The American Gangster State: A Brief Comment on Matt Wuerker's Cartoon Depicting Donald Trump in the Mould of a Prohibition Era Gang Leader

Artwork: Matt Wuerker (Politico).

This image should include the military figures who blindly carry out illegal orders from an out-of-control, Wotan-like figure of a president who is using the US armed forces to promote his nefarious agenda of maritime blockade, regime change and resource theft.

As U.S. Marine Major General Smedley Darlington Butler wrote in his book War is a Racket which was published in the 1930s:

"I spent most of my time being a high class muscle-man for Big Business, for Wall Street and for the Bankers. In short, I was a racketeer, a gangster for capitalism."

© Adeyinka Makinde (2026).

Adeyinka Makinde is a writer based in London, England.

Nigeria's First Military Coup: Transcript of Major Nzeogwu's Speech Broadcast on Radio Kaduna on January 15th, 1966

Major Patrick Chukwuma Nzeogwu being interviewed by a foreign news crew a few days after the army coup of January 15^th, 1966.

January 15, 1966: Major Patrick Chukwuma Nzeogwu's Speech broadcast on Radio Kaduna around noon.

 

In the name of the Supreme Council of the Revolution of the Nigerian Armed Forces, I declare martial law over the Northern Provinces of Nigeria.

 

The Constitution is suspended and the regional government and elected assemblies are hereby dissolved. All political, cultural, tribal and trade union activitites, together with all demonstrations and unauthorized gatherings, excluding religious worship, are banned until further notice.

 

The aim of the Revolutionary Council is to establish a strong united and prosperous nation, free from corruption and internal strife. Our method of achieving this is strictly military but we have no doubt that every Nigerian will give us maximum cooperation by assisting the regime and not disturbing the peace during the slight changes that are taking place.

 

I am to assure all foreigners living and working in this part of Nigeria that their rights will continue to be respected. All treaty obligations previously entered into with any foreign nation will be respected and we hope that such nations will respect our country's territorial integrity and will avoid taking sides with enemies of the revolution and enemies of the people.

 

My dear countrymen, you will hear, and probably see a lot being done by certain bodies charged by the Supreme Council with the duties of national integration, supreme justice, general security and property recovery. As a interim measure all permanent secretaries, corporation charimen and senior heads of departments are allowed to make decisions until the new organs are functioning, so long as such decisions are not contrary to the aims and wishes of the Supreme Council. No Minister or Parliamentary Secretary possesses administrative or other forms of control over any Ministry, even if they are not considered too dangerous to be arrested.

 

This is not a time for long speech-making and so let me acquaint you with ten proclamations in the Extraordinary Orders of the Day which the Supreme Council has promulgated. These will be modified as the situation improves.

 

You are hereby warned that looting, arson, homosexuality, rape, embezzlement, bribery or corruption, obstruction of the revolution, sabotage, subversion, false alarms and assistance to foreign invaders, are all offences punishable by death sentence.

 

Demonstrations and unauthorized assembly, non-cooperation with revolutionary troops are punishable in grave manner up to death.

 

Refusal or neglect to perform normal duties or any task that may of necessity be ordered by local military commanders in support of the change will be punishable by a sentence imposed by the local military commander.

 

Spying, harmful or injurious publications, and broadcasts of troop movements or actions, will be punished by any suitable sentence deemed fit by the local military commander.

 

Shouting of slogans, loitering and rowdy behavior will be rectified by any sentence of incarceration, or any more severe punishment deemed fit by the local military commander.

 

Doubtful loyalty will be penalized by imprisonment or any more severe sentence.

 

Illegal possession or carrying of firearms, smuggling or trying to escape with documents, valuables, including money or other assets vital to the running of any establishment will be punished by death sentence.

 

Wavering or sitting on the fence and failing to declare open loyalty with the revolution will be regarded as an act of hostility punishable by any sentence deemed suitable by the local military commander.

 

Tearing down an order of the day or proclamation or other authorized notices will be penalized by death.

 

Ths is the end of the Extraordinary Order of the Day which you will soon begin to see displayed in public.

