By Oritro Karim
UNITED NATIONS, Jul 28 2025 – Earlier this month, Sudanese civilians began facing a considerable escalation of hostilities, with the most recent attacks from the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) claiming dozens of lives. Amid a rapidly growing scale of needs and an overwhelming lack of funding, the United Nations (UN) and its partners have struggled to deliver adequate amounts of humanitarian aid.

On July 23, the RSF coordinated an attack on the Brima Rashid area in West Kordofan State, with combatants entering on assault vehicles and indiscriminately firing at homes and a market. According to the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), this attack killed over 30 people and severely injured 40 others, with a significant amount of these casualties being women and young children.

“Medical sources say many of the wounded need urgent surgical care,” said Farhan Haq, the UN Deputy Spokesperson for the Secretary-General at a press briefing. “OCHA stresses that events in Brima Rashid underscore the growing risks facing civilians in the Kordofan region and the urgent need for a cessation of hostilities, protection of civilians, and safe, sustained access to humanitarian assistance and services.”

This is just the latest in a series of attacks that have marked a sharp rise in violence across the Kordofan and North Darfur regions. Between July 10 and 13, the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) launched a series of attacks on North Kordofan’s Bara locality. The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner of Human Rights (OHCHR) estimates that these attacks resulted in 60 civilian deaths, while figures from independent civil society groups estimate up to 300 deaths.

Concurrently, the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) launched a series of attacks on the Al Fula and Abu Zabad villages in West Kordofan State, including an airstrike on a school that was being used as a makeshift displacement shelter, killing over 20 people. On July 17, the SAF also targeted a family in an airstrike in Bara, killing at least 11 civilians. Additional attacks and civilian casualties were recorded in El Fasher and the Abu Shouk camp.

“An escalation of hostilities in North Darfur and Kordofan will only further aggravate the already severe risks to civilians and the dire humanitarian situation in a conflict that has already wrought untold suffering on the Sudanese people,” said the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk. “I urge those with influence to act to prevent such an escalation, and to ensure that both parties uphold their obligations under international law, including on the protection of civilians and civilian infrastructure.”

According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), as of July 14 there have been over 3,400 internal displacements as a result of the recent attacks in North Kordofan. These numbers were further inflamed by a period of heavy rain and flooding from July 14 and 15, resulting in 400 additional displacements.

The majority of these displaced individuals are currently residing with host communities and face a dire lack of access to basic services, such as food, water, shelter, and healthcare. The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) estimates that approximately 30 million people are in dire need of humanitarian assistance and protection, which is roughly half of Sudan’s population.

Conditions are particularly dire in the Tawila locality of North Darfur, which currently hosts over 560,000 internally displaced civilians. OCHA’s partners report that a significant amount of water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) needs are not being met, as there is a critically low ratio of one latrine for every 150 people. Humanitarian experts have expressed concern due to the rising cases of cholera in Tawila. According to figures from Sudan’s Health Ministry, there have been over 1,300 cases of cholera and 18 related deaths recorded across 35 localities, with 519 of these cases being recorded in Tawila alone.

Additionally, Sudan’s hunger crisis has taken a considerable turn for the worse in recent weeks, with food prices having skyrocketed immensely. According to OCHA, South Darfur had been hit particularly hard, with flooding cutting off critical supply routes from Chad and the north of Sudan. Over the course of a month, the price of wheat has risen by 31 percent and the price of sugar has risen by 21 percent, pushing these essential items out of reach for thousands.

Figures from the World Food Programme (WFP) show that famine has been confirmed in 10 states across Sudan, with nearly half of the population facing extreme levels of hunger. OCHA projects that women are disproportionately impacted by the hunger crisis, with rates of food insecurity among female-headed households nearly doubling from 14 percent in 2024 to 26 percent in 2025.

The persistence of widespread hunger and disease across Sudan is a testament to Sudan’s fragile healthcare system. According to OCHA, heightened insecurity has resulted in the closures of over 32 health facilities in Sudan. The centers that are still functional face a critical shortage of essential supplies such as vaccines, medication, and surgical equipment. It is estimated that thousands lack access to life-saving care.

