Phillips OBrien

Anyone surprised by this story has been living in a fantasy world. Since Jan 2025, the Trump administration has been using lots of different tactics to force Ukraine to commit strategic suicide. This is just the latest.
The real story is that people have not grasped this reality.

“Trump has one great tell that an issue really does not matter to him.
It is when he acts like he cares about the human beings involved in the matter. When Trump says he wants the killings (…) to stop or the oppression of others to end, it is the clearest indication that he could not care less.”

This is essentially the same message that @phillipspobrien.bsky.social has been trying to get through to his European followers since Trump returned to office last year. His latest;

bsky.app/profile/phil...

Turns out that executing defenseless, disarmed US citizens might not be very popular.

I hope the last two days have brought home to European leaders the perils involved with lavishly praising Trump. America is on a precipice and is now struggling for its redemption. If the right side wins, it will look askance at those who sucked up to Trump.

Two weeks ago this guy announced he was providing legal help to the agent who shot Renee Good. That's how quickly the winds are shifting.

'Wanneer hij (Trump) zijn bezorgdheid uit over het leven van mensen (zoals Oekraïners), is dat bluf. Het kan hem niets schelen.)

Over the last year the Ukrainians, Venezuelans and Iranians have all been betrayed by him--and the Americans are finding that out too.

The Trump "Tell" How You Can Tell He Does Not Care About An Issue

Just sent out this post. Trump has a basic "tell" which indicates things he does not care about (and those he does). When he expresses a concern about people's lives (such as Ukrainians) it’s a bluff. He could not care less. open.substack.com/pub/phillips...

In the end there will be only one Trump Derangement Syndrome, and that will be those so deranged that they refused to accept that Trump was going to try and wreck the country.

So America is on edge, angry and reaching a boiling post--and this is President Trump's latest tweet.

Serious Nero fiddling while Rome is burning vibes...

January 24, 2026; a tipping point in modern American history?

Videos Contradict U.S. Account of Minneapolis Shooting by Federal Agents See how immigration officers escalated a fatal confrontation on Saturday.

Worth noting that the @wsj.com has joined with the @nytimes.com and Bellingcat to say that ICE is lying in its description of the shooting of Alex Pretti. The video evidence more and more supports the view that this was a gratuitous execution. www.wsj.com/us-news/vide...

It certainly is ⤵️

‘Completely unaccountable and unsanctionable, it is a corrupt ruler’s dream’ open.substack.com/pub/phillips...

The Board of Peace is a giant cash laundry

„Zu verstehen, dass die USA heute das Gegenteil von europäischer Freiheit sind, ist der erste Schritt, um zu akzeptieren, dass die Ukraine für diese Freiheit entsprechend wichtig ist. Das hätte schon längst geschehen müssen, ist aber nicht geschehen.“

Ein starkes Europa gibt nur MIT der Ukraine. ☝️

Also, Zelensky gave an important address at Davos that deserves a close reading. He told Europe it needs to understand the US is not its friend and will not defend its freedom. Ukraine, however, is both.

Finally, Ukraine's battlefield equations for 2026 are brutally revealed.

Weekend Update #169: A Corruption Riddle Solved Zelensky's Speech In Davos; Ukrainian Plans To Waste The Russian Military

Just released my free weekend update. This week answered an important riddle. How was the US to be paid from seized Russian assets? why the new "Board of Peace" is the perfect vehicle. Completely unaccountable and unsanctionable, it is a corrupt ruler’s dream. open.substack.com/pub/phillips...

In three years either ICE will be abolished or the USA will be a police state. Hard to see it ending any other way.

In three years either ICE will be abolished or the USA will be a police state. Hard to see it ending any other way.

If you don't admit that the Trumpian Board of Peace is likely a vehicle to corruptly funnel funds between dictators, authoritarians and their wannabes, you are wilfully refusing to understand the era we are living through. Its all about who controls the money and where it goes.

When Trump lied and slandered European troops by saying that they avoided the front lines in Afghanistan, it was no mistake. It was a deliberate attempt to run down NATO in American eyes, to try and condition the American people to accept the end of the alliance.

Here is a key part of President's Zelensky's address in Davos yesterday. What he says outwardly and implicitly is key. Trump actually hates Europe today, will not change, Europe needs to accept that and look after itself.
Bravo!

LIVE SOON: Phillips talks with Taras Tymochko of CBA Starting Jan 23 at 12:00 PM EST

Here is a link if you’re interested in attending. open.substack.com/live-stream/...

Hi all, at 1900 today Ukraine time at noon EST, I will be holding a Substack live with Taras Tymochko of Come Back Alive. We will be discussing how defensive drones are being used to protect against attack drones, which is saving many Ukrainian lives.

The band is back together again.

Zelensky is entirely justified in speaking bluntly like this to Europeans. Too many seem willing to see Ukrainians suffer to provide Europe greater time and security, without acknowledging that Ukraine’s fight is their own.

It is now more than two weeks since we were told that Trump had "greelit" the Graham-Blumenthal sanctions bill on Russia. I thought a vote was going to be scheduled right away. Where is it?
Looks like we might have to wait another two weeks....

The Congress and businesses might also take a lesson from this…

🎯👇

"The climbdown was also notable because it revealed that instead of constantly kissing Trump’s behind in the hope that he might crap a concession or two their way, the Europeans behaved very differently over Greenland. It will hopefully be a salutary lesson guiding their behavior going forward."