{"id":45449,"date":"2026-09-14T01:30:07","date_gmt":"2026-09-13T23:30:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kaizen-blog.org\/?p=45449"},"modified":"2026-09-14T06:01:21","modified_gmt":"2026-09-14T04:01:21","slug":"14-september-2026-kurznachrichten","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kaizen-blog.org\/en\/14-september-2026-kurznachrichten\/","title":{"rendered":"September 14, 2026 \u2013 Short News"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Today in our brief news: Trump is calling on Ukraine to spare Russian refineries because diesel prices in the U.S. have hit record highs. At the same time, Canada is pulling further away from Washington economically and exploring much closer ties with the EU. In Sweden, a single seat may decide the next government. And in Tbilisi, a 70-story Trump Tower is set to rise on property tied to the circle of Bidzina Ivanishvili, who is under U.S. sanctions.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Plus, a look at Washington itself: Under Trump, where does public office end and business begin?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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When a President Treats the State Like His Private Club<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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Donald Trump\u2019s second presidency has created a situation in Washington where political power and private advantage are getting dangerously close to each other. The president is having a massive ballroom built, talks about a triumphal arch and is simultaneously waging a war against Iran, while his family does business in regions whose governments depend on decisions made in Washington. The old question of whom a president serves is getting a very material answer. Trump has long since connected the White House to a world where access brings money and proximity to the president has its own market value. Add to that a judiciary that has granted him far-reaching protection from prosecution, while pardons and political loyalty increasingly shape a government whose boundaries are becoming harder to see. ICE is being used against political opponents, troops are being sent into the country, and the fight over upcoming elections has long since become tied to the question of how far the White House is willing to go to hold on to power. Kings at least used to pretend the court was bigger than their family.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The American Constitution was supposed to prevent exactly this kind of development. James Madison argued in 1787 over the power of the president, while Alexander Hamilton and John Adams were far less suspicious of a strong head of state. George Washington won both of his elections virtually unopposed. Madison and Thomas Jefferson nevertheless assumed that decisive political power had to rest with Congress and that the president and the courts were supposed to carry out the will of the people. 200 years of war have thoroughly changed that relationship. Abraham Lincoln concentrated enormous power in the presidency during the Civil War because the country was fighting for survival. The Spanish-American War of 1898 expanded Washington\u2019s influence over Cuba and the Philippines, later also over Guam and Puerto Rico. During World War I, the federal government grew further. Woodrow Wilson strengthened the idea that decisions over war and peace increasingly belonged to the president. Vietnam and Iraq followed, Afghanistan too. No nationwide referendum decided any of it. Presidents ordered, Congress got used to it. Richard Nixon had Cambodia bombed, Barack Obama expanded the war in Afghanistan again. The extraordinary became administrative routine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Under Trump, this development has gained an additional private business side. The accusation surrounding the Iran war goes far beyond the classic question of military objectives: Washington could use its control over shipping and oil supplies to influence the global market, while people in Trump\u2019s family circle maintain business ties in the Gulf states. None of that proves personal enrichment from the war. The connection between state power and private business, however, raises questions that would have caused a political earthquake under almost any other president. The Constitution has a rule against financial benefits from foreign states. Trump has treated such limits for years more like annoying furniture. His companies, digital currencies and international business relationships keep moving through a political landscape in which foreign governments know who sits in the White House and whose family is doing business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His inner circle adds to that impression. Pam Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel had ties to Trump Media before joining the government. At the same time, there is little visible enthusiasm inside the administration for fully investigating the financial entanglements surrounding Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. Trump sends trusted associates with their own economic interests into regions where war and billions are being negotiated. Businesspeople used to pay politicians to buy access to the government. Under Trump, it increasingly looks as though the government itself is becoming part of the business. That is where the most dangerous change lies. A republic can survive bad presidents. It becomes harder when power, personal loyalty and private money move so close together that no one can clearly say where public office ends and the family business begins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Sweden Hangs on 1 Seat - 175 to 174 and Nothing Is Decided Yet<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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Sweden\u2019s parliamentary election has landed on a result that could hardly be tighter. With 92 percent of the vote counted, the left-wing opposition bloc around former Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson is provisionally on 175 of the 349 seats. Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson\u2019s governing alliance is on 174. A single seat now separates a change of government from continuity. Andersson told supporters that they were currently ahead but would have to wait for the final result. Kristersson is also keeping every option open and said he would examine possible majorities once the count is finished. The election is unlikely to be decided before Wednesday. That is when local election authorities count, among other things, early votes that did not reach polling places by Election Day. Overseas votes are included as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kristersson has governed Sweden since 2022 with a 3-party coalition from the center and the right. For its parliamentary majority, it depended on support from the Sweden Democrats. This time, the party was supposed to receive cabinet posts for the first time if the governing bloc won. That may now come to nothing. The Sweden Democrats lost almost 3 percentage points compared with 2022 and fell from 2nd to 3rd place. Back then, they had won 20.5 percent. Party leader Jimmie \u00c5kesson admitted on election night that no one yet knew who would govern Sweden next. Initial exit polls had shown the left bloc much further ahead. There was already cheering at the Social Democrats\u2019 election gathering. As more votes came in, the room grew quieter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Social Democrats have governed Sweden for much of the period since World War II. Andersson was prime minister from 2021 until the last election and would once again need partners to return to office. Sweden\u2019s party system is currently divided into 2 major blocs with 4 parties each. Parties need at least 4 percent of the vote to enter parliament. On foreign policy, many parties are closer together, including on support for Ukraine and Sweden\u2019s NATO membership. That is why much of this election focused on whether the Sweden Democrats could enter government directly for the first time. The party was founded in the 1980s by people with backgrounds in far-right groups, including neo-Nazis. Under \u00c5kesson, who has led it since 2005, the rhetoric was toned down and openly racist members were expelled. Its rise is still part of a broader European development in which right-wing parties have become significantly stronger. On September 6, the AfD won a regional election in Germany. More than 8 million people were eligible to vote in Sweden, a country of around 10.6 million. Now a handful of still uncounted ballots could decide which side of the Riksdag ends up with 1 more chair.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Trump Calls on Ukraine to Spare Russian Diesel - While Moscow Bombards Odesa<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n