On July 25, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and IOM released a joint report that analyzed the conditions facing Sudanese refugees who had returned home after fleeing to Egypt and South Sudan. According to the report, roughly 320,000 refugees had returned to Sudan throughout the past year, with many struggling to access basic services .

“Without urgent action, people will be coming back to cities that are in ruins,” said Abdallah Al Dardari, Director of the Regional Bureau for Arab States in the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). “We are in a race against time to clear the rubble and provide water, power and healthcare.”

The report underscores the vast array of dangers that await Sudanese returnees, including the risk of injury or death from unexploded ordnance, high rates of gender-based and sexual violence toward women and girls, as well as a lack of psychosocial support services for traumatized individuals.

The UN and its partners remain hopeful that the current influx of returnees is an indication of stabilization in Sudan. “Those heading home are not passive survivors. They are vital to Sudan’s recovery,” said Othman Belbeisi, IOM Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa. “Yes, the humanitarian situation is dire, but with the right support, returnees can revive local economies, restore community life and foster hope where it’s needed most”.

Despite this, increased funding for humanitarian affairs and a sustainable end to hostilities is the only way to ensure lasting peace and stability in Sudan. The UN projects that approximately USD 4.2 billion dollars is needed to keep up aid operations in Sudan for the next year. However, only 23 percent of the required funds have been met, indicating that services may need to be scaled back next year.

“More than evidence of people’s desire to return to their homeland, these returns are a desperate call for an end to the war so that people can come back and rebuild their lives,” said Mamadou Dian Balde, UNHCR Regional Refugee Coordinator for the Sudan crisis, shortly after returning from Khartoum and Wadi Halfa at the border with Egypt. “Not only do they mark a hopeful but fragile shift, they also indicate already stretched host countries under increasing strain. We urge stronger international solidarity with the Sudanese people uprooted by this horrifying war and with the countries that have opened their doors to them.”

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By Maximilian Malawista
NEW YORK, Jul 28 2025 – Two-thirds of the developing world, or ninety-five out of 143 economies, are dependent on commodities for export value, making up 60 percent of their merchandise exports. For the least developed world, this number rises to 80 percent, leaving entire nation’s revenue vulnerable to price swings, fiscal shocks, and evolving trade compositions. Hidden behind the numbers lies a deeper transformation, one disrupting fossil fuel trade, triggering a higher reliance on mineral exports, particularly on mining essential for green technologies.

In 2024, during a special climate panel, on critical energy transition minerals, UN Secretary-General António Guterres remarked, “A world powered by renewables is a world hungry for critical minerals. For developing countries, critical minerals are a critical opportunity – to create jobs, diversify economies, and dramatically boost revenues. But only if they are managed properly.”

Guterres signaled a clear message that this change can indeed boost economies and create jobs, especially in the places which need it most, but only if those countries are then willing to invest in diversification strategies through proper economic management.

At this year’s UN High Level Political Forum Guterres reaffirmed his stance on July 22, stating: “Fossil fuels are outdated. The sun is rising on a new era − the era of clean energy.” Guterres present a six-point action plan forward, which would phase out fossil fuels and secure energy access to all, by outlining methods of financing green transition.

A shift in the tides: oil to ore

Between 2012-2014 and 2021-2023, the share of commodity exports in of global trade have slightly declined, from 35.5 percent to 32.7 percent. At the same time, overall merchandise trade grew by 25.6 percent, with commodity exports growing by 15.5 percent. This 10 percent gap accounts for a 619 billion dollar shortfall due to declining and stagnating energy exports, which currently dominate the commodity trade.

Energy exports once led the commodity trade but are now showing obvious signs of stagnation and future decline. From 2021 to 2023, global energy exports amounted to 3.16 trillion on average, slightly decreasing 1.3 percent from the 2012-2014. The acceleration of renewable energy projects and the UN’s 2030 Agenda have been main proponents in this, driving down the reliance on oil and coal, and improving energy efficiency through global investment in green technologies.

Western Asia, once a dominant region in energy exports, particularly oil, saw its share fall from 31.3 percent to 24.7 percent over the past decade. Russia, once the world’s top energy exporter saw its export value drop by 26.6 percent.