 

My dear countrymen, no citizen should have anything to fear, so long as that citizen is law abiding and if that citizen has religiously obeyed the native laws of the country and those set down in every heart and conscience since 1st October, 1960. Our enemies are the political profiteers, the swindlers, the men in high and low places that seek bribes and demand 10 percent; those that seek to keep the country divided permanently so that they can remain in office as ministers or VIPs at least, the tribalists, the nepotists, those that make the country look big for nothing before international circles, those that have corrupted our society and put the Nigerian political calendar back by their words and deeds. Like good soldiers we are not promising anything miraculous or spectacular. But what we do promise every law abiding citizen is freedom from fear and all forms of oppression, freedom from general inefficiency and freedom to live and strive in every field of human endeavour, both nationally and internationally. We promise that you will no more be ashamed to say that you are a Nigerian.

 

I leave you with a message of good wishes and ask for your support at all times, so that our land, watered by the Niger and Benue, between the sandy wastes and Gulf of Guinea, washed in salt by the mighty Atlantic, shall not detract Nigeria from gaining sway in any great aspect of international endeavour.

 

My dear countrymen, this is the end of this speech. I wish you all goodluck and I hope you will cooperate to the fullest in this job which we have set for ourselves of establishing a prosperous nation and achieving solidarity.

 

Thank you very much and goodbye for now.

 

Public domain.

 

Adeyinka Makinde is a writer based in London, England.

Global Spheres of Influence?

My take:

There are those who note the use of the phrase "spheres of influence" and the world "multipolarity" in the National Security Strategy (NSS) document issued by the Trump administration in November 2025.

This and the segment on the so-called "Trump Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine", may be interpreted as dividing the globe into areas within which other powers will not insinuate themselves.

However, I maintain a contrary view.

My belief is that the NSS document is simply a redesigned "Wolfowitz Doctrine". That doctrine, which was enunciated during the immediate post-Cold War period in the 1990s, stated that after the dissolution of the USSR the United States would do what it could to prevent the rise of another power to take the place of the USSR. And in maintaining this unipolar world, the United States would dispense with multinational agreements and the strict rule of international law.

The United States will therefore continue to exert different forms of pressure to continue weakening Russia, as well as to contain China's economic rise.

Russia.

The claim that Trump is "abandoning" Ukraine as a proxy charged with helping to weaken Russia is an ill-informed one. Members of the Trump administration have previously spoken of a "division of labour" whereby Europe takes over the burden of financing the Ukraine war with the US profiting by providing the weapons.

After all, the NSS document also refers to "burden sharing" with a network of partners around the globe. This is where the Trump administration's insistence that its NATO allies increase defence spending comes in.

It is also pertinent to note that the CIA is heavily involved in aiding Ukraine in its attacks on Russian territory using drone warfare. Ukraine has been militarily defeated by Russia in a conventional war but the United States (and its NATO allies) will help it continue to fight Russia not only through drone attacks, but by using insurgency techniques which include sabotage and conducting assassinations. The precedent for this was the support given by the CIA and MI6 to the repurposed remnants of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) and the Organisation of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN) which attacked the Soviet state in the early period of the Cold War.

China.

The attempt to seize Venezuela's natural resources is predicated on cutting off China's access to oil and other resources. The idea is to weaken China economically by targeting countries that trade with China and disrupting the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) where and when the opportunity arises.

Back in 2018, a paper by the US Naval War College Review addressed the issue of hurting Chinese trade by means of blockade. Titled "A Maritime Oil Blockade Against China—Tactically Tempting but Strategically Flawed", the paper contended that economic warfare against a competitor is not a substitute for defeating them in a military campaign.

But defeating China in a war is not a realistic prospect.

The Chinese provided this lesson during the Korean War when after General McArthur's brilliantly executed amphibious landing at Inchon, Chinese forces inflicted losses on U.S.-led United Nations forces when they got too close to the Chinese border. A naval campaign spearheaded by the U.S. Navy anywhere close to the Chinese coast would be destroyed by drone and missile attacks.

The NSS document is vague on the means by which China will be weakened, but American strategy will necessarily be focused on economic means and the document refers to working with partners such as Japan and Australia to weaken Chinese global influence.

Conclusion.

Thus, far from dividing the world into spheres of influence, for the United States, the objective still remains global hegemony in the military, financial and informational spheres.

© Adeyinka Makinde (2026).

Adeyinka Makinde is a writer based in London, England. He has an interest in geopolitics.