America's Defense Empire Crumbles While the Bros Party in D.C.

How Trump's Bullying Pushed India Toward China and Europe Away from American Weapons

Trump and the GOP must have gotten way too comfortable with the pre-Gavin Newsom Democratic Party—you know, the one that met their bullying with throw pillows and endless soliloquies about decency.

Poor things. That playbook isn't working anymore. Certainly not in the international arena.

They thought they could bully Ukraine into surrender last February. Instead, they've created an Ukraine that places billion-dollar weapons orders, looks the Pentagon dead in the eye, and says: "No, we don't discuss deep strikes against our enemy with our biggest arms dealer."

It was a catastrophic miscalculation to think Modi's government could be strong-armed into compliance. Look, I don't buy into the BJP's nationalist theatrics or their methodical dismantling of opposition parties while dragging India further rightward.

But on national security and foreign policy?

Modi has assembled one of the most formidable teams on the planet. National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar operate in a different league entirely. This muscular national security brand Modi has crafted over a decade isn't just policy—it's his core political asset. Every other piece of his pitch to Indian voters flows from that wellspring of strength.

He won't sacrifice it for Trump's tantrums.

Given the choice, if pushed to that precipice, Modi would likely rally Indians against American pressure and reframe economic hardship as a fight for sovereignty. I doubt it'll reach that extreme, but the psychology is instructive.

Notice something? While other nations scrambled to kiss the ring after Trump's tariff threats, India barely flinched. No desperate diplomatic overtures. No emergency summits.

Instead, we got a parade of photos: Modi sharing quality photo-op time with Putin and Xi Jinping.

Did you catch that? Video of the day, posted by the Kremlin, no less.

Was Modi oblivious to the optics? Not a chance. This was calculated theater. And Modi didn't stop once those images saturated Indian media. Speaking at the Semicon India Conference in Delhi—the very day after returning from China—he delivered this pointed message:

"While economies around the world are facing concerns and challenges driven by economic self-interest, India has achieved a growth rate of 7.8 percent."

That doesn't exactly sound like someone eager to back down from a tariff fight with the United States. It sounds like the opposite—a leader doubling down.

After Trump's latest fits, reports from China suggest Modi and Xi are exploring rapprochement. It's a relationship with built-in expiration dates, sure—but consider the domestic politics in both Beijing and New Delhi. Does this mutual courtship strengthen or weaken Modi and Xi at home?

It strengthens them. It also weakens Trump and America's position further. The Indian national security establishment has been studying Erdogan's playbook—how Turkey plays all sides like a master chess player. Now they're turning it into high art, and Trump just handed them the accelerator.

If I draw a chart you will understand how precarious Trump’s position is:

Modi will play all of them at the same time.

Highly likely the Modi government has already initiated high-level discussions with France for more Rafale jets—or some other big-ticket military contract.

Look, Trump has a point. The trade imbalance with India does need addressing. But bullying will only make things worse. Here's the thing—you can be absolutely correct about a problem and still fail spectacularly at solving it. That's exactly what's happening here.

Execution matters as much as—if not more than—the initial concept. Trump should have studied the Indian government's playbook and worked those angles to get what he wanted. A transactional approach would have delivered results. Sure, Modi wouldn't have abandoned his "play all sides" strategy, but the United States could have harvested significant gains by working the Indian system from within using pure transactional politics.

I don't buy the pundit hysteria that the US-India relationship is finished. That "India will never trust America again." Let me share a secret: India never fully trusted America to begin with. Why do you think they keep buying French? They view the US as something to be managed, not trusted. There was precious little trust in the bank to break. It's a pointless argument.

Modi is now challenging Trump on tariffs—but notice his approach. He's not threatening retaliatory tariffs. He's threatening deeper trade with Russia and China. Modi has quietly signaled to Trump: "You escalated this. You find the exit ramp. I'm not lifting a finger."

The sooner Trump backs away from this fight, the better for him—because Xi Jinping already senses an opening. If Xi exploits it skillfully, the U.S. risks a short-term diplomatic disaster, one that could evolve into a long-term erosion of American strategic interests.

As if the fresh mess Trump created with his own brilliance wasn't enough, some of the old mistakes have now come calling for their dues.

Norway just confirmed a historic defense deal with the United Kingdom—procuring at least five Type 26 anti-submarine warfare frigates in a contract worth around £10 billion (approximately $13.5 billion). Here's the kicker: Norway evaluated options from the UK, France, Germany, and the US before ultimately choosing the British platforms. This represents Norway's largest defense investment in history.

Norway and the UK now plan to operate a combined fleet of 13 Type 26 frigates—eight for the Royal Navy, at least five for Norway—specifically aimed at defending NATO's northern flank.

Notice what's happening here? The deal strengthens NATO's northern sea defenses while systematically reducing American influence in European defense systems. Another ally, another major contract, another deliberate step away from US military hardware.

This isn't coincidence. This is pattern. Trump's bullying approach isn't just failing to secure new deals—it's actively driving away longtime partners who are now shopping elsewhere for their most critical defense needs.

Early last month, Spain announced it's no longer considering U.S.-made F-35 fighter jets, choosing instead between the European-made Eurofighter and Future Combat Air System (FCAS), a joint European initiative to build the next generation fighter jet.

So while Norway and Spain are consciously rejecting entanglement with the US defense industry, Denmark—of all countries, one that's been repeatedly bullied by the Trump administration over Greenland—just finalized a massive $8.5 billion order for Patriot air-defense systems. They'd been deliberating between French-made SAMP-T long-range air-defense systems and American Patriots, and last week chose American.

This isn't surprising. There are five critical areas where Europe still depends on American weapons:

1. Air Defense

2. Fighter Jets

3. Surface-to-Surface Missiles

4. Satellite Internet

5. Electronic Warfare Systems

Ukraine, with European support, has already begun breaking dependency on the last three. That left air defense and fighter jets. Now Spain is saying: "We're willing to take the risk and move away from American fighters too."

So even fighter jet dependency is crumbling. The only reason Europe keeps buying American long-range air-defense systems? France refuses to fix the production bottleneck plaguing its SAMP-T manufacturing.

Denmark's calculation likely runs deeper, though. Germany's Patriot interceptor production facility comes online late next year. Even if things go sideways with America, having Germany manufacture those missiles reduces risk exposure significantly. I will squarely keep the blame on France for forcing Europe to get stuck on American long range air-defense systems.

But however you slice it, the Trump administration has already triggered the downfall of the US defense industrial complex. The USDIC can slow this hemorrhaging by ensuring the administration doesn't compound these mistakes. They need to push for delivery on the PURL weapons scheme—the "Prioritized Ukraine Requirements List" initiative that allows European NATO allies to fund purchases of American weapons for Ukraine.

Since launching in July 2025, the program has already generated nearly $1 billion in funding, with NATO expecting the first wave could reach $10 billion. Under PURL, Ukraine submits equipment requests that are approved by NATO's Supreme Allied Commander Europe, then NATO members finance the purchases while Ukraine receives the weapons through existing NATO logistics. It's essentially a mechanism that keeps American defense contractors profitable while European taxpayers foot the bill.

It's the US defense industrial complex's final card to play. They better make it count. If they want any future at all, they have no choice but to take on the bro gangs circling Washington, D.C. The bros don't give a damn about them or their survival—and I think they're painfully aware of that reality.

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