However, in this same period, the United States became the world’s leading energy exporter, driven by its massive quantities of liquefied natural gas and shale oil mining. This shift too even reflects a greener transition, as liquefied natural gas is seen increasingly as a bridge to clean energy, as it presents cleaner effects on the environment, and is overall considered cleaner than oil and coal by a large margin.

In contrast to this overall decline in energy demand, mining exports have been surging. In Asia and Oceania, the regions’ share grew from 33.8 percent to 37.6 percent. Looking at Australia alone, they grew their mining export value from USD 105.7 billion to USD 171 billion due to higher demand from China and other global consumers for metals like copper, cobalt, and lithium. These materials are necessary for solar panels, wind turbines and electric car batteries, which are all considered essential components to a green economy.

Suppliers of the green future: Africa

While much of the world is expanding looking towards the future, Africa is still largely behind in development, creating lags in green agendas. Most of the continent lacks basic access to electricity. Africa is home to twenty of the world’s thirty-three mining export-dependent economies, making them the provider of many materials for green technologies, but not the constructors.

In Western and Eastern Africa, these mining exports make up 65 percent and 57 percent of all merchandise exports. Southern Africa is also particularly reliant, with nations like Botswana presenting mining exports of 91.5 percent. This lack of diversification makes African economies extremely vulnerable to supply chain shifts and price volatility, especially in the event of value chain swaps. Even in countries where mining is not as prevalent like Nigeria, Algeria and Angola, the lowering of oil prices by 20 percent in economies with an 80 percent export value on energy, shows early signs of dangerous fiscal dependency on a lacking financial flow.

The inevitable shift

Secretary-General of UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD) Rebecca Grynspan said: “There is now an opportunity to leverage these new commodities to update our trade regime, promote structural diversification and turn the tide of commodity dependence once and for all.”

The clean energy shift is not theory, it is happening real time and its reshaping supply chains fast. Countries like the U.S. and Australia have successfully adapted their economies to this shift, preparing for a new landscape of green domination. The rise in mining exports supports a demand from advanced economies needing critical minerals, but this financial flow for the exporting countries might not stay forever, especially if more competitors break into the market driving down the price further and further: much like what is happening to oil. A country’s path to clean energy now lies as an indicator of working economic models and the ablution of outdated financial flows.

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By Michael Stanley-Jones
RICHMOND HILL, Ontario, Canada, Jul 28 2025 – The UN80 Initiative, unveiled in March by Secretary-General António Guterres, is a system-wide effort to reaffirm the UN’s relevance for a rapidly changing world.

The Initiative comes at a time of brutal budget cuts across the UN system. The United Nations High Commission for Refugees is cutting 3,500 jobs and making reductions in senior positions and offices to manage budget shortfalls. The World Health Organisation is expected to cut 20-25% of its global staff. Cuts at The World Food Programme range up to 30%.

And yet the needs served by the United Nations remain stark. The UN appealed for US$29 billion funding for the Global Humanitarian Overview 2025 to assist nearly 180 million vulnerable people, including refugees, in December 2024. Near the midpoint of the year, just $5.6 billion – less than 13 per cent – had been received.

Facing this harsh fiscal environment, the Secretary-General established seven thematic clusters under the UN80 Initiative covering peace and security, humanitarian action, development (Secretariat and UN system), human rights, training and research, and specialised agencies to improve coordination, reduce fragmentation, and realign functions where needed.

The UN80 Task Force is scheduled to release its recommendations at the end of July.

In their timely opinon piece, “UN Reform: Is it Time to Renew the Idea of Clustering the Major Environmental Agreements?”, Felix Dodds and Chris Spence advocate for “clustering key conventions and bringing scientific bodies to strengthen international environmental governance, while also offering potential cost savings.”

“Currently, there are hundreds of different multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs) in force but perhaps only 20-30 core global MEAs with broad international participation,” Dodds and Spence write.

Bringing the fragmented set of environmental conventions together in clusters to address the interconnected issues they address could strengthen their work, reduce inefficiencies, and fill significant gaps in how the UN approaches the triple plenary crises of biodiversity loss, climate change and pollution.

There is one experience which suggests how such a clustering of MEAs secretariats could be accomplished. In 2009, on an ad interim basis, the Joint Convention Services of the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions was set up, preparatory to a decision by an extraordinary conferences of the parties of the three chemicals and wastes conventions to establish a joint Secretariat in February 2010.

