[paulsutter]

Yes, he definitely refused to rule out use of military force!

But that really and truly is not a threat to use military force.

Consider the following hypothetical:

- * IF * the questioner had followed up with, "Are you threatening to use military force?" and

- * IF * Trump answered "of course not"....

Would that be a contradiction? Not at all! Because his first statement wasn't a threat.

This is literally strategic ambiguity combined with bad statesmanship. But if you look up any and every time he has been asked whether he would rule out the use of military force, I would expect that in every case he declined to rule it out. Of course he's a buffoon, so he might not have adhered to that correctly.

[mindslight]

This is exactly the kind of sophistry I addressed in the postscript to my first comment:

> preemptively, I don't want to hear some rationalization how declining to repudiate something is technically different than endorsing it. A statesman should project stability by reaffirming shared values, this addled buffoon does the exact opposite

When the topic is the use of military force against allies, it is a leader's job to unequivocally reaffirm the partnership. Trump's non-denial is not some technically-correct "strategic ambiguity". Rather it is an implicit threat that military force may be used against an ally. The reactions to that threat were entirely justified.

[paulsutter]

It’s not a threat, and yes it’s atrocious statesmanship.

Did he hint at the use of the military? YES

Was that offensive on both sides of the atlantic, inside and outside of diplomatic circles? YES

Did he actually threaten to use the military? NO

Neither his poor statesmanship nor his lack of character change the meaning of the words, I can’t understand why you keep bringing that in.

[mindslight]

Because, as I said, it is an implicit threat. Especially with the context of everything else he said. For example:

As quoted by The Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jan/19/donald-trump...

> "Considering your Country decided not to give me the Nobel Peace Prize for having stopped 8 Wars PLUS, I no longer feel an obligation to think purely of Peace," he wrote

As quoted by NYT: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/09/world/americas/trump-gree...

> I would like to make a deal the easy way, but if we don’t do it the easy way we’re going to do it the hard way

This all adds up to a straightforward threat to use military force. You are essentially acknowledging this, but characterizing it as "strategic ambiguity". What is the point of this "ambiguity" if not to carry the implicit threat?

[paulsutter]

The hard way was tariffs, you know that.

Now you’re saying he didn’t actually make a threat, but he implied one?

Which means you’re assuming his intent to be whatever makes for the most lurid headline.

Funny that these professional journalists didn’t think to ask to clarify such a monumental possibility. Or maybe the ambiguity was what they wanted all along. And apparently people (such as yourself) just eat it up

[mindslight]

> The hard way was tariffs, you know that.

No, this was shortly after the US military had attacked Venezuela. It's reasonable to take this as a threat to use the military.

> Funny that these professional journalists didn’t think to ask to clarify such a monumental possibility

They did. They got "no comment". We covered this.

You also completely skipped over "I no longer feel an obligation to think purely of Peace", as well as the copious other statements from Trump and his deputies implying the same thing. Those are all a mere web search away.

This is feeling like a gish gallop of highly motivated reasoning, and I am having a hard time believing your claim that you're an unbiased "grey" looking for truth rather than merely a Trump supporter in denial. If you want to pull up from this, you're going to have to start addressing the core of my point.

[paulsutter]

Reasonable and true statements:

- "He hinted at use of force" (he did!)

- "I think he's implying the use of force" (you own your thoughts!)

Problematic statements:

- "He IS implying use of force!" is actually just a guess, even if (let's say) it's 80% likely to be true. It's still a guess. It's not something you know.

- "HE THREATENED TO USE FORCE!" you've just promoted your guess into yelling fire in a crowded theater because you're a troll

None of this reasoning applies if you're a cat. For a cat, words and sentences just register as an emotional valence, with no comprehension of what it means to distinguish fact from inference.

If you are a cat, I apologize for misapprehending your lived experience.