Trump shares the spotlight

He can trust Vance, Rubio and Hegseth to speak for MAGA

At the annual Munich Security Conference last week, Trump wanted to blast Eurocrats with the sobering truth that the USA is no longer interested in being their unpaid security staff. So he sent Vice President JD Vance to deliver the message.

Vance shocked the Europeans to the core:

The threat that I worry the most about vis a vis Europe is not Russia, it’s not China, it’s not any other external actor. What I worry about is the threat from within. The retreat of Europe from some of its most fundamental values, values shared with the United States of America.

I was struck that a former European commissioner went on television recently and sounded delighted that the Romanian government had just annulled an entire election. He warned that if things don’t go to plan, the very same thing could happen in Germany too.

Now, these cavalier statements are shocking to American ears. For years we’ve been told that everything we fund and support is in the name of our shared democratic values. Everything from our Ukraine policy to digital censorship is billed as a defense of democracy. But when we see European courts cancelling elections and senior officials threatening to cancel others, we ought to ask whether we’re holding ourselves to an appropriately high standard.

Vance told it like it is as if he were Vice President Howard Cosell:

Speaking up and expressing opinions isn’t election interference. Even when people express views outside your own country, and even when those people are very influential—and trust me, I say this with all humor—if American democracy can survive ten years of Greta Thunberg’s scolding, you guys can survive a few months of Elon Musk.

Vance was not the only Trump official to enjoy a moment in the spotlight.

Pete Hegseth also laid down the law in Brussels:

A durable peace for Ukraine must include robust security guarantees to ensure that the war will not begin again. This must not be Minsk 3.0. That said, the United States does not believe that NATO membership for Ukraine is a realistic outcome of a negotiated settlement.

Instead any security guarantee must be backed by capable European and non-European troops.

If these troops are deployed as peacekeepers to Ukraine at any point, they should be deployed as part of a non-NATO mission. And they should not covered under Article 5. There also must be robust international oversight of the line of contact.

To be clear, as part of any security guarantee, there will not be U.S. troops deployed to Ukraine.

To further enable effective diplomacy and drive down energy prices that fund the Russian war machine, President Trump is unleashing American energy production and encouraging other nations to do the same. Lower energy prices coupled with more effective enforcement of energy sanctions will help bring Russia to the table.

Safeguarding European security must be an imperative for European members of NATO. As part of this Europe must provide the overwhelming share of future lethal and nonlethal aid to Ukraine.

This met with NATO feathers ruffled and neocon tut-tutting.

The subject came up in one of Trump’s Oval Office chit chats with the press.

Reporter: Senator Roger Wicker said it was a rookie mistake for Hegseth to outline what would or would not happen as far as Ukraine’s membership in NATO.

Trump: I haven’t heard that. Roger is a very good friend of mine. Pete has been doing a great job.

Reporter: Were you aware of what Hegseth was going to say in his speech at NATO?

Trump: Generally speaking yeah. I’ll speak to Roger. I’ll speak to Pete. I’ll find out.

Hegseth is Trump’s man. Trump gave him the long leash. I like that.

I also like that former rival Rubio is getting his moment in the sun. He went to Latin America and laid down the law to Panama and others while Bukele feted Rubio in El Salvador.

LeMonde reported:

During a tour of five Central American countries, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio made sure it was known that the region was a priority to the United States. Ending his tour on Wednesday, February 5, Rubio's trip first trip abroad drew attention to Central America, presented by the Trump administration as a source of immigration and a region where China's presence harms American interests.

The first stop on this tour, in Panama on Sunday, February 2, was the most closely followed, following Trump's threats to take back the canal, claiming the neutrality treaty governing it had been violated by the presence of Chinese companies. As soon as Rubio got back on the plane, Panama announced its exit from the Chinese Belt and Road initiative, even though it had been the first Latin American country to join in 2017.

I have noticed a pattern. Trump is sharing the spotlight this time. The self-promotion is still there as after 50 years of media spotlight, this is engrained in Trump. But he also is sitting back and letting a new generation garner attention.

Certainly Elon Musk has enjoyed even greater celebrity than ever under President Trump. Musk is taking the heat for the mass layoffs but as you read the sob sister stories just remember anyone fired was offered an eight-month paid vacation and rejected the buyout.

The rise of these new MAGA faces is intentional.

My guess is Trump at 78 knows the sand is running out of his hourglass. He wants not only to complete the task but also a generation of warriors to carry on the MAGA Movement. Nixon was saddled with Ford. Reagan with Bush. Heck, Coolidge with Hoover. Each successor undid the master’s work.

Trump likely does not wish to repeat that so he has surrounded himself with like minded men and women who basically are auditioning for his job.

The public likes what he is doing. Axios reported to its dismay, “Every Arizona swing voter in our latest Engagious/Sago focus groups said they approve of President Trump's actions since taking office—and most also support Elon Musk's efforts to slash government.”

The story also said:

• Some would like to see him do more, sooner, to rein in consumer costs. But several said they don't mind that Trump's early actions haven't primarily focused on inflation—even when that was their top issue in the election—and said they can be patient if prices don't come down for a while.

• Several doubt the warnings that tariffs may translate to long-term price increases for American consumers.

• Several expressed views that "waste, fraud and abuse" are so prevalent that government agencies can be slashed or eliminated without hurting services on which they depend.

As Frank Sinatra sang, “Love is lovelier the second time around/ Just as wonderful with both feet on the ground.”

Bondi, Noem and even Lee Zeldin are getting their media time. Tom Homan is a more familiar face on cable now than the Kardashians. He couldn’t get more time if he sold pillows with OxyClean.

This Cabinet and Musk and Homan are better than Trump’s first Cabinet because they are in tune with the president and loyal to the MAGA movement. Well, maybe not RFK Jr. but he is coming around.

Don’t worry about Trump’s ego. He still garners attention. He became the first president to attend a Super Bowl and on Sunday, he was at the Daytona 500.

Trump will make America great again. But to keep it great will require young leadership (Vance is all of 40) to preserve it. I think that is behind Trump’s use of surrogates to spread the word.

Plus he doesn’t have to travel as much.