I was hired as the first staff member assigned to serve the three conventions equally in December 2009, holding the position of Public Information Officer in the Rotterdam Convention Secretariat while acting on behalf of the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm conventions until August 2014. This gave me a ring-side view of the process of “synergies” between the three clustered conventions.

The experience of the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm conventions with clustering their instruments provides a proof of concept of the benefits that may be gained by other closely related MEAs joining forces. The conventions addressing biological diversity and climate change may be ripe for applying the lessons learned from the three global chemicals and waste conventions.

The “synergies process” streamlined the three conventions’ implementation, reduced administrative burdens, and maximized the efficient use of resources.

Future conferences of the Parties (COPs) of the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm conventions are now held back-to-back on a biennial schedule. For the more than 180 governments which attend the ‘SuperCOPs’, the efficiencies gained in time, travel and expense are obvious. The joint nature of the conferences also allows for a greater exchange of information and views between the parties to the conventions, helping close gaps in implementation and increasing at the technical and scientific level understanding of how the actions of any one MEA impact the others.

The listing of a chemical in the Stockholm Convention’s annexes may trigger classification of products containing the substance as hazardous under the Basel Convention. Hazardous constituents that may be found in plastic waste due to their use as additives in various applications include halogenated organic compounds used as flame retardants. Several halogenated organic compounds used as flame retardants are listed under the Stockholm Convention’s Annex A to be eliminated or severely restricted. The adoption of amendments to the Basel Convention in 2019) sought to enhance the control of the transboundary movements of plastic waste and clarify the scope of the Convention as it applies to such waste.

Close coordination between the two instruments is therefore welcome.

Another important lesson concerns how the groundwork was successfully laid for the establishment of a joint ‘BRS’ Secretariat. The process needs to be owned and embraced by the Parties to the Conventions themselves. As legally independent entities, they must be the drivers of any envisioned reform.

A series of decisions taken by the parties to the conventions in 2008 and 2009 established an ad hoc joint working group on enhancing cooperation and coordination among the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm conventions. Under co-chairs nominated by the parties and drawn from the North and the South to steer the process, the ad hoc working group was mandated to prepare joint recommendations on enhancing cooperation and coordination among the three conventions at the administrative and programmatic levels. This ensured that the changes would have the political backing of the parties themselves.

A further lesson is that the leadership of the newly formed cluster of conventions’ secretariat needed to be placed in one team. In practice, this meant consolidating the executives of the three conventions (on the UNEP side, as Rotterdam has a joint secretariat shared by UNEP and FAO). Having multiple executives hindered the synergies process. Reducing three executive posts down to one brought coherence as well as additional cost savings. The streamlining of secretariat staff further contributed to creating a more efficient, less costly secretariat.

My assignment in the ‘BRS’ Secretariat covered media relations, public information and outreach, including helping manage the joint conventions’ synergies website. Public information provided a fertile ground for joint activity between the three legally independent conventions.

The benefits brought by such administrative measures are minor when placed alongside the larger structural reforms of the synergies process which serve the ultimate purpose of promoting exchange of information, environmentally sound management, and the restriction or elimination of a broad range of undesirable hazardous substances from the planet.

Ultimately, this may be the highest benefit the clustering of the thematically-related hazardous chemical and wastes instruments bring to global environmental governance.

Felix Dodds and Chris Spence (July 17, 2025). UN Reform: Is it Time to Renew the Idea of Clustering the Major Environmental Agreements? Inter Press Service.

United Nations (June 16, 2025). Brutal cuts mean brutal choices warns UN relief chief, launching ‘survival appeal’. UN News.

United Nations (June 23, 2025). UN80 Initiative: What it is – and why it matters to the world | UN News.

Michael Stanley-Jones is an Environmental Policy and Governance Fellow at the United Nations University Institute for Water, Environment and Health, in Richmond Hill, Ontario, Canada.

