Rambling man
Or, bye bye American pie (thrower)
President Trump, flanked by the CIA Director, the smooth John Ratcliffe, fire-breathing Pete Hegseth, no intro needed , and unflappable General Dan [call sign “Razin”] Caine, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, took to a White House podium today, April 6, to tell the story of the remarkable rescue of two American airman from Iran after their F-16 aircraft was shot down. [i] Trump never ceased to remind his audience of the military marvels involved. He also kept saying how his team were all like characters from central casting. The highest praise, really, from a former reality TV star.
We learned more details about the American military effort involved. The large number of aircraft involved in both rescues, the challenges of evacuating the second downed airman, the “back-seater,” the abandonment of two Hercules transport planes on an improvised airstrip in southern Iran.
For a bigger picture reflection on the rescue mission and Trump’s claims about it, see:
The Walrus, “A Daring US Rescue in Iran Highlights a War Going Sideways,” April 6, 2026
https://thewalrus.ca/a-daring-us-rescue-in-iran-highlights-a-war-going-sideways/
Trump also threatened jail time for whatever reporter and news media had leaked the story of the first downed pilot, claiming that it alerted the Iranians to something they were unaware of.
If the first part of the press conference was the rescue story, the press Q and A melee that followed was something else. Few questions were asked about the rescue mission itself, beyond a dumb one from a Fox News reporter, playing Fox News softball, about whether Trump had ever thought of abandoning the mission. No sirree!
A New York Times reporter was treated to a disquisition about why he was fake and his paper pedalled fake news. Someone, was that a British accent?, asked whether in light of Trump calling the Iranian leadership “crazy bastards” the world should be worried about his own mental health. Trump was not fazed.
It was an hour-long opportunity to try to dodge the hard realities of the Iran war. Instead to demand that Iran meet Trump’s looming deadline (Tuesday midnight) to end the war or face widespread infrastructure destruction, war crime who cares. There was lots of Team Trump self-promotion, propagandistic repetition and bombast, and some mid-term election calisthenics. Sleepy Joe Biden was spared, but Barack “Hussein” Obama came in for a particular tongue-lashing for his Iran nuclear deal, which Trump called a “path to a nuclear weapon”—a ridiculous claim. Trump also suggested that, with the nuclear deal, Obama was deliberately favouring Iran over Israel. Why, he asked rhetorically, would any Jewish voter support the Democrats. Get out the vote.
It all ended on a particularly nasty and alarming note, stimulated by a final question shouted above the throng--whether Trump was serious about leaving NATO. Trump was pumped. He has taken to trash-talking NATO over its refusal to take part in his war against Iran. Even though he said he didn’t need NATO. UK PM Starmer is no Churchill; the Royal Navy has useless, toy warships; the German Chancellor, Friedrich Merz (who is taller than Trump) is ungrateful for the Marshall Plan; Macron’s wife beats him; NATO is a paper tiger. Putin (my friend) knows it.
Merz was made a figure of fun for telling Trump that he couldn’t expect German involvement in a war that Germany wasn’t consulted about. Trump’s riposte? Preposterous idea that he would tell the Germans about his plans for war--they would just leak them. Allies are not to be consulted, they are to be bidden.
Other putative allies also got dishonourable mentions for not helping Trump with his war—Japan, South Korea, Australia, pronounced “Ore-stralia.” Watch out for your critical minerals. Some were reminded about the large number of US troops stationed on their soil. There was a side-note about how well Trump got along with the North Korean dictator.
Canada was spared (for now).
But the worst note of all was the one he ended on, and maybe Canada won’t be spared. [ii]
Warning--Greenland is still on his mind. That beautiful sheet of ice has surfaced again and Trump is steaming right at it. Trump reminded everyone that the US wants Greenland. But bad NATO refused (true, but Denmark and Greenland refused first).
For Trump it was the final straw. It means, he said:
“bye bye” to NATO.
Maybe that British-accented reporter was on to something.
[i] The White House, Trump press conference, April 6, 2026, https://www.whitehouse.gov/videos/president-trump-holds-a-press-conference-apr-6-2026/
[ii] You can see this segment from 1:29:50 of the vide-stream
I would hope that every Canadian who is concerned about the dynamic in the United States writes to their respective MPs to let them know that Canada must take seriously, over the long term, the push to build up our military capabilities.
My fear is that too many in this country still believe that Trump's departure from the political scene (no one lives forever) would somehow result in a return to "normalcy" in the United States.
That is folly. Canada needs to be able to stand on its own two feet, even in the face of genuine hostility, imperialist ambition and terrifying threats from the United States.
As for those who believe that clinging more closely to our NATO allies in the context of a full on pressure campaign from the United States, well, I would say that the best way to ensure our allies' support is to show them that we are very keen on helping ourselves.
I agree with A Canuck that Trump's departure will not signal a return to normalcy There are well heeled backers and Project 2025 who will happily continue Trump's agenda.
But I think we need to start to build for an asymmetric style defense a la Ukraine or Iran.