Mallen Baker: Faultlines

00:17:06

Why Trump's Venezuelan Oil Grab Is Doomed To Fail

Mallen Baker: Faultlines ·

2026/09/01

President Donald Trump shamelessly declared almost immediately that he aimed to get a big slice of Venezuela's oil for the United States once it had removed former dictator Nicolas Maduro. But not only is he finding the practical reality of that oil grab more difficult than he had anticipated, his administration is having to try to manipulate the creation of some semblance of democracy in the country in such a way that doesn't immediately reverse the plunder. And it raises questions about what level

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00:23:24

Why Trump's NATO 'Loyalty Test' Has Allies Scrambling...

Mallen Baker: Faultlines ·

2026/08/28

In this news round-up of the week for Friday August 28th 2026: The US pushes NATO alliance members to declare their loyalty to Donald Trump, even as different stories emerge over the secret mission to talk to Moscow. President Trump signs an executive order to rename the Lake of Ontario while pretending it means something - but could the trade negotiations be restarted after a US climbdown? And AI firm Anthropic wins its lawsuit against Pete Hegseth's Pentagon over the retribution campaign being

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00:11:24

Why Trump's CIA Director Just Went To Moscow — And...

Mallen Baker: Faultlines ·

2026/08/26

John Ratcliffe, CIA Director, just made a surprise visit to Moscow. Nobody will say why, and speculation turned immediately to the idea he was there to push Putin on moving towards making peace with Ukraine. But that seems like wishful thinking, compared to the other likely explanations - one of which is supported by the suggestion of anonymous briefers, one of which is very much in line with this week's events so far. President Donald Trump has denied that anything significant is going on

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00:15:00

How China and Canada Block Trump's Bid To Dominate...

Mallen Baker: Faultlines ·

2026/08/25

President Donald Trump really wants to make the decisive move that will bring Iran to heel, and end the war there in triumph. But his best chance is blocked by China. And he really wants to be able to bully all the former allies of the US into doing whatever he wants, whenever he wants it. But his power to do so is being exposed as weak by Canada. As his frustration at his impotence increases, we are seeing more noise and drama, but none of it can hide the fact that his strength is ebbing away

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00:15:46

Why Carney Called Trump's War On Canada - And Why...

Mallen Baker: Faultlines ·

2026/08/24

The trade deal, which had been described as 'nearly there', fell apart. And Mark Carney explained after the event, it did so because a last minute insertion of demands that intruded onto Canada's sovereignty, as well as being one-sided. This is no surprise - it is the Trump playbook of the last two years. But Mark Carney went further, and called the US campaign 'war'. And this is the plain language that so far none others are daring to replicate. Perhaps it's time they did. Let's discuss.

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00:21:54

The Trump and Carney Showdown | News Round-Up

Mallen Baker: Faultlines ·

2026/08/21

In this news round-up of the week for Friday August 21st 2026: Canada's Mark Carney is head to head with the Trump administration as attempts are made to get a last minute trade deal over the line. But is there more to it than meets the eye? Disney is fighting an apparent punitive censorship push by the Trump-friendly regulator, the FCC. And the US sanctions more top officials from the International Criminal Court - which could become a real test case in how many countries are going to be prepared

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00:15:14

Trump And Iran Are Both Changing Their War Strategy —...

Mallen Baker: Faultlines ·

2026/08/20

The war in Iran has been at a standstill for months, with traffic trickling through the Strait of Hormuz, and no real impetus for negotiations. You should expect that, in such a situation, eventually people will change their approach to seek to gain a breakthrough advantage. And over the last week, we've seen this being signalled by President Donald Trump, and also by the Iranian leadership. The nature of the emerging plans is different, and you have to imagine that the chances of success are

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00:10:59

How Trump Is Quietly Bullying South America (And The...

Mallen Baker: Faultlines ·

2026/08/18

We've seen the bluster and the bullying of President Donald Trump in the headlines, but there is a quiet daily push going on much more under the surface. It is all the more insidious because it is little noticed, part of the daily friction of life in Trump World, and more to the point - it works. It is legal. It is unaccountable. And it is shaping decisions in all sorts of ways that many simply didn't see coming. Particularly focused on South America, as Trump claims the entire Western Hemisphere as

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00:10:16

Bizarre Trump Lashes Out At Allies, But Not The Enemy

Mallen Baker: Faultlines ·

2026/08/17

President Trump has the appearance of a man furious at his lack of options - to the degree where he is thrashing out at whatever is within reach. So he threatened US ally Oman with being bombed if it 'gets in the way'. He slated ally South Korea because it declined to help him in Iran, even though its forces are very much needed on its own front line. However, he praised their enemy, North Korea. And, at times, he has praised as well the Iranian leadership. What is anyone serious to make of it all

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00:22:32

Trump Demands Loyalty From NATO Or Lose US Troops |...