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By Alon Ben-Meir
NEW YORK, Jul 28 2025 – The West, led by the Trump administration, has enabled the Netanyahu government to commit crimes against humanity and became complicit in the unfathomably horrific disaster that is being inflicted on the Palestinians in Gaza

The war in Gaza has crossed many red lines, rendering Palestinian lives worthless, trivial, and of no consequence. Much of the horrific crimes against humanity being committed against the Palestinians in Gaza by the Netanyahu government could have been prevented had it not been for the nearly unconditional and continuing political, economic, and military support of Western powers, led by the US.

If this does not constitute complicity in war crimes perpetrated against tens of thousands of innocent Palestinians, then I don’t know what does.

Western powers’ claims of high moral grounds seemed to have withered completely, as evidenced by the fact that even though most of Gaza lies in utter ruin, and over 59,000 people have been killed, Western support remains shamelessly unabated.

And while the majority of the 2.1 million Palestinians are starving to death, the supplies of killing machines continue to flow, while the suppliers pay less than lip service to the intensifying human cataclysm on the entire population of Gaza.

Before I elaborate on the US’ indispensable role in ending the war in Gaza, a brief review of what other Western powers have failed to do is in order.

Children in Gaza wait in the hope of receiving food. Credit: UN News

France, the UK, and Germany’s Dereliction

The Western powers, especially the UK, France, and Germany, have consistently supported Israel’s onslaught on Gaza, claiming Israel’s right to defend itself. Only during the past few weeks have they started to contemplate addressing the horrific humanitarian crisis in Gaza. They have considered measures— from suspending trade and imposing sanctions to public criticisms and diplomatic efforts—to force Netanyahu’s hand.

In addition, recently the UK, France, and Canada issued a joint statement threatening “concrete reactions,” including targeted sanctions, if Israel fails to end its renewed offensive and allow unhindered humanitarian aid, and insisting on immediate improvements in humanitarian access. The UK and France have also co-hosted international conferences to advance a ceasefire and a two-state solution, and pledged diplomatic and financial support for peace initiatives.

Sadly, Western threats and limited actions fall far short of what is critically needed to end these mind-boggling war crimes being committed by Netanyahu and his government. They must impose an immediate embargo on all supplies of military equipment and spare parts, and, being the largest trading partners, they must freeze all trade with Israel where it hurts. Only by taking these measures can Netanyahu and his corrupt government realize the magnitude of the European ire.

US Complicity in Netanyahu’s Crimes Against Humanity

The US can wield far greater pressure on Israel than what other Western powers can exercise combined. Sadly, though, neither the Biden nor the Trump administrations have used their immense leverage to force Netanyahu to end the horrific war that is on the verge of destroying what’s left of Gaza and devastating nearly entirely its inhabitants.

The US commitment to Israel’s national security has been a given since Israel’s establishment in 1948. But then, even though successive American administrations have and continue to adhere to this commitment, 77 years later, Israel does not feel secure due to the continuing conflict with the Palestinians.

That is, if the US cares about Israel’s national security, which it does, it should have mitigated the source of Israel’s sense of insecurity by relentlessly pushing Israel to reach a peace agreement with the Palestinians, where Israel’s ultimate national security rests.

For decades, successive American presidents, including Trump, have championed the notion of a two-state solution. Although they have made repeated efforts over several decades to forge peace between the two sides, they have never taken concrete steps to pressure both sides to accept the only realistic outcome that they have been advocating, which could have ended the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Not once have the Biden and the Trump administrations threatened, let alone imposed, sanctions on Israel, to stop the indiscriminate bombing of Gaza and the deliberate chokehold on the supplies of food, medicine, and water, which is causing mass starvation and even famine. To the contrary, both continued to supply Israel with the weapons and munitions it was asking for with no reservations.

Military aid to Israel

According to the Costs of War Project, which tracks US military aid and expenditure, since the war began in October 2023, the US has provided Israel $22.76 billion in military assistance. In January 2025, Trump authorized the release of 1,800 MK-84 bombs (2,000-lb weapons) that the Biden administration had previously withheld as a protest against Israel’s actions in Rafah.

Instead of realizing that this heinous Gaza war only reinforces the idea that only a two-state solution would end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Trump offered to take over Gaza and build a ‘luxury riviera’, which would only perpetuate the deadly Israeli-Palestinian conflict for another generation.

