Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1541988
I am not one who believes Mal- ta did not need to get its act together when it came to the banking and financial services. As so many other countries we were living in two parallel worlds, the world most of us knew, where we pay our taxes, have audited accounts and rigid banking and financial rulebooks to follow, and the other world of complete anarchy and free for all designed for tax evasion. That has now come to end. And for those with very short memories, remember the com- motion about Grey Listing, and more importantly the US ma- nipulation and pressure in get- ting Malta to align itself. I also recall all the high-hand- ed diatribes by civil society about Malta having a backyard set up not fit for a modern na- tion. Well, all that has been over- shadowed by the one big real- ity shit-show held on a daily basis from Washington by the world's biggest buffoon. In another western country, even one which is not remote- ly 'woke', Donald Trump would either be behind bars or else wiped out and relegated to the history books by every institu- tion and public lobby. But today, what we are seeing is an authoritarian and scary epoch where the fear of con- tradicting or confronting a man who runs a country as if it were his business, and a playground for his fancies and prejudices. Trump is no ordinary man. He is a spiteful irrational 79-year- old man who has only known riches, sees the world through the optics of a super-rich re- al estate entrepreneur and is a person who has no respect for what is good or bad. He has es- caped every form of criminal action and has turned to his foes with a vengeance worthy of a true fascist. And, he treats the press as if it were a pest merit- ing extermination. All his detractors cannot nail him to ground, whether it is on fraud, contempt of court, tax evasion and even sexual harass- ment or attempted rape. He us- es the State to destroy his foes, and he lies through his teeth even when it is abundantly clear that he is saying an untruth. He has no appreciation for the law and for societal chang- es, is gripped by a deep sense of self-importance which means that everyone is expected to venerate him and praise him. His disdain for the sufferings of third-country nationals, his xenophobic comments, and his deceitful decisions including putting pressure on democra- cies by openly interfering in democratic elections reveals a dishonest understanding of democratic principles. What worries me is that his interference in Europe's de- mocracy where he openly sup- ports the right wing and far- right makes him more than threatening. He is a serious threat. And his veneration for the Russian dictator Vladimir Putin makes his position flawed. That is being kind. In simpler and more direct terms, he admires strong dictators, and he has no appreciation for the threat of Russia to Europe. On every level, from gender rights, third country nationals, immigration, environment, free press and the price of peace in Ukraine, tariffs, calling for Greenland to be ceded to the US, abortion and seeking ret- ribution against political foes - Trump stands out as pure fas- cist. That word probably means nothing to him. With his latest statement on Europe, it is about time we re- alise that Trump and his kind of America are no friend to Europe. Indeed, Trump is no friend at all to Europe. He is the antithesis of what Europe should stand for. His declared intention to interfere in elec- tions is not worrying but de- plorable. His understanding of democracy is zero. The most alarming part is his obsession in being recognised as a peace maker and the sub- sequent grovelling on the part of so many countries, including our own Malta, in endorsing the idea that he is the model recip- ient for the Nobel peace prize. I guess the cherry on the cake was Trump's recent declaration calling on millionaires with a million dollars to spare to take advantage of his golden visa scheme to reside in the US. I could only laugh, or perhaps cry, considering to what pain the US made this country ex- perience when it's promoted its Golden Passport scheme against a million euro pay check. Trump is not the first Ameri- can to be a self-interested part- ner. The very good thing about Trump is that he cannot stand for President again and that his political machinations will irk and vex so many Americans that they will vote the Republi- cans out in the next election. But before that time arrives, we will have to see how the whole saga in Ukraine and Isra- el develop with Trumps' erratic and bizarre political narrative. Being against Trump and say- ing it as it is about Trump does not equate on with being lib- eral or democrat. Confronting Trump is about being logical, decent and democratic. Noth- ing to do with being woke or anti-republican. It is about be- ing against autocrats and mad- men. Here is someone who playacts the role of a Christian when he led a life of debauchery and mixed with the most immoral and corrupt folk one could im- agine. That Americans chose to vote him in is their problem. Our problem is when our govern- ment chooses to genuflect be- fore him and lose face. We may be small, but not small enough not to say when wrong is wrong and right is right. 7 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 14 DECEMBER 2025 OPINION We may be small, but not small enough not to say when wrong is wrong and right is right Saviour Balzan Founder and co-owner of Media Today, publisher of MaltaToday, he is a TV host and pollster If not a fascist, let us call him a narcissist and double-dealer US President Donald Trump announcing his 'Trump Gold Card'