Rolf Ivar Skår
Premium member
Strategist | Geopolitical Analyst | Advocate for Democracy & Global Cooperation.
Norges Handelshøyskole (NHH) Visit Rjukan
Rjukan, Vestfold og Telemark, Norway
Feb 11, 2026
In 2004, Donald Trump bought a Palm Beach mansion for $41M.
In 2008, he sold it for $95M.
Same buyer.
No major renovations.
Financial crisis.
The buyer was Russian oligarch Dmitry Rybolovlev.
Was it illegal?
No court has ruled that.
Was it politically significant?
Absolutely.
When a U.S. president has large, unusually profitable transactions with oligarch-linked capital, it raises legitimate strategic questions.
Not because we want scandal.
But because democracy depends on transparency.
Money leaves patterns.
Influence leaves patterns.
And serious societies ask serious questions.
The picture shows Trump in Moscow. He was invited by the Soviet Ambassador to the USA, Yuri Dubinen.
Comment from :
Clear and open corruption! How do these people get away with it? It’s becoming normal and I worry what this blatant acceptance of criminal conduct doe’s perception of morality on law abiding citizens.
Is that Nicolas Maduro in the background to the right? If it’s not him it sure looks like him.
…………………….
Europe is changing — and it’s not anti-Americanism.
Rutger Bregman recently argued that Europeans should increasingly choose European alternatives. His message reflects a growing mood across the continent.
This is not mainly about technology.
It is about trust.
Legitimacy.
Moral signals.
I want to be clear about my own position:
I love the United States.
I lived there for two and a half years. I have rarely met people more open, welcoming, and courageous when it truly matters. America at its best is generous, pluralistic, and deeply human.
The US is not “racist.”
On the contrary — it is one of the world’s most diverse societies, built on immigration and belonging.
That is exactly why Trump represents such a distortion.
The problem is not America.
The problem is what Trump has normalized: cruelty, institutional erosion, and at times explicitly dehumanizing rhetoric.
For many Europeans, this is not abstract. It affects trust — in leadership, in institutions, and increasingly in American companies operating globally.
Europe does not reject America.
Europe rejects authoritarian drift.
My hope remains simple:
That Americans themselves will draw a clear line — because it is not sustainable, for the US or for the world, to normalize Trump as the future.
Comment from :
But 30 percent of America has always been a problem. I grew up there, I share your affections but I am also aware of Americans whose views and values are decidedly different. Trump brought the total up to 40-50 percent. Let us hope it subsides.
Trump’s rhetoric and actions are actively eroding Europe’s trust in the U.S. as a reliable partner. Europe’s economy is strong enough to stand on its own, and we’re building the ethical, high-quality infrastructure to ensure it does.
I’m American and the USA is reaping what we sowed. Personal responsibility and accountability begins with me. I and millions more are doing everything we can to save this great democracy but there is an element of about 30% of the nation who seemed determined to destroy it… they are egged along by Fox News channel, tech billionaire oligarchs and ruzzia… the world’s most malignant and disastrous influence.
With Trump’s approval under 40%, and dropping further every month, Democrats are projected to win the House elections decisively this November according to polls, and Republican redistricting might only further increase Democratic wins based on what we have seen so far in the last couple elections. It would take a historically unprecedented fumble from the Democratic Party to miss the moment and return America to our status in the world with our alliances and trade networks.
Well said. Loving America is very different from tolerating authoritarian fascism. There are many millions of decent people in the States, just like there has been for generations, but a toxic administration with a toxic base is toxifying the country, and through their broader policies, the world. It is 100% apt to push back on what is bullying and deplorable behavior, even while recognizing the essential decency of large numbers of Americans, the same folks who were a net good for the world since WW2.
Very well put, sir 👏🏻 👍🏻 as a Canadian; we are generally pro American- except today, we’re not. We haven’t changed…America has, fundamentally and directionally, to a place our values won’t let us follow. 😢
“When a U.S. president has large, unusually profitable transactions with oligarch-linked capital, it raises legitimate strategic questions.”
Yes indeed.
And when not one, but two Krasnov sprogs boast about the extraordinary level of ruZZian investment in the family business, questions should and must be asked.
Another little tidbit it was the same property Trump outbid Epstein for behind his back.
This is the worst president in U.S. history for many reasons, and two of them are his unabashed corruption and his deep affection of the russian mafia.