Instead of disabusing Netanyahu and his government of the notion of planning to rebuild new Jewish settlements in Gaza, Trump has been pushing the idea of relocating the Palestinians to a third country. This is nothing but music to Netanyahu’s ear, praising Trump for his “ingenuity” because nothing will quench Netanyahu and his government’s appetite more than seizing more Palestinian land and getting rid of the Palestinians once and for all.

Instead of insisting on an immediate ceasefire and developing a clear exit strategy from Gaza, Trump is still tiptoeing around, careful not to antagonize his political base, especially the evangelicals. For these religiously devout Christians, Israel can do no wrong, even though thousands of innocent women and children have been killed and hundreds more are added weekly to the roster of the dead, while Netanyahu is destroying what’s left of Gaza’s infrastructure to render it unlivable.

Now, the Netanyahu government is forcibly displacing the Palestinians in Gaza to the south and building a concentration camp on top of the ruins of Rafah. From there, the government is planning to commit a total ethnic cleansing by exiling the Palestinians to a third country. Yes, another Nakba (catastrophe), à la 1948, is in the making.

Trump Can End the War If He Wills It

Trump’s focus on a ceasefire as a first step is imperative and immediately needed, but it must only be a first step. He must make it unequivocally clear to Netanyahu that, during the cessation of hostilities, he must develop and submit an exit strategy from Gaza. The war must stop and cannot be resumed under any circumstances, and the flow of humanitarian assistance must begin immediately in sufficient quantities to prevent mass starvation.

Yes, given Israel’s dependence on the US on a host of issues, including political cover, economic assistance, and military aid, Trump is in a position not to ask but to demand that Netanyahu adhere to the US’ demand to end this horrifying war, the ultimate consequences of which are hard even to imagine.

Trump, who is clamoring to win a Nobel Peace Prize, is facing a crossroad. At the first road, remaining silent in the face of this pending catastrophe. He will be complicit, before the law, in the war crimes being committed in Gaza. The other road could potentially help him to realize his dream by ending the war in Gaza and beginning an Israeli-Palestinian peace process that would lead to the only viable solution—a two-state solution.

Will he rise to the occasion and do what all of his predecessors failed to achieve?

Dr. Alon Ben-Meir is a retired professor of international relations, most recently at the Center for Global Affairs, at New York University (NYU). He taught courses on international negotiation and Middle Eastern studies.
[email protected] Web: www.alonben-meir.com

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By Peter Costantini
SEATTLE, USA, Jul 28 2025 – President Donald Trump reportedly wants to add his own head to Mount Rushmore National Memorial. But the National Park Service says there’s no room next to the four current presidents: George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt. [Branch & White 6/27/2025] Here’s an innovative proposal for how to immortalize him right there in the Black Hills of South Dakota.

On the backside of the same rocky bluff where the monument is located, the President will unveil a full-body statue of himself. His combover is made of gold-plated carbon fiber that scintillates in the breeze. He bestrides an imposing masonry wall fronted by a moat filled with alligators and poisonous snakes, an idea that he purportedly floated during his first term. [Shear & Davis 10/2/2019]

The statue is as dynamic as its subject. Starting at dawn, Trump’s nose gradually grows out all day into a long, Pinocchio-like proboscis.

The soundtrack features the greatest hits from the President’s vast playlist of falsehoods – the Washington Post counted 30,573 false or misleading claims over his first term, around 20 per day. [Kessler et al 1/24/2021]. And veteran White House correspondent Peter Baker has analyzed them extensively in the New York Times. [Baker 2/23/2025] The nose grows proportionately to the magnitude and creativity of each whopper. Then it retracts at night.

The grand finale comes at sundown, when the President’s pants suddenly catch fire. In honor of his “Drill, Baby, Drill” energy policy, we’re not talking an LED or laser light show here. This has got to be something with a respectable carbon footprint, like methane. The blaze illuminates the whole monument and can be seen from outer space.

At this point, you may be wondering whether the President would embrace this sort of monument to his mendacity. Well, don’t underestimate his passion for inspired grifting (for example, see his pardon of Steve Bannon). [Costantini 10/4/2021]

As one pundit put it: “His superpower is his shamelessness.” [The 11th Hour 5/22/2025] The President once notoriously joked that “I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody, and I wouldn’t lose any voters, OK?” [Dwyer 1/23/2016]

The Supreme Court later backed his boast with a king-size get-our-of-jail-free card in Trump v. United States, in which it ruled that presidents are immune from criminal prosecution for official acts taken while in office. [Congressional Research Office 7/5/2024]

Why would he not take equal pride in his ability to pull the most brazen prevarications out of his ample posterior and watch some of his base worship them as gospel, while others just revel in “owning the libs”.

