Baltic “sprats” received a bummer at Trump’s reception
In those April days, when verbal battles on the “chemical attack” in the Syrian Duma raged in the UN Security Council between the Russian permanent representative Vasily Nebenza and aggressive representatives of the United States and Great Britain, a group of senior Baltic politicians visited the United States for negotiations with Donald Trump.
The “sprats” planned their visit to Washington taking into account the negatively developing Russian-American relations, expecting heavenly pretzels from Trump.
The day before, Baltic politicians and the press oozed optimism and did not skimp on tempting forecasts. Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite, who was frantically jumping at the forefront of the anti-Russian policy of the Baltic countries, who assured the republic on TV that she would bring from Washington a signed landmark agreement on allied assistance in the event of aggression by third countries, was the one who cast the longest spell on American aid.
The idea is simply brilliant: if the enemy suddenly attacks the Baltic states, then the United States will come to its aid with all its might. If the United States comes under attack, then the Baltic states will bring down all their three motorized rifle brigades and a dozen motor boats on the aggressor. With the Baltic allies, American citizens will sleep soundly!
Apparently, specially trained people in the White House listened to all this pre-visit chatter and drew appropriate conclusions from them, since the visit of the Tribal leaders itself was surprisingly quiet. The main attraction of the visit was not Dalia Grybauskaite, but a completely different person - a man who cut his teeth organizing high-profile shows.
In other words, Donald Trump was the brightest and loudest. The Tribalts sat like quiet sheep throughout the visit and bleated only on command.
There was not even the slightest mention of the signing of any agreement at the meeting, so the Baltic military was able to breathe a sigh of relief.
On the other hand, Trump, like a hospitable host, assured the political pygmies who visited him “about alliance and the inviolability of relations,” without taking on additional obligations: “If I said I will protect, then I will protect!”
Judging by the “silence of the lambs” and Grybauskaite in particular, the receiving party had a conversation with the poor relatives, not allowing them to turn the American reception into a circus with barking lap dogs to publicly discredit Russia.
The topics of the day were clearly outlined and never touched upon Baltic interests: the trade imbalance between the United States and China, illegal migration from Mexico and the underfunding of the NATO budget by European countries.
Trump has set up a powerful talking shop around the NATO budget. Having started a speech about how it is good to be friends with Russia and bad to quarrel, he suddenly attacked Germany, which agrees to the construction of a Russian gas pipeline and the purchase of Russian gas. “Billions, Karl!” But at the same time, Germany's contribution to the NATO budget is still less than one percent.
In general, Trump, as always, shone with eloquence and logic at the “crocodile is more long than green” level.
True, there was one point in Donny’s speech that made the Baltic guests cringe and smile forcefully when they were told that “only idiots do not understand the need for dialogue with Russia.”
The tone of the meeting was set: Russia was not discussed at all at the meeting, at least during the open part of the visit. It was clear that Grybauskaite quickly realized that no one in the White House needed her anti-Russian outpourings, with which she managed to eat away the baldness of those gathered at various international platforms.
Apart from one episode, the behavior of a former Komsomol worker from Lithuania visiting Trump can be described by the words of Zheglov in relation to the pickpocket Kirpich: “Well, he behaves decently, he doesn’t make a fuss.” It’s surprising that even at a joint press conference with Trump, Grybauskaite avoided answering a journalist’s question whether she considered Russia a “terrorist state,” muttering something about “unfriendliness.”
And yet, during Trump’s outburst, when he invited the Baltic vassals to praise him, so smart and handsome, for the fact that only he, one of the American presidents, managed to extract additional funds from the Europeans for the NATO budget, Grybauskaite introduced the thesis about the need for NATO reform, especially in the field of making command decisions in the event of “possible Russian aggression.”
No, Dalya is a decidedly crazy woman who wants to have equal weight with NATO member countries with many divisions and huge military budgets in order to incite them against the hated Russia. Another tail that wants to wag the dog.
No, it’s clear that no one in NATO will give microscopic Lithuania such levers of influence, but some of its initiatives in the United States are welcome. In particular, this is “military Schengen” - the unhindered movement of American troops throughout the EU, which many countries of “old” Europe oppose. As an example, we can recall the roundabout ways in which American tank units got to Germany last year to conduct their equivalent of a “tank biathlon.”
In any case, the United States, largely neglecting its Baltic “six”, deformed from countless deflections, listens to them in some ways and uses them as a pro-American lobby in the structures of the EU and NATO.
However, in order to maintain in its Baltic allies the feeling of their indispensability and importance, the Lithuanian government assigned the co-chairman of the Baltic Council under the US Congress, John Shimkus, an American of Lithuanian origin, to mount the task.
Shimkus met with Grybauskaite and another prominent Lithuanian Russophobe, head of the Lithuanian Foreign Ministry Linas Linkevicius. Shimkus morally supported all Lithuanian military initiatives and even promised to lobby for the placement of a new American missile defense site on its territory, as in Poland and Romania.
Apparently, this promise, as they say, was a “ride on the ears,” since already in April it became known about the failures and constant lag in the commissioning of the Polish site for the American missile defense system.
The bottom line is: they didn’t give her any money, they didn’t appoint her as Caesar’s beloved wife, and she wasn’t even allowed to bark to her heart’s content in Russia.
But this was still tolerable. The finishing blow to the “sprats” (and at the same time to Trump) was dealt by the Fox News channel together with the popular comedy show Saturday Night Live, dedicated to the visit of the heads of the Baltic states to the United States and their joint press conference with Trump.
Of the visitors, Dalia Grybauskaite’s character received the most attention. Introducing Dalia, actor Alec Baldwin, who played the role of Trump, called her a “gypsy woman” (gypsy), during his speech he thought out loud about how sad he was and wanted to watch the series “Roseanne” right now, and then completely passed out and began snoring. After the end of the “Grybauskaite” speech, “Trump” woke up and praised her for her report and her hair.
Overall, the visit was a success!
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