Mallen Baker: Faultlines ·

2026/08/14

In this news round-up of the week for Friday August 14th 2026. President Trump is demanding expressions of loyalty from NATO members before deciding where US troops will be withdrawn. Is this the moment where it really gets ugly? 150 thousand Canadians are demanding that the US ambassador to their country Pete Hoekstra be booted out, as Alberta squares up to an independence referendum. The UK's MAGA-lite populist Nigel Farage wins his by-election against a man wearing a bin on his head - and

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00:09:43

What Nobody's Saying About Trump's Catering Truck Switch

Mallen Baker: Faultlines ·

2026/08/12

We just learned that Trump switched planes to fly out of the Turkey NATO summit, and he did so under the cover of a catering truck. There's one detail to this that nobody is commenting on - and a wider context that is likewise not getting attention, even though it's absolutely key to the dynamic of the Iran war, and why it's going the way it is. Let's discuss.

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00:16:34

Trump Just Pulled His Next Move On Greenland

Mallen Baker: Faultlines ·

2026/08/11

Various people in the know have said that President Donald Trump has not given up on his ambitions to get Greenland. And so we can see, as an oil company with strong connections to the president has been preparing to drill for oil there without the needed permission from the Greenlandic authorities. It's exactly the sort of pushing the system, asserting American privilege to do whatever they want, that could be part of Trump's battering ram approach. Interestingly, the Gandalv substack today

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00:14:41

How Trump's Bullying Is Increasingly Backfiring On...

Mallen Baker: Faultlines ·

2026/08/10

There is nothing in the mere fact of having a dominantly powerful country in the world that says that it would be expected to act as an out-and-out bully. Indeed, before President Donald Trump, it was considered to be in the US strategic interest not to do that, for all that the US would certainly flex its muscles in specific instances reasonably often. The fact is that Trump had a completely different frame to any that came before - one based on the power dynamics of the playground and often

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00:22:39

Iran Cuts Trump Out Of Its Deal | News Roundup

Mallen Baker: Faultlines ·

2026/08/07

In this news round-up of the week for Friday August 7th 2026. Iran and Oman are close to a deal on the Strait of Hormuz that cuts out Donald Trump's America entirely. Not everyone in the media, nor in the Trump administration itself, have entirely absorbed the fact. As the dust settles on the invasion of tens of thousands of people into the Spanish enclave of Ceuta, it's worth reflecting on what the incident told us about the coiled spring that is now the far-right populists in Europe and America

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00:13:15

Why Pete Hegseth's Luck May Have Run Out

Mallen Baker: Faultlines ·

2026/08/06

For the last year and a half, President Donald Trump and his self-styled Secretary of War Pete Hegseth have been pretty much in lockstep. But as the Iran war sours on Trump and he is confronted with the reality of weapons depletion, he has started lashing out at those he holds responsible - and the most obvious figure is indeed Hegseth himself. And so it has been reported that they had an angry confrontation last week. We discuss why Hegseth is unqualified for the job, as identified by a fifty year

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00:15:50

Why Trump Is Calling Everyone A Communist — And What...

Mallen Baker: Faultlines ·

2026/08/05

President Trump is displaying one of the most distinctive traits of the irrational dictator, as seen throughout history. And it's very bad news for Americans, given how it tends to play out as one step follows another. But it's trouble as well for the rest of the world, because the US is demonstrating that what it aims to do domestically, it is keen to export to the rest of the world. And it all starts with the fact that Trump is pushing the old red scare into high gear. Oh, and about that

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00:12:59

Why Iran Is Now Openly Laughing At Trump's Latest U-Turn

Mallen Baker: Faultlines ·

2026/08/03

When President Trump threatens thunder and fury, and then announces that negotiations are under way - he rather expects to be taken seriously. And he's used to the illusion of that, because world leaders won't mock in public, and the media often report his words as though they represent more than the reality. But as he increases the exact same dance, the sheer absurdity of the presentation becomes harder and harder to ignore. And now the Iranians are gleefully mocking his latest turn, surely aware

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00:28:34

Why Trump's Big Gaza Breakthrough Is Not Real | News...

Mallen Baker: Faultlines ·

2026/07/31

In this news round-up of the week for Friday July 31st 2026 President Donald Trump announces that his Board of Peace has emerged triumphant with a breakthrough in Gaza. As you would expect, it's a bit more complicated than he would have you believe. Brazil denies visas to US state department officials because Trump's America is seeking to interfere in the forthcoming elections there - one of the most direct acts of defiance from a South American country. And we get a sense of the challenge for Trump

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00:15:47

Fauci Hearing Shows How Far America Has Fallen

Mallen Baker: Faultlines ·

2026/07/30

Many countries across the world have held inquiries into what worked and what didn't during the Covid-19 pandemic. Some have been better than others, but none of them looked like the complete sham accountability exercise that saw Anthony Fauci required to testify to Rand Paul's committee. So what should we have been talking about, and why has the United States decided uniquely that it is determined to be the least-well prepared for any future similar crisis? Let's discuss.

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00:13:40

What Almost Nobody's Saying About Trump, Putin And...

Mallen Baker: Faultlines ·

2026/07/29

Following Trump's reportedly successful meeting with Ukraine's President Zelensky, many reporters are talking about how various factors are 'turning' Trump, or 'warming him' towards Ukraine and against Putin's Russia. At this stage in the Trump presidency, with all that has happened in the last year and a half - such commentary is baffling at best. Only possible by those who have a problem understanding just how much the game has changed. Let's discuss.

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