Don’t miss the other entertaining features. Every couple of hours during the day, one of Trump’s arms extends out, the palm of his massive hand facing upward. A drone tricked out as a model of his new Air Force One 747 lands on it like a falcon, accompanied by fireworks and martial music. Look! The plane has a new name emblazoned on it: “The Emperor of Emoluments”!

At alternate hours, Trump’s other arm rises up with the palm facing down, sporting a gold-plated ring with giant zirconium jewels. Actors impersonating public figures approach, kiss the ring, and tell him their troubles.

He agrees to help, adding: “I’d like you to do me a favor, though.” Somber music from The Godfather amps up the gravitas. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, visitors can ask for pardons and other favors on a cell-phone app. An AI Trump entity reads the petitions and responds with appropriate noblesse oblige or scorn. But if he asks if you’re a public employee, beware: if you say “Yes”, his favorite reply is “You’re fired.”

Below the statue, a small herd of human heads on toad bodies greets visitors. These are talking robots representing Trump’s toadies: cabinet members, advisors, political allies, business partners, even tech bros. They sing extravagant praises of the President with quotes from his North Korea-style cabinet meetings. One group asks guests to sign a petition to award the President the Nobel Peace Prize. [CNN 7/7/2025]

On some evenings the lighting changes, and Trump’s statue is costumed as Czar Donald the Impaler. If you’re very lucky, you may catch a glimpse of a shadowy Stephen Miller whispering in his ear, cosplaying in monk drag as his Mini-Rasputin. He’s just a hologram, too.

However, someone did recruit a special force of live ICE agents who roam the monument in plain-clothes packs. As long as you don’t “look foreign”, you have nothing to fear from them. If you do “look foreign”, you could win an all-expenses-paid open-ended vacation to El Salvador or South Sudan.

Looking for fun for the kids? Saddle up for an immigration rodeo. Holograms of immigrant families climb over the wall and try to cross the moat.

Players mounted on robot horses can “shoot them in the legs” with laser tags, as Trump suggested, and then herd them into two virtual concentration camps bristling with razor wire: one for kids, one for parents. [Shear & Davis 10/2/2019]

The more families you separate, the more points you earn. You can also bump your score up by denying the captives water or medical care. Then you can use your accumulated points to score Trump merch like golden watches, golden sneakers, and Holy Bibles.

But the fun is not just for kids. For adult fans of Trumponomics, there’s the Tariff Shoot. Who knew that tariffs are not really economic policies? As Trump has demonstrated, they are weapons you can use to blast countries you just don’t like.

For example, even though virtually no fentanyl enters the U.S. through Canada, the Big Guy has imposed crippling tariffs on our northern neighbor until they end all fentanyl smuggling. [Zahn 7/11/2025] The Tariff Shoot turns this boring trade tool into a dope game.

You shoot virtual tariff arrows from an electronic bow at a rotating holographic globe. When you hit a country, your game controller shows what goods you can put tariffs on and how much you can raise prices. You can also loot mineral rights and expropriate territory for your own private virtual country.

If you bankrupt a country, you can acquire outright ownership. Then at the end, you receive your winnings in Trump-backed cryptocurrency tokens. Best of all, if you hit the capital of a country, say Ottawa or Mexico City, you win a kewpie doll of Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney or Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum.

And then there are other kinds of fun after the sun goes down. Away from the plebeian hurly-burly, there’s a secret part of the Trump monument open only to very rich men. It’s concealed behind a stone door located somewhere on a neighboring bluff. You have to buy the GPS coordinates and entry codes for a price starting well over seven figures.

And security? Let’s just say word on the Dark Web is that Erik Prince’s mercenaries enforce the non-disclosure agreement. Once you find it and enter the codes, the hidden door opens briefly and then slams shut behind you with a metallic clang. You’ve just gained entry into a virtual re-creation of Jeffrey Epstein’s private island. We’ll leave the rest to your imagination. But hey, big spender, not to worry. Counsel advises that it is not legally possible for holograms to be underage.

