Trump plays the role of a reckless character, but there are two things that don't work in his favor - Vitaly Chepinoga.

Soon, the publishing house of Annetta Antonenko will release the Ukrainian translation of the novel "The Plot Against America" by the renowned American author Philip Roth (who, by the way, has Ukrainian roots). This book, which created quite a stir and became a bestseller at the time, is written in the genre of "what if". The plot is as follows: pilot Charles Lindbergh, who openly embraced fascist views, supposedly defeated Roosevelt in 1940, and the United States followed a path similar to that of Nazi Germany.

This dystopia is unfolding in the United States right now, today. No longer just in a novel, but in reality. And instead of the young and charismatic Lindbergh, we have the charismatic, yet far from young, Donald Trump.

The world held out hope until the last moment that the newly elected U.S. president would somehow, in a cunning way known only to him, restore order in a turbulent world. He would end the war in Ukraine in a day, reconcile Israel with the Arabs, ease tensions with China, and save the world’s oceans from pollution.

But Trump has chosen a different role for himself. He consciously plays the part of a madman, a "wild" guy who intends to manipulate the entire world like a gypsy with the sun.

In just one week, Trump "annexed" Canada, seized the Panama Canal from Panama, promised to make Greenland great again, threatened Denmark with war, and postponed the promised peace in Ukraine for at least six months. Today, Trump resembles a sort of "anti-Gorbachev" from 1985. However, the American version of "perestroika" potentially carries a more apocalyptic character.

On the sidelines, Trump is constantly accompanied by Elon Musk, who resembles the jackal Tabaqui from Kipling's "The Jungle Book" as he follows Shere Khan, and who is already referred to in whispers as the shadow vice president of the United States.

Elon Musk systematically terrorizes the British government on his social network "X", promising to liberate the English people from the tyranny of the Labour Party, and engages in obscene exchanges with the current Prime Minister of Canada, Justin Trudeau.

Europe, for its part, through the voices of Emmanuel Macron and the German government, has promised to defend itself against the threats of the newly elected U.S. president and to prevent any changes to the borders of the EU.

And there you have it! Instead of the promised stability, the world has found itself on the brink of total, all-consuming chaos in just a few days. People in Europe are openly frightened, and even in the United States, as acquaintances report, ordinary Americans are gradually packing "emergency bags" and contemplating where to escape from this absurdity.

Against this backdrop, only Ukrainians, who have already endured three generations of cats under Russian rockets and Iranian Shaheds, maintain a calm composure, simply watching what will happen next.

Experts, analysts, and commentators have divided into two roughly equal camps. The first group believes that Trump has deliberately chosen such flamboyant behavior to show Xi and Putin that he is no less unhinged than they are, and therefore, it’s better not to mess with him. They argue that Trump is a talented businessman and a keen psychologist, and this cunning game will end as soon as he takes the oath of office as president of the United States on January 20. An era of hard pragmatism and realpolitik will begin.

The other group believes that Trump is indeed that way, by horoscope and from birth, and therefore this adventurous and provocative wave will only grow, and after the inauguration, it will completely lose any boundaries.

Here, I tend to trust not the couch analysts, but those who have long worked in the United States and understand the laws by which various political dramas unfold there. And these knowledgeable individuals say roughly the following: Trump will decide how to stop the Ukrainian-Russian war based on his own egocentric views of what is beneficial for the United States and for him personally. Paradoxically, Trump is influenced by people whom he personally respects and trusts as professionals. One such individual is former General Keith Kellogg, who is expected to become Trump’s special envoy for the Ukrainian-Russian war.

In any case, it is not in Trump’s interest to be weak or unhinged after officially taking office. In short, contra spem spero, as Larisa Petrovna Kosach used to say.

As for the potential Greenland War and the occupation of Canada, let them sort it out on their own; we have enough problems of our own. As the saying goes: may God give us the strength to overcome what can be overcome, patience to accept what cannot be overcome, and wisdom to distinguish the one from the other.

From all this, we can draw the conclusion that at the end of the first quarter of the 21st century, in the modern world, anything is possible, at any time, in any place, and under any circumstances. This "axiom" in Ukrainian sounds like: "Vsyake mozhe buty." We have known this for a long time.