Dec. 22, 2025 — We’ve entered that time of year. Millions will sit by their televisions and other devices watching endless football games. Time will be spent with family and friends as great meals are prepared and consumed. People will unwrap gifts, and some will wonder what to do with a necktie that’ll never be knotted because of casual work settings, and sweaters never worn because they will never be cold enough to be needed.
‘Tis the season of diversion from the routine. As holiday-related travel and the holidays themselves consume our attention, Trump and his crew may do things hoping that we will take no notice.
The administration is all around the world stirring the pot in our name. In addition to killing people and taking out small boats in the Caribbean, the U.S. is seizing oil tankers off the coast of Venezuela, and Trump recently announced the closure of airspace over Venezuela: Trump orders the closure of Venezuelan airspace l POLITICO.
We began Christmas week by appointing a special envoy to Greenland. This is an unnecessary act provoking immediate reaction from both officials in Greenland and Denmark: Trump appoints envoy to Greenland, stirs backlash | Reuters. This administration delivers great lessons on how not to interact with friends and allies.
This holiday week also included reporting that the U.S. is stepping up surveillance flights over Nigeria: US conducting surveillance flights over Nigeria after Trump intervention threat | Reuters. One has to wonder what makes Nigeria a priority for overall U.S. security. While the reporting notes the existence of a militant group in Nigeria, this country isn’t the only one that has such groups and far from the only one that has groups not friendly to the U.S.
There is no doubt that Nigeria’s domestic politics and the numerous groups operating within the country that are battling each other challenge governance. The Reuters article notes that armed groups attack both the Muslim and Christian populations within the country.
The justification for a lot of the U.S. military-related activity in Nigeria is the Trump Administration’s view that Nigeria has failed to protect Christians (but it’s okay for Muslim’s to be killed?). The U.S. Defense Department has been instructed to prepare for possible military action in Nigeria if the country fails to crack down on the killing of Christians.
This is not the time of year to have our attention diverted. On any given day and in your name, the U.S. Government could veer in the direction of even broader killing. How ironic it is that during this festive time, when millions celebrate Christmas and all that it is supposed to represent, the U.S. Government prepares a rapid military response team to kill in the name of religion.
Of course, there is nothing to suggest that Trump, his appointees, and many elected GOP officeholders are truly committed to Christianity. The evidence is provided daily in the way they govern in our country. They have little to no desire to take care of and assist those in most need. By cutting and reducing assistance to those needing health care and those needing assistance for food, the idea of trying to “protect” Christians abroad rings hollow as the current majority party acts in complete contradiction of so many values Christians and those of other religions hold dear.
Nigeria is a religious ploy. Greenland is a diversion, and Venezuela is showing all how we can bully. Wishing all a safe and happy holiday season and hoping you’ll remain attuned to what is being done in our name.
Timothy Trainer in Washington, DC. Photo by AnnaGibbs.com
About the Timothy Trainer: Writing books is a passion for attorney Timothy Trainer, who for more than three decades focused on intellectual property issues in his day job. He has worked in government agencies and in the private sector and his assignments have taken him to 60 countries around the world.
Tim found time to pen a few non-fiction tomes, including his first book, Customs Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights; the 15th edition was published in 2022. Thomson Reuters’ Aspatore Books published Tim’s next title in 2015, Potato Chips to Computer Chips: The War on Fake Stuff.
Fiction was a genre he always wanted to try. In 2019, Pendulum Over the Pacific, was released by Joshua Tree Publishing. “This political intrigue story is set in Tokyo and Washington, D.C., and centers on trade tensions between the U.S. and Japan in the late 1980s,” Tim explains.
In 2023, his first series hit bookstores: The China Connection.