The Art Of Politics – February: Really, What Do You Think Dominated The Political Cartoonists This Month?
by Richard Bruton
The Art Of Politics, taking a monthly look at the world of political cartooning, where the greatest manage to skewer those in power with a single, destructive, nailing the subject totally image…
Okay then, no surprise at all that the cartoonists focused on Trump, Musk, the USA, and Ukraine’s dealings with them this month. It’s been a big, big month for chaos and idiocy as the world’s greatest democracy goes down a bad, bad route.
Again, Ben Jennings sums it all up perfectly…
USA, USA, USA – GOODBYE DEMOCRACY? WELCOME TO THE NEW ORDER…
Okay then, February saw (no surprise) plenty of things happening in the USA with the new Trump regime…
Deep breath. There was the proposal that the US ‘take over’ Gaza (in addition to the idea of taking over Panama’s Suez Canal and Greenland), mention of making Canada the 51st US state, had Musk effectively close down USAID with thousands of staff out of a job, imposed tariffs on China, pulled back from similar tariffs on Canada and Mexico for a month, kept on with the incentive for federal workers to quit, fired thousands of federal workers – only to have to rehire many of them in those minor agencies doing inconsequential work in the nuclear industry and bird flu researchers and investigators, sanctioned the International Criminal Court, ordered strikes against the Islamic State group in Somalia, the US withdrew from the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) – of which Israel is very critical, announced the US would no longer be part of the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC), declared that there’d be reviews of the US’s membership in the UN Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), announced plans to use Guantanamo Bay at the US Navy base in Cuba, sent the first group of migrants to Guantanamo Bay for detention, banned Transgender women from competing in female sports in schools and colleges, announced that visas for transgender Olympic athletes arriving for the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles would be denied, released water from Californian dams – despite experts and officials saying it would go to waste and was actually wateer that was saved for CA farmers in the state’s agricultural region when they needed it, announced a taskforce to tackle ‘anti-Christian bias’ – because that’s a thing now it seems, removed references to climate change and anything other than LGB from LGBTQI+ government websites, Musk’s DOGE group gained unprecedented access to federal government including access to the federal payments system that controls the trillions of dollars in funds every year, got involved in Andrew Tate’s case, throws out his dummy and gets the Associated Press kicked out of the Oval Office and Air Force One because it refused to roll over and rename the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America, cut benefits for undocumented migrants and legal aid for migrant children, backed a random idea to send any Doge savings to Americans, snubbed G20 talks in South Africa, told Pentagon to find $50bn in cuts this year, restored 9/11-related cancer research after Doge tried to cancel it, and fired his top general, the US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
And breathe again. Yep, busy. And that’s just a bit of it.
Meanwhile, he played golf and appeared at the Nascar opening. Because there’s not much else he needs to do, right?
And that’s not even getting into anything to do with the Russian invasion of Ukraine, where he first called President Zelensky a ‘dictator’, then we had US and Russian officials meeting for peace talks without Ukranian representation, a US/Trump demand that Ukraine guaranteed the supply of rare earth metals in exchange for $300bn to support the war against Russia, and, right at the end of the month… that press conference.
So, let’s start with Ukraine…
UKRAINE VS RUSSIA (& TRUMP)…
Three years into the Russian invasion of Ukraine. And, well, it all went horribly wrong, didn’t it? Trump’s idea of a Ukranian end to the war where Russia invaded Ukranian soil appears to be to just talk to Russia, call Ukraine’s President Zelensky a ‘dictator’ (he’s not – free and fair publis elections, as compared to Putin and Russia), and accuse Ukraine of starting a war and not wanting peace. And then Zelensky went to the White House and got ambushed and mugged live on air…
Ella Baron celebrating the anniversary…
Ben Jennings on Trump’s Valentine’s to Putin…
Martin Rowson on a Trump Prom – dancing with dictators…
Ben Jennings on the Trump deal for Ukraine – sign over your mineral resources or else…
Martin Rowson on the new world order…
Morten Morland on how half of America and most of the rest of the world saw the press conference
TRUMP & MUSK – ARE WE IN A CO-PRESIDENCY?
Ben Jennings on the Trump/Musk thing…
Ella Baron on Musk’s DOGE gutting and cancelling USAid, something that will have hideous repercussions globally…
And even more Dave Rowe…
TRADE WARS?
The tariffs are on hold, sort of, as Trump continues to threaten to impose tariffs on pretty much everyone who doesn’t bow down…
THE PLAN FOR GAZA…
Because we trust Trump to sort it out, right?
Martin Rowson on the Gaza Riviera…
STUFF IN BRITAIN…
Well, there wasn’t all that much really. Sure, the country appears to be run by ineffective personality vacuums who couldn’t politic their way out of a paper bag. Unsurprisingly, with the rise of the right across Europe, Reform UK (yes, that bunch of chances and grifters) overtook Labour in the polls.
But even cartoons to do with Britain were dominated by Keir Starmer’s attempts to preserve the ‘special relationship’ with the USA (yeah, right, what special relationship?)
Rebecca Hendin – on Starmer’s Trump problem…
And Martin Rowson on Britain’s desperate clinging to the USA…
At least by the end of the month, Starmer was announcing UK and European moves to back Ukraine… this from Nicola Jennings…
Ben Jennings on Britain’s immigration laws – and the shocking refusal to treat Palestinian refugees the same as Ukranian ones.
Martin Rowson on Reform UK overtaking Labour in the polls
And Ben Jennings on Nigel Farage beating the drum of UK politics…
Oh, and speaking of the rise of the far-right, Germany’s elections saw the far-right AfD party secure 21% of the vote – this from Ben Jennings
Martin Rowson on Starmer selling creative rights down the river along with the US and refusing to sign the Paris declaration on AI.
Morten Morland on the same…
Chris Riddell on the ditching of so many policies…
Jon Davis on the UK’s (and the world’s) climate change response
Peter Brookes on a state visit for you know who…
