Trump Is Not Playing Five-Dimensional Chess in Venezuela | After a strong first move, he’s eating all the pieces.
https://www.theatlantic.com/international/2026/01/trump-venezuela-failure-machado-democracy/685563/?gift=It5mYIKSjMezgjEQg5Ts5tP9r-J3eGakqq5Zx5B7V8I
216 points · 27 comments · view on lemmy.world
27 Comments
JoMiran@lemmy.ml · 101 pts · 226d
Let's be clear. The US military is extremely competent. This is a fact whether you agree with what they do or not, they are scary good at what they do.
Trump, a moron, is now in charge of said lethal force. He and his cronies just thought "We should capture (kidnap) that guy and parade him through the courts for propaganda points". Then they called the military and said "get him" and the military was like "okie dokie, that'll be 68 billion dollars please", and got it done.
That was the extent of it. There was no plan as to what to do afterwards.
logicbomb@lemmy.world · 40 pts · 226d
Continuing the point that Trump is a moron, he was recently pushing the US to do more nuclear testing, and so I think it's obvious that Trump really wants to nuke somebody.
I think part of the reason he's escalating international violence is because he wants a chance to deploy nuclear weapons.
Typhoon@lemmy.ca · 23 pts · 226d
He wanted to nuked a hurricane.
He's a fucking idiot and he totally wants to nuke something.
FuglyDuck@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 225d
I wouldn’t mind handing him a very small satchel nuke. That was armed, on a delay just long enough to go into a bunker somewhere.
JoMiran@lemmy.ml · 14 pts · 226d
In my opinion, Trump is just having a 1980's fantasy. Nukes, interventions in south america, etc.
CarbonIceDragon@pawb.social · 19 pts · 226d
Honestly I think his ideas for the country fit right in about 100 years before that. Considering the end of the 19th century in the US is mainly known for imperial expansion, rolling back of civil rights, corrupt political machines, monopolistic corporations run by a handful of rich people, anti-immigrant sentiment and laws...
evenglow@lemmy.world · 10 pts · 226d
Yup. The first time around he was told repeatedly by many people he can't use a nuke. After awhile they let him use a MOAB. The largest non-nuke.
Better hope Trump never finds out what happens when a nuke is used in the upper atmosphere. That was Starfish Prime.
mushroommunk@lemmy.today · 4 pts · 226d
I mean to be fair it's a really cool explosion.
A terrifying, lethal, environment destroying, evil explosion. But really cool.
Railcar8095@lemmy.world · 18 pts · 226d
Let's leave the "rule of cool" for DnD, not for international politics thankyouverymuch
mushroommunk@lemmy.today · 2 pts · 226d
I dunno. Murdering innocents, taking over the country, wake of destruction, pretending to be what they aren't, eating nothing but fast food.
Now that you mention it the current administration really does seem like a group playing DnD.
vaultdweller013@sh.itjust.works · 1 pts · 226d
Okay but what about internal politics? Salt Lake City is right there being Mormon.
kiku@feddit.org · 7 pts · 226d
Yes. This is true. We did not lose in Iraq or Afghanistan militarily. We lost because of poor statecrafting ability.
arrow74@lemmy.zip · 1 pts · 225d
Kinda yeah. There was no real plan there. Having the US military prop up a government and then leave isn't going to work. That's why Afghanistan was a failure.
Arguably Iraq did work though. The government the US installed persists to this day.
Now if we measure it by the metric of "fighting terror" then yes failure all around. If the goal was to remove Sadam and create a US friendly government well that did happen.
Different conversation is should we have ever gone there in the first place and the answer is no
phoenixz@lemmy.ca · 5 pts · 225d
I just read another article that the Cheeto wants 100 billion investment in Venezuela from the oil companiea and that the execs of those companies now say they never wanted this as Venezuela is "uninvestable"
Kinda goes to show that they have no fucking idea what they're doing and all this was just a diversion from the trump/epstein files
FuglyDuck@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 225d
The loot whores that went in the next day to cut deals had a plan.
Hire PMCs to “keep the peace” while they loot everything they can.
Broadfern@lemmy.world · 23 pts · 226d
I’d compare it to a pigeon playing chess, but that would insult the pigeons.
A rabid, STI ridden lab chimp with a fragile ego playing chess might be a better comparison.
notwhoyouthink@lemmy.zip · 2 pts · 225d
Yeah but who would Trump be playing against?
CharlesDarwin@lemmy.world · 15 pts · 226d
I don't think anyone, anywhere (except for the paid lackeys/courtiers on Bullshit Mountain) was ever going to make the claim that donnie dumbass has ever played 5 dimensional chess in any context whatsoever.
silence7@slrpnk.net · 4 pts · 226d
I expect Gary Kasparov, who wrote the article, to have tried
FuglyDuck@lemmy.world · 14 pts · 225d
Trump doesn’t play chess.
He plays checkers.
Against pigeons.
Pigeons that can only shit all over the board.
He still loses. Because he is in fact, that dumb.
_stranger_@lemmy.world · 12 pts · 226d
is flipping the table a strong first move? Debatable.
theneverfox@pawb.social · 1 pts · 225d
He didn't flip the table, he grabbed the King and ran off to try to throw it in the trash can
The board hasn't actually changed much
empireOfLove2@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 10 pts · 226d
5d chess? Trump couldn't play chess on a straight line.
ripcord@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 226d
On a straight line? Like 1d chess?
That would only work for like 2-3 pieces
lubashumanum@lemmy.cafe · 1 pts · 225d
stoy@lemmy.zip · 4 pts · 226d
Can't capture the pieces if they are eaten
SnarkoPolo@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 225d
Won't matter. The media is lining up to sick his duck.
btsax@reddthat.com · 2 pts · 225d
Why are we inflating dimensions? 3D chess was already challenging for the smartest Federation citizens, so 4D chess is already well beyond that of future sci-fi. Do we really need a fifth D? When will it end!?