Here's a bald statement of fact. Article Three of the US Constitution defines treason as “adhering to” or “giving aid and comfort” to America’s “enemies”. It’s punishable by death.
Now, most folks know I’m no supporter of capital punishment. I’ve opposed it my entire life. However, nor am I a US citizen. So it’s up to Americans, and their courts, how they regard Donald Trump in terms of the treason articles in their sacred document.
Many Republicans, evidently, cling to a narrow, fundamentalist interpretation of what the Founding Fathers intended, back in the days of slavery.
From a European perspective, it’s hard to see Trump’s latest comments as anything other than "adhering" to Vladimir Putin, and "giving aid and comfort" to that butcher. If I was American, I’d consider Trump both an enemy and traitor.
Neil Mackay: The tough questions Ukraine poses for the SNP
Trump has escalated to threatening America’s allies. In a rambling, demagogic speech, he referenced discussions with the leader of a “big country”, who asked what would happen if they failed to meet their financial obligations to Nato but were attacked by Russia.
Trump replied: “I said ‘you didn’t pay? You’re delinquent?’ … No I would not protect you, in fact I would encourage them to do whatever they want.”
So there you are. A Trump presidency would throw any of us to the lions. Is that not giving succour to Russia? Is that not treason? Remember, Trump does what he says. He proved that last time.
Trump frames this evil rhetoric within the debate about some allied nations not spending the agreed 2% of GDP on defence, as Nato expects.
Pushing allies to meet commitments is one thing; threatening to actively encourage the dismemberment of their nation by a war criminal is quite another.
Trump is a global danger. The world would be better off if he’d never been born.
We in Europe - and Britain, whether the Tories like it or not is part of Europe when it comes to security - can no longer consider America a trustworthy ally.
Throughout my life, I’ve taken a realpolitik view of Nato: do I like a divided world bristling with nukes? No. Is it necessary? Yes. Existentially necessary.
So, it fills me with horror that Trump has now hobbled Nato. For even if Trump fails to win the White House, his project, the grotesque Maga movement , will live on. There will be torch-bearers following behind. They could be more dangerous even than Trump.
Picture a Tucker Carlson - the lapdog journalist who gave Putin a global propaganda platform - running for the presidency five years from now. Smarter than Trump, means deadlier than Trump.
Joe Biden may well win the next presidential race, but what happens next time round, or the time after that?
Neil Mackay: How does the SNP vision of independence fit into this dangerous world?
Must every European nation wait like an abused spouse for something terrible to befall us when the drunken brute walks through the door? Or should we simply learn to stand on our own two feet right now, before it’s too late?
The US is no longer worthy of our trust. If the American people cannot see that a rather doddery but well-meaning grandpa is infinitely better than an equally doddery but demented and dangerous grandpa, then why should we cleave to them?
I don’t exaggerate when I say this breaks my heart. I have family and many friends in America. I’ve loved America. But I hate what it is becoming.
There’s never been a better time to turn our attention to the creation of a European Defence Force. France - and Britain, if we’d the sense - could provide the nuclear umbrella. Former Belgian Prime Minister, Guy Verhofstadt, was advocating the establishment of a “European Army” this weekend.
If Trump takes power it would be deadly folly to consider America anything other than a rogue state at best, or an enemy at worst. We see what way the wind blows already as Republicans strangle support for Kyiv.
Trump in power means Ukraine defeated. Ukraine defeated means Putin emboldened. Putin emboldened puts nations like Poland and the Baltic states in the firing line. Have we forgotten history so much we no longer recall how our worst wars began?
It may seem as if these great historical tides don’t wash up against the shores of domestic politics here in Scotland. But they do.
One of the SNP’s flagship policies is the removal of Trident in the event of independence. Like Nato, I’ve taken a realpolitik view of nuclear weapons throughout my life. Do I want a bomb-free world? Yes, wholeheartedly. But do you put down a pistol when someone is pointing a shotgun at your head? No.
The SNP’s defence policy will not survive contact with a second Trump presidency. Trump, as we all now see clearly, will gut Nato. The SNP threatening to destabilise Nato’s nuclear deterrent would be unconscionable.
I think most folk know I support independence. However, I would never support any move which puts European and global safety at risk.
SNP members live in a dream world over Trident. They imagine Nato will simply accept chaos around Trident - in a world brimming with war - and still grant Scotland membership of the alliance. For that’s the absurd policy to which the party adheres.
Neil Mackay: Inside the SNP’s defence policy
That will never happen. Certainly, today, amid the new world order being shaped around us, the notion is ridiculous.
SNP defence policy needs updated for reality. Trident may be dreadful, but giving succour to Russia, wounding Nato, panicking our allies, and making the world a more dangerous place would be beyond shameful.
The most absurd argument of all for removal of Trident is that somehow in the event of nuclear war, Scotland will dodge the horror because the bomb is gone from Faslane.
That’s not how Armageddon works, unfortunately. Enough nukes exist to destroy the world many times over. Removing Trident doesn’t make Scotland safer, it just makes the west weaker.
These arguments are unpleasant. I’m a pacifist at heart. But it’s folly of the most deadly sort to believe Europe can depend on America any more, or that the realignment of the world in 2024 doesn’t change matters in Scotland, especially when it comes to the defence policy of the party which currently leads the nation.
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