Arne O. Holm says We Are Placing Our Faith in the Hands of a President With Contempt for Democracy
Once again, the USS Gerald R. Ford sails into the Oslo Fjord, reminding the rest of the country that we must be prepared for war. (Photo: Ludvig Kjendalen / the Norwegian Armed Forces)
Comment: The US warship USS Gerald R. Ford has sailed into the Oslofjord once again. This reminds the rest of the country that we must prepare for war. Yet, the voyage into a fjord usually filled with cruise boats and pleasure yachts is also a story about us placing our faith in the hands of a president with dramatically different values from ours.
This is an opinion piece written by a member of the editorial staff. The comment expresses the writer's opinions.
After its last visit to the capital in May 2023, the ship sailed northward along the coast and disappeared from the news. Its return also follows exercises in the North between Svalbard and the coast of Finnmark.
Posing in the fjords
In contrast to the posing in the Oslo fjord, the aircraft carrier participates in real war exercises in the North, together with other NATO countries. This is the third time since 2020 that the US Navy has participated in military exercises in the Barents Sea, after having been absent since the early 1990s.
The US Navy and the Commander of the Norwegian Joint Headquarters, Rune Andersen, have repeatedly highlighted the importance of cooperation within NATO, and not least the bilateral cooperation between the US and Norway, to the defense of Norway and the Nordics as a whole.
And they are naturally right.
And both parties also know that this community rests on the Commander in Chief of the US Navy, President Donald Trump.
The US institutions have been desiccated by Trump.
Through his first term, not to mention the first six months of his second term, the US president has demonstrated a clear contempt for democracy, particularly the European democracy.
Fascist traits
Brutally enough, the defense of Norway and the Nordics has been placed in the hands of a president with dictatorial ambitions and clear fascist characteristics.
In the West, we have clung to the hope that the US institutions, not least the US Armed Forces, which are placed under the newly renamed Department of War, would be strong enough to outweigh Trump's political choices.
So far, these predictions have failed.
The head of the Department of War, Pete Hegseth, is a former TV show host at Fox News. Members of the central bank board, judges and those responsible for official American statistics, to name a few, are fired almost daily in favor of Trump-loyal employees.
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At the same time, Trump turns his back on Ukraine and allows Israel's mad massacre of Palestinians, in combination with military attacks on Qatar.
The institutions are not floodgating Trump's policy. They have been dessicated by Trump's policies.
Fear is his weapon, and as fear is rampant in Washington, it is also rampant in Europe and NATO.
European leaders have chosen to approach Donald Trump lying down, like dogs with wagging tails.
This must end.
The Norwegian election may be a glimmer of light.
Facing the new USA, a USA that will not automatically change the day Trump is eventually forced to leave, humiliated and with a bowed neck, is weakening, and not strengthening, Europe.
Because the future of Europe is not just about military strength, it is also about democratic ideals. An enormous economic investment in military rearmament in NATO is not independent; it is dependent on trust between those who govern and those who are governed.
Crumbling
Without such a trust, democracy crumbles, as it has long since done in the US. The rise of far-right parties in Europe clearly showcases this.
The recent Norwegian election may, however, provide a glimmer of light.
The big winner was admittedly the Progress Party, a right-wing party, which must not be confused with the extreme right we see elsewhere in Europe.
Europe's kneeling before Donald Trump is destructive to trust.
The Progress Party is a moderate variety, long since accepted by the established political Norway, and a sort of barrier against extreme opinions.
In combination with a successful election for the social democratic Labor Party, so successful that it is keeping its government position, the Norwegian election shows that there are still countries with relatively high trust between the voters and the elected.
The prerequisite for such trust is an absolute defense of democratic values.
Europe's kneeling before Donald Trump is destructive to such trust.
To the extent that European leaders should have an ambition, it is to export democratic values, not import and bow to American policies.