As magnificent as it will be, the Trump Monument at Mount Rushmore is just the opening play. It will serve as the spearhead of a much broader blitzkrieg to disrupt Big Park. A revamped DOGE will be called in to root out inefficiencies and corruption from national parks and monuments and finally to sell them off to private equity.

Plans are hatching to redevelop the tired old presidential faces. Move over, El Capitan: imagine rock climbing up Honest Abe’s nose. Join the kids hurtling down the bomb water slide in the gap between OG Washington and TJeff. And Trump’s real estate hounds are sniffing out a site to build a 50-story hotel on top of one of the surrounding bluffs.

Picture the majestic Trump Golden Calf Resort and Casino, featuring crossover themes from the Old West and the Old Testament. It will enforce the signature Trump policy of pay-to-play: if you want access to the premium features of the Trump Monument, why wouldn’t you want to stay at the premium lodging on-site?

And did someone mention links? If you’re looking for Trump-class golfing during your stay, plans are afoot to turn a nearby patch of the Black Hills into valleys full of putting greens.

Some may call it tacky totalitarianism, but the markets are jonesing at the prospect of an Orlando of the Prairies.

A final word to the wise: President Trump will decree that birthright citizenship does not apply on the grounds of his national monument. So don’t forget to bring birth certificates for the whole family. And for their moms.

See also

Peter Baker. “Trump Uses Lies to Lay the Groundwork for Radical Change”. New York Times, February 23, 2025.
https://nytimes.com/2025/02/23/us/politics/trump-alternative-reality.html

Peter Baker. “Trump’s Wild Claims, Conspiracies and Falsehoods Redefine Presidential Bounds”. November 3, 2024.
https://nytimes.com/2025/02/23/us/politics/trump-alternative-reality.html

Congressional Research Office. “Presidential Immunity from Criminal Prosecution in Trump v. United States”. Washington, DC: July 5, 2024.
https://congress.gov/crs_external_products/LSB/PDF/LSB11194/LSB11194.2.pdf

Peter Costantini. “The Roadrunner and the Wall”. Ciudad de México: Americas Migration, October 4, 2021.
https://americasmigration.blogspot.com/2021/10/the-roadrunner-and-wall.html

John Branch & Jeremy White. “Room for One More on Mount Rushmore? (The President Wants to Know.)”. New York Times, June 27, 2025.
https://nytimes.com/interactive/2025/06/27/us/mount-rushmore-trump.html

CNN. “’It’s a great honor’: Trump receives Nobel Peace Prize nomination from Netanyahu”. CNN Politics, July 7, 2025.
https://cnn.com/2025/07/07/politics/video/trump-netanyahu-nobel-nomination-letter-digvid

Colin Dwyer. “Donald Trump: ‘I Could … Shoot Somebody, And I Wouldn’t Lose Any Voters’”. National Public Radio, The Two-Way, January 23, 2016.
https://npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/01/23/464129029/donald-trump-i-could-shoot-somebody-and-i-wouldnt-lose-any-voters

Glenn Kessler, Salvador Rizzo & Meg Kelly. “Trump’s false or misleading claims total 30,573 over 4 years”. Washington Post, January 24, 2021.
https://washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/01/24/trumps-false-or-misleading-claims-total-30573-over-four-years

Michael D. Shear & Julie Hirschfeld Davis. “Shoot Migrants Legs, Build Alligator Moat: Behind Trumps Ideas for Border”. New York Times, October 2, 2019.
https://nytimes.com/2019/10/01/us/politics/trump-border-wars.html

The 11th Hour. “’His superpower is his shamelessness’: A look at Trump’s crypto dinner” (interview with Salman Rushdie). MSNBC, May 22, 2025.
https://msnbc.com/11th-hour/watch/-his-superpower-is-his-shamelessness-a-look-at-trump-s-crypto-dinner-240173637966

Max Zahn. “What to know about Trump’s new tariffs on Canada”. ABC News, July 11, 2025.
https://abcnews.go.com/Business/trumps-new-tariffs-canada/story?id=123678621