silence then?

    • ExLisper@lemmy.curiana.net
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      1 day ago

      Some recent reports claimed EU needs about 10 years to become militarily independent from USA. Some other reports claim that Russia is planning on testing NATO in the near future. Most countries realize now they can’t rely on USA anymore but not talking about football is small price to pay for keeping the alliance together a little big longer.

      • Malyca@lemmy.zip
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        1 day ago

        There’s no avoiding rocking the boat with a narcissist. There’s no placating them. The only ways to deal with them is to bully them or ignore them.

        • ExLisper@lemmy.curiana.net
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          1 day ago

          Yes but you don’t have to rock the boat more just for fun. No talking about football is a small price to pay for keeping the alliance together a little big longer.

      • Guy Ingonito@reddthat.com
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        1 day ago

        Here’s the thing, barring a nuclear weapon I think Poland or Finland all by themselves could take Russia and there’s no one else really threatening Europe at the moment.

        Trump also doesn’t respect placation, it just invites him to go harder. What he does respect is popularity and violence. He’s cool with Mamdani because the mayor is popular, he’s deferential to Putin because Putin projects violence.

        • ExLisper@lemmy.curiana.net
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          1 day ago

          People keep thinking Russia wants to fully invade Europe and send their tanks to Lisbon or something. They don’t. They want to invade the Baltic States. Are those strong enough to stop Russia? No. They will need help. They need NATO.

          Poland and Finland most likely can withstand invasion the same way Ukraine did but what will happen to EU economy when part of free market is now under Russian occupation and some of it’s members are waging war on their territories? What will people do when drones and rockets start falling on their cities?

          What Russia wants is to destabilize Europe. Russia is now more and more dependent on China. So… what does China want?

          • Guy Ingonito@reddthat.com
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            6 hours ago

            Their official concern (which I don’t believe is authentic, I think they just want to feel powerful) is that they’re worried that an invading force that reaches the steppe can just cruise through central Russia - which means they’ll need to draw a line from the Baltic’s to the black sea through Poland and Ukraine.

            What Russia wants is to destabilize Europe. Russia is now more and more dependent on China. So… what does China want?

            My personal opinion is that China and the CCP is primarily concerned with internal stability, undoing the century of humilation, and increasing ethnic homogeny through subjugation.

            Long term I can see conflict between China and Russia over outer Manchuria, especially when the stresses of climate change begin to impact the Earth.

  • troglodytis
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    2 days ago

    Ah, yes, appeasement. Why was that never tried before?

    • cynar
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      1 day ago

      Ironically, it actually did its job pre WWII.

      Chamberlain realised he had fucked up. Britain didn’t have the forces to actually resist the Nazis. Appeasement was to buy them time to rearm. When the war actually started, Chamberlain fell on his proverbial sword, to give Churchill a clean slate and a functional military to work with.

    • jdr@lemmy.ml
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      1 day ago

      Well you don’t hear about all the times it prevented a world war