Courtesy of google.com
Giving something up to get something else in return is at the core of international relationships. Russia will stop attacking Ukraine with missiles if Ukraine cedes part of its land. Trump will leave Venezuela’s oppressive regime in power in exchange for its oil. As the saying goes, all politics is transactional.
Transactionalism is no model for friendships. Friendships require a different glue. Most of us make the distinction. Donald Trump doesn’t. He performs a favor, expecting one in return. His desire to acquire Greenland isn’t to make America great again. He’s helping Ronald Lauder, a campaign contributor, exercise his mineral rights there. (“The Age of Kleptocracy,” by Alexander Cooley & Daniel Nexon, Foreign Affairs, March/April 2026, pg. 33.)
Sending his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, and his friend, Steve Witkoff, as peace envoys to Russia is another grift. Neither is a skilled diplomat, so there’s no hope of ending the war in Ukraine. What they hold in common is an interest in obtaining Arctic mineral rights. (Ibid, pg. 32.)
Tech giants see how the land lies in Washington. To develop their global AI systems, they know they must meet Trump’s expectations and wink at a few ethical questions. When a reporter asked if AI would cause massive unemployment leading to a depression, like Trump, they shrugged. “Too soon to tell.”
Pete Hegseth, Secretary of Defense, isn’t worried about the future, either. He’s busy destroying the international rules of war. No stupid rules of engagement, no nation-building quagmire, no democracy building exercise, no politically correct wars. We fight to win, and we don’t waste time or lives… No stupid rules of engagement, no nation-building quagmire, no democracy building exercise, no politically correct wars.
Without rules of engagement, it’s fair to ask, “Can Armageddon be far behind?” Among some in the military, the answer is frightening. Trump is anointed by Jesus to light the signal fire in Iran to cause Armageddon and mark his return to Earth.
To their credit, some tech bros aren’t so sanguine, warning that AI could pose a danger to humanity. They remind us that AI operates faster than human thought. Without moral guidance, it could change the world.
These few want guardrails for the industry. Anthropic’s CEO, for example, refuses to give the Pentagon unrestricted access to his company’s technology unless the government makes guarantees. It will not use AI for mass surveillance or allow it to make deadly strike decisions without human intelligence.
Others in the business have been less squeamish. Elon Musk places no limitations on the use of his technology. OpenAI considered doing the same until clients got wind of it and began cancelling their subscriptions.
Nothing is good or bad about transactional agreements. They work well when they are transparent and serve the interests of the parties involved. When Trump threatens NATO for the purpose of helping a friend profit from his mineral rights in Greenland, however, that motive isn’t transparent and has nothing to do with patriotism.
Language is flexible. For years, Trump has attempted to hide his crimes under a plethora of words. A majority of us are no longer fooled. At some atavistic level, as a species, we smell the grift.
What we do not see is the future. Some may be too busy deal-making to bother to guess. But what about the rest of us?
Should we be concerned that AI will mirror the transactional values of its creators? Will this new species, free from morality and human emotions, see us as insignificant? Convinced that we have nothing to offer, will they disregard us?
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